What’s the secret to spud-tacular roasties?

[SleighYoullBeThere]

We're hosting for the first time in our new home and we’ve got family coming over – I really want to impress with amazing roasties!

What’s the trick to getting them super crispy?
Do you have a favourite fat - goose, duck, dripping, vegetable oil?
Does the type of potato make a difference?
Should I cook ahead and freeze them, or does that ruin them?
Air fryer or oven?

Help!

Start with the right type of potatoes, King Edwards are the very best, Maris Piper are also good.
I like to cook them in goose fat, for crispness and flavour.
Use the large potatoes, so you can cut them up to give edges.

Practise! If you aren't used to it, or confident in your spud roasting abilities, I would probably be having roasties every night between now and Christmas!

King Edward’s every time for the best roasties. 10 mins from cold water is long enough to get the edges fluffed up by draining and shaking the pan. 200 temp top of oven with plenty of oil- I use extra virgin rape seed.
Maris piper for only ever for mash.

I read something about marmite - have a Google

Do NOT put salt on them before they go in the oven, despite what a PP says. They will go hard.

You’ve got plenty of tips above. Two more for you:

1. When oil has heated up, add a little bit of turmeric and stir in. This is a hack for when the spuds are technically cooked but don’t have that beautiful golden colour. The turmeric imparts a gorgeous colour to the oil, and you then coat the spuds in that. This is I think a Gordon Ramsey hack and works for me.
2. Follow Poppy Cooks on Instagram. She’s currently doing her ‘25 potatoes of Christmas’ but her basic roastie recipe works just fine.

I always salt my potatoes before putting in the oven and they come out light and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Perfect!

Reading this thread it looks as though everyone has their own way of doing things which they think is absolutely the best. I imagine in reality all the different methods produce potatoes that are perfectly lovely!

My main tip is that they should be the last thing to come out of the oven. They can get cold quite quickly and I find that they hate being kept warm, even with just foil on top.

However, this is a good thing because it allows you to take the meat out and then whack up the oven really high to finish the potatoes off. Then straight out, into the serving dish and to the table. If you're fussy then line that dish with several sheets of kitchen paper to absorb the excess fat and give them 30 seconds sitting on that, then remove it, but time is of the essence.

I use duck fat but goose would do.

Par boil until they fluff easily when scratched with a fork. Drain and back into the pain on the hob (heat off). Allow to steam briefly so they are dry. Give a good shake so they are 'fluffy'.

Pop the fat and pan in the oven to heat up first and then tip the potatoes in. Fully coat all over in the fat. Then fan oven 180 for an hour. I turn every 15 minutes. Also give a good grind of salt over them at every turn but I know not everyone wants salt on their spuds.

I use King Edward, red potatoes or Waitrose/M&S white potatoes- I think they are general purpose but do say 'good for roasting' on the bag.

Also the key is not cutting them too small and ensuring uniform size throughout. That way you get crispy outside but fluffy inside without any nasty small crunchy ones.

My MIL does hers in roasting bags and they are always good, my DM does hers in olive oil but they are never quite right (something to due with the smoke point of olive oil I think).

In my experience it is down to trial and error with your oven, the type of spuds, timing, skill etc. I was woeful at spuds for years and years but seem to have cracked it now.

Good luck OP!

Oh yes and it must be spuds in cold water brought to the boil on the hob, as a PP said! Cannot be hot water into the pan and then onto the boil. Something to do with the starch I seem to recall

Biggest tip, don't overcrowd the pan!

Parboil potatoes7 mins, Maris pipers work well, drain, shake in the colander to rough them up and tip into a roasting pan that's already hot. Fat choice is quite personal, I tend to use sunflower but from a taste perspective lard is excellent.

Agree with most of the above (hot oven, parboil, let dry a bit, fluff the edges, don't fiddle with them just turn once etc) but I use Ghee - specifically Netherend Farm ghee - see the Hairy Bikers last series.

Gives a rich taste, golden colour, really crispy, delicious and suitable for veggies (but not vegans obviously)

www.netherendfarmbutter.co.uk/shop-direct/ghee-t523t

I am a Marmite lover! 😍

Thank you everyone 🙏 So helpful!

Everyone gets very excited about duck fat but I have to say I prefer the taste of olive oil for my roasties! Not extra virgin because it's too good quality to be used that way.

Par boil, fluff them up in a colander, heat the oil in the oven and when it's hot put the fluffy potatoes in and coat them in the hot oil, sprinkle of Maldon salt, then halfway through give them a turn and chuck in some slightly crushed garlic cloves with the skins on and rosemary to give a nice boost of flavour.

Always made fresh on the day is best for me! And the key is the par boiling!

The potatoes need to be floury; King Edwards or Maris Piper are best in my experience of the varieties widely available in the UK, but if you can find a Russet Burbank they are also very good.

Choice of fat makes a difference too - I prefer duck or goose, but beef dripping also works well. I find cold-pressed rapeseed oil an odd taste, and it stains them a funny colour; common-or-garden rapeseed oil (usually marketed as plain vegetable oil in the UK) is considerably better.

The fat needs to be hot when the parboiled and dried potatoes go in it, and the oven needs to be 200+ to really crisp them up, so its not going to work if you're roasting something else at a lower temperature at the same time.

After five minutes in the oven shake the pan to stop them sticking to it, and turn them over regularly.

My mum read something about adding a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda to the water when boiling the potatoes: she made some this way at the weekend and they were perfect! Worth a try too

Maris Piper are the best or otherwise King Edwards. The key is simplicity. Cut your potatoes in half, or quarters if they're ginormous. Bring them to the boil in unsalted water and simmer until almost cooked - insert a knife to check. Strain them in a colander and leave to stand for a minute or two. Put a roasting tin with fat of your choice (vegetable oil/goose fat/duck fat etc) in a moderately hot oven (180 to 200c or gas 7 depending on your oven). Then ruffle up! Return spuds to the saucepan and shake until they are fluffed up around the edges. Some of them may disintegrate at this stage so do a few more to make allowances. Remove roasting tin from oven, carefully put the spuds in the hot fat and return to the oven. Turn once during cooking. I don't add garlic or herbs etc if accompanying a traditional roast. I let the simple joy of perfect roast spuds speak for itself.