Maris Piper potatoes - still the best for roasting ?

[TheTecknician]

I've just done a test roast, partly because I'm out of practice and partly to see if my beef dripping is still usable. The dripping seems fine (not bad for two years in the fridge) and the potatoes roasted well. It was, however, an un-named baking potato from the supermarket. Would MPs be better still or any other variety than my un-named tester? Thankyou.

I prefer King Edward potatoes

I am a King Edward roastie person! With goose fat too rather than dripping.

Are you sure you ought to be eating two year old dripping?

Another vote for King Edwards.

King Edwards for mash. Maris Pipers s for roasting.

Maris piper’s here and prefer sunflower oil, controversial I know, but it makes excellent roast potatoes and saves me doing two batches (have vegetarians)

I like Maris Pipers for a fluffy but crisp potato. King Edwards are my second choice.

I use goose fat at Christmas, and lard the rest of the time.

I think my views will be controversial…but hear me out. I bloody love roast potatoes and spent a year (not every day!) trying various different things to work out how to make the best ones. To me, the perfect roast potato is fluffy and soft on the inside (almost squishy), and very crispy on the outside with almost a shell of crunch.

My potato investigations suggested that the type of potato used, makes minimal difference. Any floury potato will do. Even those one that have no name and are just called “potatoes”. What does seem to make a big difference is that really fresh potatoes make worse tasting roast potatoes! They do not have enough give to make that softness they need inside, and they taste less potato-y. But the variety honestly made no difference.

King Edwards here, I find them more floury & therefore fluffy than MPs.

King Eds here but I suspect CuriousKangaroo is probably correct, as I often make Parmentier potatoes (which are, really, a form of roastie, just as small squares) and use baking spuds for those as easier to buy just a couple loose.

Vilvaldi potatoes from Sainsbury for me! They're the only spud that tastes of something imo. Bit more pricey but perfect for Xmas

I'm usually a Maris Piper type, but I have to agree with @CatFatigue that Sainsbury's Vivaldi potatoes are very nice.

I always used to get ones called Mirabel or something from Asda, they were the best.

Bintje if you can get them (Belgian chip potatoes) are the best.

Apparently McDonalds would have used them for chips but they don't grow big enough.

I prefer Maris Piper, I have found that King Edward’s go mushy very quickly and I have to keep a very close eye when par boiling, MP are more forgiving. I’ve also had success with red potatoes.

Maris piper and veg oil.

I previously used duck fat and to be honest I don’t see any difference with veg oil.

Maris piper is the king of potatoes. Kind Edwards are an illegitimate heir.

Another vote for Maris Piper and vegetables oil.

I'm really scared about the two year old beef dripping.

I usually use Roosters.

You must all have a better run Sainsbury's than ours - their potatoes are ust called Baking Potatoes (even the weighing scale recognises them as such)

Are you saying your sainsbury's only sells one variety of potatoes? And that's baking potatoes (loose or bagged?).

My sainsbury's sells dozens. Lots of different varieties. As do all the other supermarkets locally.

Thanks all. Of course it's possible our unidentified potato was a King Edward - it certainly made for the classic crunchy and fluffy result we look for. As for the dripping, it didn't smell bad either out of the fridge or out of the oven and my test roasts tasted fine. I expect I'll find out later if it was past its best. Fingers crossed!

It’s virtually impossible for bacteria to grow on something that’s 100% fat, so no risk of food poisoning
However, over time the fat turns rancid and has a nasty, unpalatable flavour.
2 years old is about the limit, but if the spuds taste good, job done!
And of course, roasting in the oven at around 200 degrees for 30 minutes or so, would kill off any harmful bacteria.

Thankyou Esme. It actually took about an hour to adequately roast them and even then I had to turn up the heat from gas 6 to 7. Maybe my oven isn't quite what it was.

I could always get some fresh dripping anyway but keep it in the freezer rather than the fridge. It's not expensive.