How to get the perfect crispy roast potatoes (picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
No Christmas dinner is complete without a roast potato. The crunch, the fluff – you can’t deny they’re just delicious.
But sometimes getting the perfect crispy outer layer of the potato can feel a bit hit and miss.
Then, you’re left with a potato that has no bite to it and that’s not going to make anyone’s mouth water.
Ahead of Christmas Day, Marc Williams, a cookery school director at five-star hotel The Grand in York, has shared the one common mistake people make that means their roast potatoes aren’t crispy.
If your process is peel, boil and chuck in the roasting pan, then you’re doing it wrong.
Chef Marc told the Daily Record: ‘To get the perfect potatoes, peel them, add them to cold water and bring them to a boil. Boil for around six minutes until the edges soften.
You can’t beat good crispy Roast Potatoes (picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
‘Then, strain them and wait until the steam stops. You’ll never get a crisp result if they are full of water.’
Basically if your potatoes are still steaming, don’t put them in the oven. But that’s not the only thing you can do to crisp those tatties up!
Apparently the key is in the seasoning and fat too.
Marc added: ‘Preheat your chosen fat in a hot oven – duck fat is my choice! Don’t forget to season the potatoes and then carefully add and baste them in the duck fat.
‘Roast for around twenty minutes in a hot oven before turning them over; this allows a crust to form underneath, so you won’t leave half the potato stuck to the tray.’
Can’t be bothered with the oven or don’t have enough space? Use an air fryer instead – we even managed to cook a whole Christmas dinner in one.
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Marc said: ‘They are fantastic for roast potatoes and cut down cooking times drastically. The air fryers with two sections are great for cooking at different temperatures. Try honey-glazed parsnips on one side at 180C and roast potatoes on the other at 200C.’
Poppy O’Toole, who is known on social media as ‘the potato queen’, previously spoke to Metro.co.uk about her favourite carb and shared her top tips for cooking in an air fryer.
Her biggest tip is not to overfill your air fryer with potatoes and to ensure you coat them in a spray of oil, or some other kind of fat.
She said: ‘Air fryers use hot air circulation to cook food but if it’s all layered and squashed together, you’ll be left with under cooked and steamed food, which is not ideal if you’re after a batch of golden and crispy potatoes.
‘Another piece of advice is to re-evaluate cooking times, the air fryer is an incredibly energy efficient piece of kitchen equipment that reduces cooking times.
‘It will normally come with a handy table of cooking times and temperatures for common foods but check online if you are unsure. You don’t want you to accidentally burn your festive feasts!’
Another golden nugget of advice Marc gave was that roast potatoes should actually be cooked on Christmas morning.
He explained: ‘Roast potatoes are done in the morning and heated back through.
‘Make a prep list of roughly how you’d like to plan the day and do everything you can in advance. Most of the things I make the day before and just heat back through.
‘The turkey should be resting for 30 minutes at least so you have plenty of time to get things back through the oven.’
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You’re missing one crucial step for the ultimate crispy potato.