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???

Forgot to add. I usually steam the potatoes with a little salt rather than par boil. They are really crispy. I also found that they don't break up as much as boiling where half the potato ends up in the water. I also steam potatoes for mash.

I parboil in lightly salted water for about 5 minutes only then usually drain and leave to sit in the pan for three hours whilst we're at church (sunday roasts obviously) then I use lard and they are bloody good if I say so myself.

I'm usually an aunt bessies roast potato girl but that other post made me feel like i'm feeding my kids poison!

So tonight i made my own and parboiled them first, then covered them in oil and roasted them along with the chicken.

They were like a taste sensation!! Aunt Bessies are strictly for yorkshires now (dont flame me, i'm a newbie cook! )

I don't iron, and I don't peel, so no I don't parboil!

However if you want a roastie cheat that is really yummy try making bercher (sp?)potatoes.

step 1 Take potato!
step 2 Chop in half longways once!
step 3 butter the cut face of the spud (thickly)!
step 4 Arrange artisticly cut side down on a buttered oven tray!
step 5 Fling in the oven with abandon and cook until soft in the middle (about 20-30mins for normal sized spuds)at about 200 degrees.

The result is a cross between a roastie and a baked spud, but takes way less time and prep and is very yummy!

Message withdrawn

christiana, I agree, You can also buy frozen casserole mix, tis also better

Haven't read all the posts but I bung my chopped up (not peeled) potatoes in along with my unpeeled carrots for about an hour and they turn out lovely for me and DP (why isn't there a hand-wealding a rolling pin emoticon). If you make creamy sprouts alongside you really only have to spend max of half-hour in kitchen to do a roast dinner, ideal for wine drinking apperitifs!

Get the King Edward potatoes out for roasting, parboil, bash about a bit, coat if you like and chuck in oven with some fat off of whatever you are roasting them with.
Salt and pepper not essential but preferable.

Of course you can do what you like with them
-depends on what you are doing at the same time. Unable to give precise cooking time.

I parboil and then roll them in semolina. The semonlina sticks to the potatoes with the steam and after roasted in goose or duck fat they are the most delicious crispy outside/fluffy inside roasties ever (I used to parboil and rough up but have never gone back to it since trying the semolina way)

Nah, I tried semolina one year - big waste of time. Just bung them in the oven, they will be ABSOLUTELY FINE that way.

Definitely a conspiracy, this parboiling.

Definitely par boil for best results. I didn't for years but have been totally converted. Not saying you have to every time, but if you want the most impressive results for a special occasion (and guests drooling and telling you you're a goddess) then do. The key step that makes all the difference is adding the hot par-boiled potatoes to the pre-heated hot fat in the oven dish. That's the magic step, so you have to par boil if you want to achieve that effect. If you are not doing it that way then I agree don't bother pre boiling.

I put the un-parboiled potatoes straight into hot fat and that works just as well. My guests still think I am a goddess. And I am.

Disagree Puppymonkey. They might be fine but won't be as delicious.

i never parboil either and i like my roasties just how they are but i might just have to try not peeling them too now as i lurve crispy potato sking mmmmmm

skin not sking, not sure how i managed that typo lol

can i revive this...im trying to find out how to do roast potatoes ahead of time and freeze them, do you lightly roast or just parboil then freeze?
does this work with roasted veg also?

How long do you parboil for if freezing? Do you need to roll them in flour if freezing? Do they need to be dry before cooking? If their frozen do they go straight in teh oven from the freezer in hot fat?

My mother never par boiled her roasts and they was gorgeous. To this day this is how I do mine and they are lovely, never any complaints. It amazed me when a few people over the years have said to me "I didn't realise you could do them like that, I always thought you had to parboil them"
Makes you wonder ?

I've tried both ways and found they come out better (i.e. crispier outside) when parboiled first.
So now I always parboil.

You are correct, my mother always did them this way and to this day I do as well. I am amazed the amount of people that have said to me over the years "I didn't know you could roast them like that"

Zombie potato thread

I always add some semolina before shaking them . It makes them extra crispy.