[Allie_D]

Just as Unatheowl has difficulty getting pork crackling right, I have the same issue with roast potatoes.

I've done them every way possible!

* Boiling them and then finishing them off in the oven
* Coating them with olive oil and salt and baking them
* Cooking them in dripping
* Cooking them in duck fat

All are ok, but have been nothing magical.

So how do you make perfect roast potatoes?

This post has been edited by Allie_D: 24/12/2012, 01:09 PM

[amabanana]

I do them like this:

Boil first for about 10 mins.
Drain and let the steam off for about 15 mins. (You want to get rid of as much moisture as possible.)
Gently toss with some butter, olive oil (or duck fat), a dusting of finely milled flour and salt (and maybe some ground rosemary if eating with lamb, sage for pork, garlic etc).
Cook in the oven at 170-180 until golden, turning a couple of times during cooking.

[CharliMarley]

I have just discovered Jamie Oliver's roast potatoes and I am going to cook them like this on Christmas Day:

Par-boil the potatoes first and this gives them a "scrappy" surface.
Place in a baking dish and sprinkle Olive Oil and any herbs you may have e.g. rosemary.
Cook in a hot oven to what you would do ordinary roast potatoes.
Take them out of the oven and squash every one of the potatoes with a masher to flatten them out and this gives them more of a crunchy surface.
Turn them over once and when cooked place on an ordinary oven proof plate and keep warm in the oven.

I found this recipe amazing and I have been cooking for 50 years.

[nicknick]

Vegetable oil, salt & pepper, garlic - yum

[greengoddess]

After you've parboiled them and let them sit to lose some of the moisture, put them in a colander and toss them around to sort of fluff up the edges, then coat in whatever oil/fat you're using. The fluffed up edges makes for a crispier roast potato.

[NotBitzerMaloney]

Another one who says boil them, smash them, put them in a HOT oven with oil/fat/butter of your choice

[Azadel]

Which potatoes are you using, some roast better than others. Russet makes lovely mash but doesn't roast well I find.

[FiveAus]

I cook them in the oven, 180 C, from raw, in some oil and sprinkled with salt. Turn occasionally.
When they are cooked through, put them on a raised rack, turn the oven to 230 C, and blast them with heat for a few minutes. The outside will be lovely and crispy and the inside will be light and fluffy.

[*CalamityJane*]

Which potatoes are you using, some roast better than others. Russet makes lovely mash but doesn't roast well I find.

Agreed. I use Royal (the dark purple ones). I roast them on a rack after tossing them in olive oil and salt. Not too much oil, and make sure they are not touching each other if possible.

[davalli]

try Hasselback Potatoes...make sure you get the seasoning all the way down into the slits...works a treat!