ROAST POTATOES HELP!!

[Thewiseoneincognito]

MN, DP and I are considering swapping the usual M&S Roast potatoes for homemade but we want them to be amazing and we’ve never done them before. How can we guarantee amazing Ones? Which variety is best to use too?

Also same for Yorkshire puddings….

Please and thank you 🎅🏼

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Definitely a bloody good sprinkling of sea salt. Makes a world of difference

Exactly. It baffles me someone up the thread said they cook them for 40mins with no par boiling.
Madness!

@LittleMissTake

10-15 mins steam lol rather than par boil.

More fat than you think you need. Make sure it's hot before adding potatoes.

My trials suggest goose fat roasties have more flavour but sunflower oil are crispier.
I'm doing sunflower oil because we're not in uk and goose fat is not easily available in the standard supermarkets.

I parboil in advance (like now even) and freeze (open freeze on a tray then put in tub when frozen) Then cook from frozen. Tip straight into the hot fat.

I've no idea

Same difference really? it needs some sort of softening up before being whacked in a hot oven.

Maris piper. Par boil, drain and leave to cool. Then shake in colander so edges are all roughed up.

In the meantime put a roasting tray in the oven to preheat with a good (dangerous) amount of duck fat or beef dripping.

When nice and hot (proper proper hot) tip the spuds in and give them a good shake around (don't be too vigorous or you end up with a burn like mine from last year) and then... secret ingredient... crumble 2 beef oxo cubes over the potatoes and give them a good mix.

Cook them until they are almost welded to the pan.

Roast them in lurpak mixed with marmite...you're welcome

Agree about the parboiling and fluffing up, etc., but I cook mine in unsalted butter - makes them golden and gorgeous!

Please be careful about using rapeseed oil. A lot of people are allergic to the horrible stuff (me included) and it can play havoc with your digestion. Just in case any of your guests could be allergic and you don't know.

King Ed's.
Put into pan of boiling water for 5 mins.
Drain
Put pan back on heat for 1min to get rid of any remaining water.
Shake pan gently to bash the edges a bit.

Heat a load of goose fat in the roasting pan
Put the pots into the hot fat, ensure covered on all sides (use a brush if needed).

45 mins on 190 (fan). Watch and turn as needed.

goose fat is not easily available in the standard supermarkets.

They've had jars of it in sainsburys for weeks......

In our sainsburys too. However a good compromise is to have roast duck a cpl of weeks before Christmas and save the fat. That way you get the joy of the duck and ot having to pay for fat which irks me.

I heat the oil on the stove top in an extra strong roasting tray then add the potatoes to that. This allows me to get them going really quickly and cut downtime oven time - I can also baste them in oil all over while doing this (dripping for preference but goose/duck fat also okay). Once the underside is just starting to go brown, transfer to the oven.

Once nearly done (ie you've turned them and all sides are nearly there) I like to drain any remaining fat from the tray so that they can get really super crispy at the end and don't got soggy once they start to cool.

Roast potatoes... follow the Delia smith method and you cannot go wrong, just make sure you don't cut the potatoes up too small, lengthways is better. Get the oil warmed up in the oven before putting the par boiled potatoes on the tray, this helps make them very crunchy.

King Edwards or Maris pipers.

Now I am going to look for tips for Yorkshire's.

@stiltonandcrackers

Roast potatoes... follow the Delia smith method and you cannot go wrong, just make sure you don't cut the potatoes up too small, lengthways is better. Get the oil warmed up in the oven before putting the par boiled potatoes on the tray, this helps make them very crunchy.

King Edwards or Maris pipers.

Now I am going to look for tips for Yorkshire's.

@stiltonandcrackers for your yorkshires...

Small cup (like the ikea plastic kids cups) of plain flour
Same amount semi skimmed milk
Pinch of salt
3 whole eggs
(Serves 4 but double up if cooking for more)

Mix together but DO NOT WHISK as this takes the air out of it.

Into the oven on preheated dishes (whatever shape and size you want) but your oven, dish and oil in the pans must be scorchio.

Do not open the oven door until they are done.

Mine rise like little beauties every time!

We like Maris Piper potential. Parboil them on boiling salted water for about 13 mins. Then drain, shake about a bit to ruffle edges, place into boiling fat. Important not to put into cold fat as they will absorb too much. Cook on 200 for an hour. If small/cut potatoes less time until golden.

I always do a Turkey crown and a beef as 1 DS does not like turkey but loves beef. We all eat Yorkshire puddings.

@SpookyScarySkeletons

Thank you for the recipe. Never normally do Yorkshire's at Xmas but I love them!

How long do they normally take in the oven?

@stiltonandcrackers it depends on how hot your oven gets (my mums is rubbish and she struggles) and the size of the pan you are cooking them in.

As a general rule with my onion I give:

Minis - 20 mins
Standard (about 4-5 inches across) - 30 mins
Huge (whole lot in a big pan) - about 40 mins

Just keep looking through the glass to check rise.

I'm a born and bred Yorkshire lass so it's just second nature lol!

Start with a floury potato, not a waxy one.

Parboil them and let them drain in a colander to dry out well. Shake them around to rough up the edges.

Coat in seasoned flour/corn flour. For an extra kick crumble in an oxo cube.

Goose fat in the oven tray and heat on as high as possible, once it's really hot add the potatoes and turn every 15-20 mins or so to get them crispy on all sides.

[quote SpookyScarySkeletons]@stiltonandcrackers it depends on how hot your oven gets (my mums is rubbish and she struggles) and the size of the pan you are cooking them in.

As a general rule with my onion I give:

Minis - 20 mins
Standard (about 4-5 inches across) - 30 mins
Huge (whole lot in a big pan) - about 40 mins

Just keep looking through the glass to check rise.

I'm a born and bred Yorkshire lass so it's just second nature lol! [/quote]
Omg literally no idea how my phone just corrected oven to onion 😂😂

Am I the only person who uses baking soda to get a good crunch?

Here is a link to the science but basically "parboiling the potatoes in alkaline water breaks down their surfaces, creating tons of starchy slurry for added surface area and crunch." It is a lot to read but a handy short video half way down the page explains that the alkalinity of the water breaks down the pectin in the potato resulting in more surface area and higher crunch.

Just 1/2 tsp of baking soda in the water in the pan as well as salt gives a really crunchy outside.

Pinch of baking powder in the water when par boiling and hot fat to give them a good sizzle just before they go in the oven. Lots of salt.

Maris pipers. Salt and pepper. Olive oil. Delicious. Don’t chop them too small. Use a fish slice to turn them over a couple of times.

Don’t par boil or goose fat. IMO can’t beat above (and can’t go wrong)