Best roast potato??

[Anxioustoddler]

Help settle a boring argument on a Sunday evening.

DH thinks potato’s should be done in oil always, I think goose fat is better and we deffo have to have it that way for Xmas day. We’re still a month away and the domestics have begun!

So please tell me, Christmas Day do Potato’s taste better in....

Goose Fat - YANBU
Oil - YABU

Ps best type of spud - Maris Piper or King Edward

Oil, garlic salt and rosemary.
Parboil for 8 mins first.
My roasties are legendary.

Potatoes boiled for 4 minutes (no idea why that specific amount of time but my mum taught me and it works ), shaken in a colander to rough up the edges and then tipped into very hot vegetable oil and they come out lovely and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. My partner doesn't like roast potatoes though so we don't have them often

Lard may be old fashioned and bad for you, but my late MIL did hers in lard and they were the best roasties I have ever had, especially with roast lamb and Yorkshire’s. Not sure what she did to make it all so tasty, but I’ve never been able to replicate it.

Half olive oil / half sunflower. Maris Pipers. The end.

Ugh not olive oil. Veg oil, loadsa salt and pepper

Trex! Every time

Lard is good because it has such a high smoking point. The fat gets hotter than for example olive oil, hence a crispier roastie

Another vote for lard

I normally use oil but i used fry light today. Came out nice.

Oil and crisped up by shaking to get fluffy edges. Having said thelat we are having goose so there may be a mix of the 2, esp as 3 of is are veggie.

@Elai1978

Lard ( which is rendered pig fat, not beef)

And essential for the most amazing shortcrust pastry

Yes! Always lard for pastry.

I do my roasts in lard and then use the resultant meat-flavoured lard/dripping for the potatoes.

Animal fat always gives best results for roast potatoes.

@BigSandyBalls2015

I know all the chefs swear by goose fat but I’m not a fan. Olive or rape seed oil here and loads of salt. And pre boil to the point where you think you’ve totally messed it up and it’s going to be mash

That's exactly what I do.

I use Crisp 'n' Dry too... it's rapeseed oil but cheaper than the fancy bottles of it.

Goose fat but with garlic salt. Chuck a couple of cloves beside them too. Keeps the vampires away.

Par cooked in salted water with a tea spoon of bicarbonate of soda - which helps to break down the starch and fluff the outsides up; then shaken with a dusting of flour, salt, pepper and usually a sprinkle of thyme - then into hottttt goose fat! 👍🏻👍🏻

The most important thing is what potato you use. King edwards are the best for roasts, and potatoes are one of the things its worth getting the posh ones for.
I use a mix of oil and butter and some garlic powder and rosemary

Parboiled Maris pipers, veg oil heated up in the tin before adding the potatoes. Sprinkle of salt. Sometimes add roast potato seasoning a bit later on.

Those who add garlic - how do you do that? Just add cloves to the tray? Crush it over the potatoes?

Olive and butter all the way.

The bonus of using lard is don’t have a roasting tin of oil to dispose of.
Just Chuck a couple of hands full of bird seed in the used lard leave to set then hang it out on a tree for the birds.
Better than the gallons of oil people will be putting down their sinks over Christmas.

@joystir59

Geese are amazing birds you know.

Agree - we used to have them as guard geese - they’re very intelligent and beautiful - and feisty - I love fowl.

@Proudboomer

The bonus of using lard is don’t have a roasting tin of oil to dispose of. Just Chuck a couple of hands full of bird seed in the used lard leave to set then hang it out on a tree for the birds. Better than the gallons of oil people will be putting down their sinks over Christmas.

Wow that’s a brilliant idea - not that I use lard but i hope people adopt that

@lughnasadh

Oil.

They taste awful in a St. Stephen's Day sandwich if cooked in goose fat.

There are never any left in this house. They fight over the last one.

I usually use sunflower oil but am tempted to try lard after the recommendations on here. I love lard in pastry.

For me the key is to scratch the surface of the parboiled potatoes all over with a fork. This gives greater surface area for extra crispness. My DM always does this and her roast potatoes are the best.

goosefat

but

not put in an oven pan with the fat (the potatoes will chill it)

but

after parboiling and rattling about, put them one at a time into a heavy pan of hot goosefat so they are immersed (like chips) and take them out when they are golden. Don't add the next potato until the fat is back up to temp and fizzing energetically.

The cause of greasy roasties is the fat not being hot enough, and even if it is smoking when you add the potatoes, they will drop the temperature. Adding them one at a time to an iron pan allows you to keep it very hot. I don't have a deep fryer but I expect that would work.

The fizzing of escaping steam prevents the fat from penetrating, and you let excess fat drain off in a colander until you are ready to put them all, in their shallow pan, into the hot oven (where yet more fat will cook off).

I think it was a Delia recipe.

Too much effort to do it more than once a year.

Either is good. I find the secret is in how you cook them. After years of producing mediocre roasters, I've found that whacking the oven right up to 225 for the first ten mins then reducing the heat for the remaining time makes them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Difficult with only one oven though...