What do i need to do to get my roast pots nice and crispy?

[lollyheart]

Ok i confess i buy frozen roast potatoes.

Tell me the best way to get nice crispy roast potatoes please?

Par boil for 10 minutes, drain and then bash them around in the saucepan a bit so they get a little fluffy around the edges. Make sure your roasting tray and oil are pre-heated so they don't stick.

peel and parboil spuds, then drain and fling them around the pan to make the edges a bit bashed. then you have to get the oil hot in the roasting tin and stick them in the oven after that.

ok well tips I have been given

make sure the oil in your roasting pan is very very hot BEFORE you put the pots in

once you have par boiled the pots then hold the lid on the saucepan and shake gently to roughen the edges of the pots

then roast at a hig temp (gas mark 8 or equivalent, I think)

Par boil for 5 mins in salted water, drain and SHAKE in the pan for a min or two to rough up the edges, then tip into pre heated roasting tin with vegetable oil or fat from the roast/dripping, cook in hot oven for about 50 mins, don't turn over til they've been in for 20 mins and formed a crust.

There. Lovely.

I agree with the others. Except I would put them in the hot oil and then turn the oven down to about gas mark 6/180 for fan oven.

lol at xposts all saying the same.

Beef dripping or goose fat for the best roast potatoes.

see my typing too slow but we all same the same

see my typing too slow but we all say the same

that's done it, we are having roast potatoes. don;t know what with, but i have a yearning for hot cripsy potatos, sprinkled with rock salt....

nearly

Duck or goose fat gives much better results than oil

Thanks everyone.

How much fat do i need in the dish?

enough to cover the bottom of the tray.

I find basting them at least once during cooking also helps.

I've tried sticking a knob of butter in the drained parboiled potatoes before shaking the pot so they get a covering in butter before throwing them in the roasting tray

you have to have the RIGHT SORT OF SPUD !!

king edwards best ,or maris piper or the red ones

par boil 5 to 10 mins depending on size of spuds ,dont let them go soft

then put them in pan put lid on and shake (delias tip) so the edges fluff up then leave them to dry off

heat your fat up in tray till sizzling and then put pots in and baste , sprinkle salt (not too much else they dry up)and pepper

oven preheated to about 160 'c slower cooking the better ,too hot and they burn on ouside and dont get fluffly centre

take out and baste boute every 25 mins

have heard of sprinkling them with polenta but havent tried this

good luck !!

what are you eating them with ?

sometimes I shake them with a tablespoon of polenta - gives a better crunch and bit of a cheat with the golden colour. works a treat.

into hot oil same as rest of posts, then when meat is resting whack the oven up for a final blast.

King Edwards if you can and all of the tips already mentioned! I do mine at the top of the oven, no 7, for about 50 minutes, but don't turn until 25/30 mins.

I also recall Heston Blumenthall did one of his tests on best roast tatties and I'm sure the result was that Maris Piper was the best kind, which surprised me as i always thought King Edwards were supposed to be the best roasting tattie

I find if you do the roughening up of the edges, the edges do go crispier but I prefer my mum's way of doing them which is to stick the raw potatoes down the side of the roasting dish with the meat for the first 45-60 minutes or so, then take the whole roasting dish out, transfer potatoes to another dish/deep tray, and pour out the juices from the meat dish into this tray, then baste potatoes 2-3 times more during cooking. (But don't take any more fat from meat or you won't have enough to make gravy) - this makes the outsides harder (more crunchy than crispy) but I think they taste better.

My mouth is watering already.

They are going with

Half a leg of lamb, veg, yorkshire puds, frozen stuffing and gravy

I do all of the above, but after fluffing/bashing the parboiled tatties, I sprinkle them with seasoned flour before adding them to the smoking hot oil.

I always get compliments on my roasties

I agree with alot of the tips here, you must have the right type of spud it makes a difference! Maris Pipers, King Edwards and Desiree are all winners for me....plus I sometimes use smaller new potatoes all bashed about/crushed.

As per previous posts make sure the fat or oil you are using is really hot, the potatoes will absorb less fat according to this recipe on:

www.britishpotatoes.co.uk/roast-potatoes/

which is why they come out crispier. Oh and as the others have already said, make sure you shake the potatoes around in their drained pan to roughen up the outsides before you put them in the cooking dish with the hot oil! I add sea salt & black pepper before putting them in the oven, and I turn them down after 10 minutes so they can slow cook and be lovely and fluffy and sweet on the inside, and crispy on the outside.....I also throw in a couple of sprigs of rosemary and thyme and they come out lovely.....

Yum Yum....I'm definitely having some tonight!

As above, plus, put the tray on the hob with the heat on while you put the potatoes in an baste them so that the fat doesn't cool at all (watch out for spattering though). Same for Yorkshires.