how do i make perfect roast potatos ?

emmaBZ

IT HAS TO BE PROPER POTATOS NOT THE FROZEN ONES THEY ARE DISGUSTING !!! sorry caps lock on

southwestmaid

Definitely need to have a good potato, I usually buy a sack of Dunbar or Marphona from the greengrocers. I pop an onion in the water when I par boil mine before roasting, gives them extra flavour.

If I'm being really health conscious and roast in the week I do what we call a water roast, similar to another post but we use some of the water flavoured with the onion poured into roasting tin with par boiled potatoes, then either use spray oil or just brush tops with a little oil and salt and pepper. Tops go crispy but the underneath soaks up all the flavour from the stock.

Got to be real roast potatoes for me at Christmas though, may try cooking them in the goose fat when I've cooked the goose.

ashli_2

I have never tried goose fat before but might give it a go for the big day. I'm also going to try Heston's tip of leaving them to cool slightly, that makes good sense. I can't salt the water though as I'm cooking for a wee'un.

Sorry daymouse but your description has made me rather cross....that isn't a roast potato!!!

If you fancy something different, roast new potatoes with mint are just lovely. Do them a little bit more than par-boiled and then break them up with a fork before tipping them into some really hot oil with a good sprinkling of mint...yum. Only the real macoy will do for Christmas though

inkie

Heat the oven to 190 degrees and chop up the tatties coat in olive oil and jobs a good 'un - I don't par boil to start with.

trippy

You need to salt the water to stop the potatoes absorbing water as they are cooked. Here comes the chemistry (or is it biology?)...
The potato is made up of cells and each cell is mainly full of watery, slightly salty goo. If you boil them in plain water, then by osmosis the water is absorbed into the potato cells. The potato absorbs the water like a sponge and this affects how it will roast/taste. You are much less likely to get a crisp skin if the potato is full of water.
If there is too much salt in the water then the potato cells dehydrate and it becomes chewy and gooey. The trick is to get just the right amount of salt in the water to prevent either of these things happening. If you salt the water and then taste is, it should taste ever so slighlty salty but not enough to make you go eeeaughhhh!
The salt is not absorbed into the potato it simply stops the potato absorbing water. If you are worried about excess salt for the wee'un you could give them a quick wash in fresh water after par boiling.
Incidentally, this is also the reason why you should salt the water when boiling spuds for mash or simply to eat on their own.

kathyd_2

trippy wrote:

You need to salt the water to stop the potatoes absorbing water as they are cooked. Here comes the chemistry (or is it biology?)...
The potato is made up of cells and each cell is mainly full of watery, slightly salty goo. If you boil them in plain water, then by osmosis the water is absorbed into the potato cells. The potato absorbs the water like a sponge and this affects how it will roast/taste. You are much less likely to get a crisp skin if the potato is full of water.
If there is too much salt in the water then the potato cells dehydrate and it becomes chewy and gooey. The trick is to get just the right amount of salt in the water to prevent either of these things happening. If you salt the water and then taste is, it should taste ever so slighlty salty but not enough to make you go eeeaughhhh!
The salt is not absorbed into the potato it simply stops the potato absorbing water. If you are worried about excess salt for the wee'un you could give them a quick wash in fresh water after par boiling.
Incidentally, this is also the reason why you should salt the water when boiling spuds for mash or simply to eat on their own.

That's interesting. Why then, when I have been overgenerous with the salt do my potatoes taste salty? It is also an OS tip that if soups etc., are too salty to add a whole potato and it will absorb the excess salt? Have I got it wrong all these years?

SAVINGMUM_2

I think the trick is letting the potatoes cool completly after par boiling them. This seems to work for me everytime. also cutting them quite small. My partner and i take it in turns doing the sunday roast and we have a competion who can make the best roasties, he wonders how i do them so nice i got this idea from the bbc food website its how Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall does his

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/perfectroastpotatoes_13801.shtml

Amanda65

I saw a tip on hear a few weeks ago that recommended par boiling then cooling pots and when cold freeze them. On Xmas day apparently it takes half an hour from frozen into boiling oil(sounds like torture!) Have out some in freezer today to do a test run this weekend as I can ever get my spuds nice on Christmas day even though I do nothing different to the rest of the year - and it's one less pan to wash up on the day if it works!

trippy

If you put too much salt in the water then the cell walls rupture and the salty water will be absorbed. Also, as you drain the spuds, the hot water evaporates leaving salt on the outside. This will be very noticeable if you add too much salt to the water. That's why I suggested washing them quickly after cooking but this shouldn't be necessary if you get the salt content of the water just right before you cook them.
As far as removing salt from soups goes, I have tried this a number of times in the past and it's never worked for me! I'm on a mission now. I'm going to find out the best way to remove salt from salty soups...

chardonnay_2

what i don't like about frozen roasties is the bag is full of various sizes,including huge ones that you would not make yourself, which do not cook as well as the little ones