not to parboil my roast potatoes?

[PuppyMonkey]

I know this is tantamount to admitting to murder or armed robbery for most people. But I actually prefer them when you just peel the spuds and lob them straight into the oven, really high. And my dinner guests seem to luuurve them that way too.

Anyone else think parboiling is just one of them conspiracy things???

Ooh and another tip. I do sometimes put the roasting dish with oil in the oven for ten minutes first then put the spuds in the piping hot oil. Sizzles really nicely.

My DH trained at the Savoy and never parbiolled his roast potatoes, since tasting mine he always does and his parsnips.....so much nicer!

Oh and always use Maris Piper.

par boiled

I can be a lot more offensive than that OP, honest.

Aren't potatoes great? I mean really: chips, mash, roast, jacket, steamed, wedges, skins with bacon and cheese... is there any other vegetable that even comes close?

I discovered, a couple of years ago, how to get perfect roasties..I'm afraid it does involve par-boiling but, more importanly, it involves letting them dry. they need to sit in the colander for a good ten minutes letting off steam. then get a bit of a roughing. (and ideally they should be cooked in lard or goosefat but I keep that for special ocassions). there'll be no going back once you've done this I can tell you. drying is the key.

I have done drying and done parboiling and done goose fat, honestly. I got told you had to (probably on MN ) I like em better my simple way...

Dry potatoes, metal roasting tin, very hot oil. You can't go wrong!

Do your potatoes come out crispy though, OP?

As much as the lazy way appeals, I can't be doing with non-crispy roasties

Those of you who don't parboil, how long do you roast them for at what temp?

I could never get roasties to work without parboiling but with it and fluffing and butter/olive oil they come out a treat with about 1 hour in the oven. Suspect ILs crap oven and previous crap ovens might be a factor, though.

i tried doing par-boiled roasties once.

i asked dh to give them a bit of a shake to rough them up whilst i popped to the loo.

i came back and found disintegrated potato dust in the pot he must have been shaking them like mad all the time i was in the loo!

never bothered again after that.

yabvu

Not sure if YABU, but I have tried not par-boiling my spuds first, and they came out too smooth and not crisp enough. They need to be roughed up round the edges first, IMO.

I always add a spoonful of Trex to the oil, which brings them up lovely and brown.

Yes mine are delightfully crispy, annoyingdevil! Not slimy at all. Hot oil first and hot, hot oven does it.

I also sympathise with bamboobutton's dh re the shaking parboiled potatoes too much fiasco. Might as well do mashed poatoes when my dp gets hold of that pan to "gently shake".

This is the most U thing I have ever heard, along with not being into the X factor!

Don't they come out like evil little bullet potatoes from hell? I like a crunchy, crispy borderline burnt roastie on the outside and gorgeously melty fluffiness on the inside. You're not going to get that from a non parboiled roastie are you now?

Ive tried both ways and par boiled are nicer by a mile.

Not par boiled roasties are all smooth and weird and they can't take on any flavour if you don't soften em and Rough em up a bit.

Agree with arsed and MamaLazarou - need to be parboiled or too smooth and not crispy enough. And I leave mine to dry in the colander too.

but you need to add salt
how can you do that if you don't par-boil

surely all you non-par-boilers-non-peelers are just making jacket potatoes with VERY crispy skins?

I've also tried both ways and prefer them not par boiled. Mine are well crispy (I do peel so not jacket spuds).

My MIL swears that the secret is to par boil them, drain the pan, then stick a sharp knife several times into each spud to let out the steam. Then rough them up, then into a very hot pan. However I make my own without bothering with the knife thing and actually prefer my own. I do par boil though, agree about the fluffy edges.

Definitely unreasonable

The best roasties are parboiled, shaken about to 'fluff up' a bit, rolled around in a pan of pre-heated oil (some say duckfat or goose fat, but I prefer good old fashioned sunflower oil)...and then roasted.

There is no better way.

Completely U.

Without the par-boiling you don't get the fluffiness inside and the crispy bits outside; instead you end up with something which looks like it's come straight from an M&S Xmas ready-meal.

Yes definitely par boil in salted water and rough up a bit before adding to hot oil. Best to also use a Maris Piper. I saw something recently where Heston Blumenthal tried to make the perfect Roasty and apparently adding salt to the water makes a big difference. I have to say that doing it this way you get beautifully crispy potatoes.

I parboil and they taste great! My mum doesn't parboil and they also taste great!