So I watched Jamie Oliver. That's what he does. Par boils the potatoes, puts them in a colander, shakes them around, to rough up the edges, and then roasts. And yeah, then you get the crispy outer edges... But I love all Marion's videos. You're the bomb, Marion!!! And I love how you also can't do maths.... I just can't do math!! Like WTH - it's cooking, it's about love and passion 😂🤣🥰
This the exact way I do roast potatoes but I use duck fat or schmaltz. I also add rosemary, garlic and lemon to the boiling water so the whole potatoes are impregnated with flavour not just the surface! Love your videos Marion!
"Infused" with flavour might be a slightly better term than "impregnated" 😆... but I appreciate the enthusiasm and the advice: rosemary, garlic and lemon sound like awesome flavours to add! ❤
@@mysticseraph2213, Haha! Impregnate is exactly what I meant and in this case, it’s the correct use of the word 😂. "If someone or something impregnates a thing with a substance, they make the substance spread through it and stay in it." You can also try adding a little chicken stock to the boiling water- did that tonight and the spuds turned out beautifully! 😉
I roast potatoes the way my mother did! Roast them in the same pan as a roast of meat. (beef, pork, chicken or turkey) Roll the parboiled potatoes in whatever fat is in the pan. They always come out delicious.
That's what I do. I only ever make roast potatoes when I'm making a roast chicken or roast lamb. Personally, I don't like crispy roast potatoes, so I simply quarter my potatoes, and place them underneath my lamb or chicken, and once the meat is done, remove that, let it rest, but carry on roasting the potatoes in the oven, and keep on drizzling the meat fat over them, till they are golden juicy brown. Then I remove them, and make the most absolutely delicious gravy from the meat and potato fats in the pan.... Just beyond delicious 😋
We in the UK, do the prep totally different. We find that Maris Pipers (Sebago) work well. Boil with salt only, these spuds until soft, then drain into a collinder (plastic one works well) then swirl the hot spuds around the collinder until the edges are fluffy (set aside). Heat a tray of oil (crisp & dry oil works well) in the oven. After the oil is hot, transfer the fluffy spuds in to the oil. At this point you should hear the potatoes sizzle in the tray. Transfer back into the oven on the top shelf and after seeing them browning, turn and baste the spuds with the hot oil. After baking, you should get crisp and crunchy roast potatoes on the outside and soft inside. Remember, it's the fluffiness from swirling of the boiled spuds, that gives the crispy edges to the toast potatoes. By the way, Beef Dripping works very well. Let the beef roast on the metal grills, place the roasting tin with some oil for the potatoes under the grill tray holding the beef to collect the dripping juices from the beef while it's cooking. Then when it time to roast the spuds, place and toss the spuds in the tray of beef dripping and hot oil, making sure that they are fully coated and still fluffy. PERFECT ROAST SPUDS !! 😇😇😇😇
YES TO THE COLANDER!!! I would also say that the best roast potatoes (although I'm not sure which kind of potato) I've ever eaten were cooked this way but with goose fat. Omg.
I second the goose fat, after removing them from the fat to drain I also sprinkle with sea salt, unfortunately I’m now forced to make roast potatoes for any family gathering, my family just can’t get enough.
Yes, par boil the potatoes use duck or goose fat, use a fork or shake potatoes in a pan to get raggy edges put in very hot oil turn potatoes once and keep basting them!
Marion - You crack me up! 😂 Will have my husband watch this video as he LOVES roasted potatoes and favors parboiling! Thanks for doing all the hard work and testing all options. You ROCK! 🙌
Quick note about the baking soda: If you review the serious eats recipe, there's a step that you missed in your experiment: when you toss the parcooked, baking soda potatoes with your fat/salt/papper, you are meant to be a bit rough with it. The soda breaks down the starches on the outer layer and the rough toss halps that along. That way when it goes into the oven you have this craggly texture which helps with crunchiness.
I was about to write the same thing. It’s all about making a pasty (craggly in Marion speak!) surface. That gives extra depth to the crunch. I’ve done it and it totally works.
@@AndDiracisHisProphet it does but not as well. The potatoes have a tendency to break off little bits where when you use baking soda (and the actual amount is much less than in this video, yet again translating things between imperial and metric goes awry!) it makes the outer layer mushy so when you shake it makes a pasty surface that is light and fluffy and absorbs oil.
I loved this ,I’ve been doing it wrong as well,I now parboil for 10 mins and vigorously shake the pot then put in oven sprinkled with vegetable oil .they come out crunchy I use red potatoes.
I always use Agria potatoes, parboil for 7-8 mins until just the outer part of the potato is knife tender (not right the way through), drain off all the water, pop the pot lid back on & shake the pot with vigor so that they are fluffy. Pop then on a hot oiled baking tray, salt them & cook at 200°C for like an hour. Perfect every time 😁
The only step you missed that I love is kind of smashing the potato a bit after parboil. It creates more crevices, more surface area for crunch, and gives it a bit of a nicer texture. Parboil with water + salt, smash a little bit, bake in whatever is your fat (I think bacon fat would be best, or lard like you said), and salt and add some basic herbs. I think also double baking might also work like double fried fries.
The texture of the bicarb batch may be an issue with your conversion of the quart to litre amount. If the original is in U.S. 2 quarts, then that would be the equivalent of 1.89 litres. So 1/2 tsp would have worked fine for 2 litres as well. By adding 4 tsp, you have increased the ratio 8 times the needed amount. Baking soda (bicarb) increases the alkalinity which helps with the browning.
Aha! So that would explain the slightly slimy texture. I still thought the browning/crisping was too marginal to recommend as a necessary ingredient if you're using the lard though :-)
Hi Marion, OK, this has taken me 20 years to perfect Floury Potato (English floury potatoes "Maris Piper") English Chips are also made with these potatoes !!! Power Boil in salted water (WITH 1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda), boil for 12-14 minutes, do the knife test ! Throw into a colander, toss about with some dried paprika so edges get rough and colo(u)red, leave to cool until just warm !!! (VERY IMPORTANT) Heat oven to 210-220 C Heat Duck Fat in a METAL baking tray, leave in oven for 10-15 min Trow potatoes into duck fat and quickly toss so they are all coated Place in oven for 25 - 35 min, checking from time to time
I've been cooking them with beef fat lately - IMO it beats lard!! Another tip I read about and use is to roughly shake up the potatoes just after you boiled them to make the edges very rough and THEN put a little bicarb on before baking. Also in the UK we usually cook them swimming in about .5cm of preheated fat, turning once or twice
For me the secret was after par boiling you leave them overnight in the fridge. I am guessing in the fridge the surface dries out. Before using this step i could never get crunchy roast potatoes
I love your test series keep dishing them out :) I remember your ultimate roast chicken and steaks episodes which helped me a lot to pick the best ways of cooking,good job Marion and thanks :)
Brilliant Marion and the results are interesting, thanks a lot for your great effort. I usually par-boil with bi-carbonate, drain the potatoes and give them a rough shake in a casserole which will disintegrate the surface and makes it crunchier. Then add flavored olive oil (flavored with anchovy + garlic + rosemary). More time in the oven makes a great difference.
I used to avoid roasting potatoes. They never seemed worth it. After watching this video, I gave it a go using your method. WOW! Life changing. I now make these once a week. My husband says "thank you!". It crazy to think I avoided these. I love them now. Do you have a similar video on roasting pumpkin? I'd love to take my roasted pumpkin game to the next level but not sure what to try. I tend use Kent pumpkin and Cumin spice (both ground & whole seeds).
hi Marion, I love this type of video from you! I can't wait to start roasting potatoes now, and all I could think about while watching this was, 'I'm going to eat some roast potatoes now!'
Hi Marion, I've learnt so much from your channel regarding Asia cuisine and enjoyed this video. I'm British and used to watch my mum in my teens when she cooked the Sunday roast. 1. Par boil (8-10 mins) King Edward potatoes with salt. 2. Sieve in a colander and give a good shake to rough the edges. 3. Let them cool down. 4. By this time your roast joint ( beef is my favourite) would have been in the oven for about an hour, rendering its fat and seasoning to the roasting try. 5. Add the potatoes to the same try and base them in the fat. Turning them once browned and basing them again. I used to ❤ my mum's roast dinner's, she also made the gravy from the remaining juices in the bottom of the pan. Maybe you should try Beef dripping/Tallow.
Loved this. I guess I'm saving my duck fat for something else! Perhaps do a mashed potatoes episode using same idea, boiled v steamed, & then ricer v masher etc...thank you for making cooking so fun!
Ok, so this is the first video I'm watching on your channel! Really good experiment! However... When you get the potatoes with the baking soda out of the water, you're supposed to toss them in the bowl a bit so that their surface becomes sort of craggy. And you then let them cool down on a wire rack so that the majority of moisture evaporates. These two things will result in maximum crunch factor!
My grandmother taught me to always use lard for most thing to be honest, but especially potato's. When making pies for example rather than oil or butter to grease the base and sides of the tin we use lard, it gives a better alround performance while cooking the base pastry, more colour, more flavour and pastry is just better cooked. The kids have been experimenting with using flavoured lard, current favouritea are, chilli lard, garlic herb lard. Chilli lard is made the same as chilli oil just using melted lard rather than liquid oil. The garlic herb lard is made by gently poaching gloves of garlic and herbs in the melted lard. The herbs are discarded but the garlic cloves are made into a spread/paste for toast and a knob can be added to plain boiled potatoes/veges with butter and herbs.
I've been roasting spuds for decades. I've found that a combination of vegetable oil (rapeseed) and butter make the best roast potatoes. Par-boiling is also crucial. So you're basically right but you need to use oil and butter. You also need enough oil and butter in your tray to cover the bottom quarter inch of each potato. Turn half way through cooking.
I always par boil my potatoes, then drain and let them dry add my oil , and seasonings on and then cook them , come out really good 👍great testing Marion 🤩
Use floury potatoes, peel and steam until the outside starts to flake (rather than par-boil), allow them to steam dry off the heat after they are cooked, then toss GENTLY in melted goose or duck fat to coat and roast until they are so crispy they shatter when you poke them with a fork.
A sprinkling of semolina on the potatoes before they go in the oven helps with crunch. Make sure your oven is hot and your tray retains heat well. My best roasts have been done in a cast iron frypan in the oven, but its not big enough for the 2kg+ my lot eat. The Falcon enamel roasting tray are great.
The time I like making roast potatoes the most is when I make bone broth in the instant pot with bones from my butcher's Aberdeen Angus herd. I normally get at least 500ml of fat from the process which I keep in the fridge. Now, that is the stuff for potatoes and Yorkshire puds!
Best I've made was when I was making a too large meatloaf. I put it in the big roaster so I could then place the potatoes around the meatloaf. Then I used a potato seasoning mix. Plus I think I turned them when I removed the top foil to crust my meatloaf. They were sooo good coated in the meatloaf juices. It made a wonderful crust on them. Thankfully I had my friend over & was able to pass off a bunch of meat loaf & potatoes to him. Even still we were both eating it for days.
The point of parboiling (no more than 7 mins) is to soften the outside so you can chuff (yes chuff - that's the UK technical term!) them up in the pan or in a colander so you get lots of edges that will crisp up and get really crunchy. for added crunch add a spoon or two of plain flour or semolina when you chuff them. For fat you can't beat Goose fat and it should be ultra hot before you add the potatoes and get them coasted in the fat and stick them in a 210-220 C oven for 20 mins then toss around and another 20-30 mins until their done.
The par boil time depends on what potatoes you're using. With Maris Piper 5 to7 minutes is fine. If you're using more waxy potatoes then you might need much more.
I use dripping on Kestrals or Low Carb. My Italian grandmother said to never use olive oil to roast veg. It doesn't leave a crunchy crust. I par boil and toss vigorously to roughen the surface. Then cook in the oven.
This is the second video today that I've got the answer within 60 seconds. It's the bi-carb and par-boiling. I've been doing that for years and it gets amazing results. I think you might want to reduce the amount of bi-carb you're using. I only use about 1/4 teaspoon per 2 quarts.
Marion may not be necessary to parboil potatoes before roasting, try placing them in oven before preheat, that way potatoes reach temperature evenly ( lard / oil etc at this stage),once oven temp is correct toss potatoes in seasoning (salt) and roast further as usual turning every 15 mins
Lard smells a little funky when it's heated to cooking temperature but it's really a great fat for roasting potatoes. Imparts virtually no flavour and performs incredibly well. It's my go to fat for spuds and has been for years now. Goose fat or beef dripping are great too but for that glassy crunch Lard is just ahead. I'll normally use Maris Piper, but at Christmas I like to get the Cyprus potatoes - the ones you see with the red clay soil. Great flavour and they work brilliantly. Add a good amount of lard to the roasting dish and preheat at 230 celsius. Cut the potatoes fairly small and irregular then parboil. Drain and allow them to steam off for about 5 - 10 minutes until they get to that fluffy white looking stage as they dry. Back to the dry pan, add a good amount of salt and pepper, and a teaspoon or two of English Mustard flour. Cover with the lid and give them a really good shake to coat and bash up all the edges. Carefully add them to the hot fat and, using a couple of serving spoons, toss them all so they are coated, make sure they are spread evenly and not too overcrowded. After 25 minutes remove from the oven and add fresh rosemary leaves and whole garlic cloves which have marinated in a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar with some more salt and pepper - add the lot, vinegar included! Toss them all again and ensure the crispy sides are up. Back to the oven for another 25 minutes or so until they are golden and crispy. The cider vinegar cooks off almost immediately but will impart a little high note to the flavour, they'll not be vinegary in the slightest. It's magic.
Excellent video! I learned something new. I will make these with butter cause I don’t have lard and will add some minced garlic, thyme and rosemary. Can’t wait!
I'd go olive oil and infuse it with aromatics for flavor. Putting saturated fat on carbs is horrible for you. I mean oil isn't great either but it's much better
The big secret to better bakes potatoes is to sprinkle them with powdered mustard before baking (and I'm saying that as someone who hates mustard), it makes them perfect!
A quart and a liter are rather close in volume so I think you used a huge amount of bicarb, wonder if that's where the slimy texture came from. A slightly heaping 1/2 tsp of bicarb per 2 liters of water would get you closer to the alkalinity from Kenji's recipe.
If you're talking about US quarts, that's a quarter gallon, so you might be using way too much baking soda. US quart is about 1 litre (946 mL), so you'd still use half a teaspoon in 2 litres of water.
Very interesting. Here in the UK beef dripping makes a superb roast spud, and King Edward is the best roasting potato (parboil first). I always roast them around a chicken or beef joint.
Marion, I know this is unrelated but I've been using your stir-fry beef method(s) with kangaroo fillet steaks and you've got to try it. Better than any beef cut for the thin strip chinese/mongolian meals.
Vegetable oil perhaps with some lard or dripping too, but vegetable oil gives a great crunch. Bear in mind when cooking at high temps it is good to use fats that are better at cooking at high temp for longer periods.
Have you ever tried par-boiling and then instead of an oven cooking them in a deep fat fryer. You can flavour the vegetable oil if you want. It makes the most perfect roast potatoes….. providing that you use the correct potato to start with. Those Dutch ones would be perfect
You mjssed one important step with the soda to get them extra crunchy. After you cooked them in the soda water you put them into a bowl and toss them around for a bit. It gives them a very rough surface, and THEN you add fat and salt and put them into the oven. This guarantees the maximum level of crunchyness. Try it for yourself.
Russet potatoes, for sure. (Mehlig kochend, here in Germany) I use vinegar in the cooking water. Then shake 'em a bit in a steel calendar: the rough surface allows the surface more crisp. A shout out to Hayley (hope I didn't butcher her name, here): soo funny! As for the fat: I could think of rendered beef fat (referring to the Philly Cheese Steak recipe from Mike Greenfield (Brothers Green, back then)) and maybe also rendered bone marrow (referring to Guga/ sous vide everything). Should be worth, trying. Greetings from the far north of Germany! (You once asked, who is watching. And from where, around the globe.)
I love the idea of heating the pans before adding the fat. You could so easily toss herbs into the fat as you coat the potatoes to add a wonderful hint of flavor. And, NOTHING beats lard! Not even goose fat, which is better than duck fat in my opinion. Duck fat tends to gaminess, goose rarely does.
Best way to do roast potatoes in my opinion... par poil, add a little bit of semolina and salt and pepper and then shake them in the pot (with a lid) to bash the surface and get more sgraggly bit to add some crunch... then drop them in your preheated (220-230 C) oven dish full of already very hot goose fat (better than duck fat and more flavourful in my opinion and it really needs to be sizzling hot) to create instant frying of the outside. I guarantee those will be fantastic. If you're doing roast potatoes and you've got some vegetarian guests, you can replace the goodse fat with a vegetable shortening like Crisco or Trex (Trex is at least available in the UK). I got the best veggie results with Trex.
I use Desiree potatoes, no par-boiling, roast in same tray as meat (be it chicken, lamb or beef) with olive oil, only turn once, cook for 1hr(ish). I can't make enough to satisfy my lot.
You missed an important step with the baking soda potato’s, Kenji says to toss them in a bowl after boiling to give even more texture to the surface of the potato. Idk what you mean by slimy though, I’ve made the Kenji roasted potatoes tons of times and never have I felt there was anything slimy about them.
Thanks Marion - it’s’ really good idea to have some science testing to show off why this way is the best! About temperature - it’s always good to know if it’s fan forced oven or not?
Hi Marion. Luv your stuff.. always having a bit of fun while u 'do it'. Would luv to see a comparison at diff temperatures in the oven and compare your best roast potatoes with smashed potatoes. Super yum as well. My mum always swore by lard roasted potatoes (and they were damn good) and belgians .. who have the rep of the best chips in the world use beef tallow. Your potatoes looked amazing btw. I also agree with a lot of the comments. Rough up the potatoes a bit after par boiling. Make lots of little broken edges that soak the oil and become super crispy!! Best bits! whole new vid idea - pork lard vs beef tallow. - diff temps of the oven. - diff salts or seasonings with rosemary, garlic,, thyme, sea salt, kosher salt, etc..
one important thing about the boiling you missed you need to rinse after boiling to really get rid of the outer starch but the more important bit about the boiling is that you do it in salt water, so that the salt can seep into the tato else all you have is a salted edge instead of a salted tato
Any comments on what to do with the skin, I know some people parboil the potatoes with the skin on then peel them. Other people roast them with the skin on as well. How much of a difference does it make?
I'm wondering about the skin too! I usually half or quarter them into equal sizes first anyway so there won't be skin on all sides. Maybe I'll just give it a try next time I roast potatoes! 🤔
Romania has a trick rub the potatoes with corse salt and washed it down with water, path dry and cook it in oven with lard, garlic, black pepper and sweet paprika
No to bicarb and after par boiling, drain and put some fine semolina flour over the spuds, put the lid back on the pan and shake to ruff the edges and disperse the semolina flour, season and roast in your fav fat, halfway through baste and add unpeeled garlic cloves to the oil, best roast potatoes in the world xx
Love the video but you should try the Nigella Lawson way with semolina After par boiling shake them in the same hot pan (minus the water) with a bit of semolina to coat them, then put in the oven. They come out really crispy & soft in the middle
I love to take new baby red or Yukon potatoes, boil in salted water until just tender, drain and get the water off, put on baking sheet with melted butter and lightly smash with a glass make sure butter is on both sides and I then finish in the air fryer. Soft middle and crunchy outside.
1. Using 1 teaspoon of bicarb would have been enough… the idea is that you can get a ‘fluffable’ outer layer quicker during par-boil, which means you can remove them sooner, and will lose less potatoes while fluffing… (it is not necessary, just cut more potatoes and make a mash side dish with the ones you lose) 2. You didn’t season your water for the par-boil, so all of your roasties would be grim tbh … sorry, it’s harsh but true! 3. You didn’t fluff your spuds! So you achieved the minimal crispness possible. Extra tips: why not parboil with a bulb of garlic, then add thyme or rosemary to the pan for the last ten minutes of roasting… Use lower starch potatoes. Soak your cut potatoes in water overnight to remove as much starch as possible. Choose fat’s with high smoke point. Preheat the fat, so spuds sizzle in the tray when you put them in. Pour hot fat onto spuds also, instead of rolling them in the tray… (to ‘set’ the fluffy crunchy bits instead of flattening them!) Now make another video… and let’s see Russets vs Agria potatoes for a US vs EU battle of the tatties! 💪 😅
You should shake the par boiled potatoes in the empty pan to rough up the edges. Then roast. The distressed surfaces make them more crispy
Then put them straight in to a pan of hot fat.
@@Bay312 So they won't stick.
@@michaelplunkett8059 so all the bashed edges get extra crispy
So I watched Jamie Oliver. That's what he does. Par boils the potatoes, puts them in a colander, shakes them around, to rough up the edges, and then roasts. And yeah, then you get the crispy outer edges... But I love all Marion's videos. You're the bomb, Marion!!! And I love how you also can't do maths.... I just can't do math!! Like WTH - it's cooking, it's about love and passion 😂🤣🥰
With those big thick glasses are you trying to be Heston’s girlfriend?
This the exact way I do roast potatoes but I use duck fat or schmaltz. I also add rosemary, garlic and lemon to the boiling water so the whole potatoes are impregnated with flavour not just the surface! Love your videos Marion!
"Infused" with flavour might be a slightly better term than "impregnated" 😆... but I appreciate the enthusiasm and the advice: rosemary, garlic and lemon sound like awesome flavours to add! ❤
@@mysticseraph2213, Haha! Impregnate is exactly what I meant and in this case, it’s the correct use of the word 😂. "If someone or something impregnates a thing with a substance, they make the substance spread through it and stay in it." You can also try adding a little chicken stock to the boiling water- did that tonight and the spuds turned out beautifully! 😉
I roast potatoes the way my mother did! Roast them in the same pan as a roast of meat. (beef, pork, chicken or turkey) Roll the parboiled potatoes in whatever fat is in the pan. They always come out delicious.
Me too, it's our favorite dinner.
Good call from your mum!
I do the same and my mother showed me that but she also cooked the roast in dripping back in the 60s & 70s CHEERS 🍺🍺🍺
That's what I do. I only ever make roast potatoes when I'm making a roast chicken or roast lamb. Personally, I don't like crispy roast potatoes, so I simply quarter my potatoes, and place them underneath my lamb or chicken, and once the meat is done, remove that, let it rest, but carry on roasting the potatoes in the oven, and keep on drizzling the meat fat over them, till they are golden juicy brown. Then I remove them, and make the most absolutely delicious gravy from the meat and potato fats in the pan.... Just beyond delicious 😋
We in the UK, do the prep totally different. We find that Maris Pipers (Sebago) work well. Boil with salt only, these spuds until soft, then drain into a collinder (plastic one works well) then swirl the hot spuds around the collinder until the edges are fluffy (set aside). Heat a tray of oil (crisp & dry oil works well) in the oven. After the oil is hot, transfer the fluffy spuds in to the oil. At this point you should hear the potatoes sizzle in the tray. Transfer back into the oven on the top shelf and after seeing them browning, turn and baste the spuds with the hot oil. After baking, you should get crisp and crunchy roast potatoes on the outside and soft inside. Remember, it's the fluffiness from swirling of the boiled spuds, that gives the crispy edges to the toast potatoes. By the way, Beef Dripping works very well. Let the beef roast on the metal grills, place the roasting tin with some oil for the potatoes under the grill tray holding the beef to collect the dripping juices from the beef while it's cooking. Then when it time to roast the spuds, place and toss the spuds in the tray of beef dripping and hot oil, making sure that they are fully coated and still fluffy. PERFECT ROAST SPUDS !! 😇😇😇😇
YES TO THE COLANDER!!! I would also say that the best roast potatoes (although I'm not sure which kind of potato) I've ever eaten were cooked this way but with goose fat. Omg.
I second the goose fat, after removing them from the fat to drain I also sprinkle with sea salt, unfortunately I’m now forced to make roast potatoes for any family gathering, my family just can’t get enough.
Yes, par boil the potatoes use duck or goose fat, use a fork or shake potatoes in a pan to get raggy edges put in very hot oil turn potatoes once and keep basting them!
Done exactly that today. Salt in the boiling water. Toss in a colander and cooked in olive oil, or rape seed oil.
Nice a crunchy.
@@chrissmith8686 That's great ! Try it cooking with beef dripping, it's another level in flavour !!
Marion - You crack me up! 😂 Will have my husband watch this video as he LOVES roasted potatoes and favors parboiling! Thanks for doing all the hard work and testing all options. You ROCK! 🙌
Quick note about the baking soda: If you review the serious eats recipe, there's a step that you missed in your experiment: when you toss the parcooked, baking soda potatoes with your fat/salt/papper, you are meant to be a bit rough with it. The soda breaks down the starches on the outer layer and the rough toss halps that along. That way when it goes into the oven you have this craggly texture which helps with crunchiness.
Exactly right!
I was about to write the same thing. It’s all about making a pasty (craggly in Marion speak!) surface. That gives extra depth to the crunch. I’ve done it and it totally works.
@@FairleyTrashed but would it also work without the soda?
@@AndDiracisHisProphet it does but not as well. The potatoes have a tendency to break off little bits where when you use baking soda (and the actual amount is much less than in this video, yet again translating things between imperial and metric goes awry!) it makes the outer layer mushy so when you shake it makes a pasty surface that is light and fluffy and absorbs oil.
@@FairleyTrashed yeah, i know his video. but never actually tried it. was just a hypothesis, bit thanks for the answer :)
I loved this ,I’ve been doing it wrong as well,I now parboil for 10 mins and vigorously shake the pot then put in oven sprinkled with vegetable oil .they come out crunchy I use red potatoes.
I always use Agria potatoes, parboil for 7-8 mins until just the outer part of the potato is knife tender (not right the way through), drain off all the water, pop the pot lid back on & shake the pot with vigor so that they are fluffy. Pop then on a hot oiled baking tray, salt them & cook at 200°C for like an hour. Perfect every time 😁
I also use Agria potatoes ;) they are the best for roasting and frying ;)
The only step you missed that I love is kind of smashing the potato a bit after parboil. It creates more crevices, more surface area for crunch, and gives it a bit of a nicer texture. Parboil with water + salt, smash a little bit, bake in whatever is your fat (I think bacon fat would be best, or lard like you said), and salt and add some basic herbs. I think also double baking might also work like double fried fries.
The texture of the bicarb batch may be an issue with your conversion of the quart to litre amount. If the original is in U.S. 2 quarts, then that would be the equivalent of 1.89 litres. So 1/2 tsp would have worked fine for 2 litres as well. By adding 4 tsp, you have increased the ratio 8 times the needed amount. Baking soda (bicarb) increases the alkalinity which helps with the browning.
Aha! So that would explain the slightly slimy texture. I still thought the browning/crisping was too marginal to recommend as a necessary ingredient if you're using the lard though :-)
Thank you lovely for going the extra mile for us so we can have the best roast potatoes ❤
as biochemist, high starch low sugar isn't a thing, starch may not be sweet in your mouth, but it's nothing but pure sugar once you eat it
Hi Marion,
OK, this has taken me 20 years to perfect
Floury Potato (English floury potatoes "Maris Piper") English Chips are also made with these potatoes !!!
Power Boil in salted water (WITH 1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda), boil for 12-14 minutes, do the knife test !
Throw into a colander, toss about with some dried paprika so edges get rough and colo(u)red, leave to cool until just warm !!! (VERY IMPORTANT)
Heat oven to 210-220 C
Heat Duck Fat in a METAL baking tray, leave in oven for 10-15 min
Trow potatoes into duck fat and quickly toss so they are all coated
Place in oven for 25 - 35 min, checking from time to time
Agree with everything except 'duck fat'. Beef dripping for me every time.
I've been cooking them with beef fat lately - IMO it beats lard!!
Another tip I read about and use is to roughly shake up the potatoes just after you boiled them to make the edges very rough and THEN put a little bicarb on before baking.
Also in the UK we usually cook them swimming in about .5cm of preheated fat, turning once or twice
I like to smash (not too hard) the potatoes after par boil, it gives a nice texture etc.
Also get a baking powder brand that has no aluminum because the metallic taste can come through.
For me the secret was after par boiling you leave them overnight in the fridge. I am guessing in the fridge the surface dries out. Before using this step i could never get crunchy roast potatoes
I love your test series keep dishing them out :) I remember your ultimate roast chicken and steaks episodes which helped me a lot to pick the best ways of cooking,good job Marion and thanks :)
Thank you for that experiment. I'll give it a try
such an interesting process development loved this episode so so much!!
I've been watching the food network for 35 years and I've never heard of these potato varieties. I guess you learn something new everyday.
Brilliant Marion and the results are interesting, thanks a lot for your great effort. I usually par-boil with bi-carbonate, drain the potatoes and give them a rough shake in a casserole which will disintegrate the surface and makes it crunchier. Then add flavored olive oil (flavored with anchovy + garlic + rosemary). More time in the oven makes a great difference.
I used to avoid roasting potatoes. They never seemed worth it. After watching this video, I gave it a go using your method. WOW! Life changing. I now make these once a week. My husband says "thank you!". It crazy to think I avoided these. I love them now. Do you have a similar video on roasting pumpkin? I'd love to take my roasted pumpkin game to the next level but not sure what to try. I tend use Kent pumpkin and Cumin spice (both ground & whole seeds).
Mash em boil em stick em in a stew!
Marion making this video just for me was so nice lol 😆
I just tried this with butter cuz I don’t have any lard. Boiling them 1st is now the only way I’ll be doing this. Thanks from Canada Marion.
Sounds like a method worth trying! The boiling is something very new to me prior to the baking.😊
Thank you for making cooking enjoyable, simple, approachable, and most of all fun!
Thank you for watching! :-)
hi Marion, I love this type of video from you! I can't wait to start roasting potatoes now, and all I could think about while watching this was, 'I'm going to eat some roast potatoes now!'
Hi Marion, I've learnt so much from your channel regarding Asia cuisine and enjoyed this video. I'm British and used to watch my mum in my teens when she cooked the Sunday roast.
1. Par boil (8-10 mins) King Edward potatoes with salt.
2. Sieve in a colander and give a good shake to rough the edges.
3. Let them cool down.
4. By this time your roast joint ( beef is my favourite) would have been in the oven for about an hour, rendering its fat and seasoning to the roasting try.
5. Add the potatoes to the same try and base them in the fat. Turning them once browned and basing them again.
I used to ❤ my mum's roast dinner's, she also made the gravy from the remaining juices in the bottom of the pan.
Maybe you should try Beef dripping/Tallow.
Loved this. I guess I'm saving my duck fat for something else! Perhaps do a mashed potatoes episode using same idea, boiled v steamed, & then ricer v masher etc...thank you for making cooking so fun!
Ok, so this is the first video I'm watching on your channel! Really good experiment! However... When you get the potatoes with the baking soda out of the water, you're supposed to toss them in the bowl a bit so that their surface becomes sort of craggy. And you then let them cool down on a wire rack so that the majority of moisture evaporates. These two things will result in maximum crunch factor!
Well done. Excellent testing and so thorough. Thank you
My grandmother taught me to always use lard for most thing to be honest, but especially potato's. When making pies for example rather than oil or butter to grease the base and sides of the tin we use lard, it gives a better alround performance while cooking the base pastry, more colour, more flavour and pastry is just better cooked. The kids have been experimenting with using flavoured lard, current favouritea are, chilli lard, garlic herb lard. Chilli lard is made the same as chilli oil just using melted lard rather than liquid oil. The garlic herb lard is made by gently poaching gloves of garlic and herbs in the melted lard. The herbs are discarded but the garlic cloves are made into a spread/paste for toast and a knob can be added to plain boiled potatoes/veges with butter and herbs.
I've been roasting spuds for decades. I've found that a combination of vegetable oil (rapeseed) and butter make the best roast potatoes. Par-boiling is also crucial. So you're basically right but you need to use oil and butter. You also need enough oil and butter in your tray to cover the bottom quarter inch of each potato. Turn half way through cooking.
I always par boil my potatoes, then drain and let them dry add my oil , and seasonings on and then cook them , come out really good 👍great testing Marion 🤩
Great fun to watch (and a few good chuckles!) and thanks for using such a precise method of evaluation!
Use floury potatoes, peel and steam until the outside starts to flake (rather than par-boil), allow them to steam dry off the heat after they are cooked, then toss GENTLY in melted goose or duck fat to coat and roast until they are so crispy they shatter when you poke them with a fork.
A sprinkling of semolina on the potatoes before they go in the oven helps with crunch. Make sure your oven is hot and your tray retains heat well. My best roasts have been done in a cast iron frypan in the oven, but its not big enough for the 2kg+ my lot eat. The Falcon enamel roasting tray are great.
The time I like making roast potatoes the most is when I make bone broth in the instant pot with bones from my butcher's Aberdeen Angus herd. I normally get at least 500ml of fat from the process which I keep in the fridge. Now, that is the stuff for potatoes and Yorkshire puds!
I'm going to try this method (without the lard) but it looks really delicious. Everything I've made by Marion hasn't failed me yet! ❤
Best I've made was when I was making a too large meatloaf. I put it in the big roaster so I could then place the potatoes around the meatloaf. Then I used a potato seasoning mix. Plus I think I turned them when I removed the top foil to crust my meatloaf. They were sooo good coated in the meatloaf juices. It made a wonderful crust on them.
Thankfully I had my friend over & was able to pass off a bunch of meat loaf & potatoes to him. Even still we were both eating it for days.
The point of parboiling (no more than 7 mins) is to soften the outside so you can chuff (yes chuff - that's the UK technical term!) them up in the pan or in a colander so you get lots of edges that will crisp up and get really crunchy. for added crunch add a spoon or two of plain flour or semolina when you chuff them. For fat you can't beat Goose fat and it should be ultra hot before you add the potatoes and get them coasted in the fat and stick them in a 210-220 C oven for 20 mins then toss around and another 20-30 mins until their done.
This guy potatoes.
The par boil time depends on what potatoes you're using. With Maris Piper 5 to7 minutes is fine. If you're using more waxy potatoes then you might need much more.
Thank you for this!
I've been roasting the Yukon forever. I'll add the boil and lard for the next batch.
I use dripping on Kestrals or Low Carb. My Italian grandmother said to never use olive oil to roast veg. It doesn't leave a crunchy crust. I par boil and toss vigorously to roughen the surface. Then cook in the oven.
Marion is officially the newly declared potato queen!
I'm a potato queen 🥔 but i don't limit myself
And that concludes it. Marion's Kitchen is the new Potato-WHATS THIS? ITS POPPY COOKS WITH A STEEL CHAIR
All hail potato queen WE ARE NOT WORTHY
@@alexabeyta3808 WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
@@izaakcurrie7657 HUUUUUHHHHH?!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Cooking these tonight! Following the best recipe you recommended 😊 looking good, should be ready in 15 minutes
My mother was from Sidney (a war bride who moved to the U.S.) and she and I used to love watching the Galloping Gourmet (Graham Kerr)
Sydney
@@kathleenjames1873 - Right you are. Sorry.
Omg love this type of videos. So educative!! 😍
thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks, Marion! Love this vlog. Will make this on my Aussie's partner birthday on the 28th.
This is the second video today that I've got the answer within 60 seconds. It's the bi-carb and par-boiling. I've been doing that for years and it gets amazing results. I think you might want to reduce the amount of bi-carb you're using. I only use about 1/4 teaspoon per 2 quarts.
Marion may not be necessary to parboil potatoes before roasting, try placing them in oven before preheat, that way potatoes reach temperature evenly ( lard / oil etc at this stage),once oven temp is correct toss potatoes in seasoning (salt) and roast further as usual turning every 15 mins
This was fascinating and also very helpful. Thank you.
Lard smells a little funky when it's heated to cooking temperature but it's really a great fat for roasting potatoes. Imparts virtually no flavour and performs incredibly well. It's my go to fat for spuds and has been for years now. Goose fat or beef dripping are great too but for that glassy crunch Lard is just ahead. I'll normally use Maris Piper, but at Christmas I like to get the Cyprus potatoes - the ones you see with the red clay soil. Great flavour and they work brilliantly. Add a good amount of lard to the roasting dish and preheat at 230 celsius. Cut the potatoes fairly small and irregular then parboil. Drain and allow them to steam off for about 5 - 10 minutes until they get to that fluffy white looking stage as they dry. Back to the dry pan, add a good amount of salt and pepper, and a teaspoon or two of English Mustard flour. Cover with the lid and give them a really good shake to coat and bash up all the edges. Carefully add them to the hot fat and, using a couple of serving spoons, toss them all so they are coated, make sure they are spread evenly and not too overcrowded. After 25 minutes remove from the oven and add fresh rosemary leaves and whole garlic cloves which have marinated in a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar with some more salt and pepper - add the lot, vinegar included! Toss them all again and ensure the crispy sides are up. Back to the oven for another 25 minutes or so until they are golden and crispy. The cider vinegar cooks off almost immediately but will impart a little high note to the flavour, they'll not be vinegary in the slightest. It's magic.
Excellent video! I learned something new. I will make these with butter cause I don’t have lard and will add some minced garlic, thyme and rosemary. Can’t wait!
I'd go olive oil and infuse it with aromatics for flavor. Putting saturated fat on carbs is horrible for you. I mean oil isn't great either but it's much better
Awesome! You just saved me hours, thank you, can't wait to try it!
Made these this last weekend with Yukon Gold potatoes and butter and dill. Best roasted potatoes ever! Husband agreed. 😊
The big secret to better bakes potatoes is to sprinkle them with powdered mustard before baking (and I'm saying that as someone who hates mustard), it makes them perfect!
A quart and a liter are rather close in volume so I think you used a huge amount of bicarb, wonder if that's where the slimy texture came from. A slightly heaping 1/2 tsp of bicarb per 2 liters of water would get you closer to the alkalinity from Kenji's recipe.
If you're talking about US quarts, that's a quarter gallon, so you might be using way too much baking soda. US quart is about 1 litre (946 mL), so you'd still use half a teaspoon in 2 litres of water.
Yeah she used 8 times too much baking soda!
Very interesting. Here in the UK beef dripping makes a superb roast spud, and King Edward is the best roasting potato (parboil first). I always roast them around a chicken or beef joint.
Love the BA inspired editing/formatting
Just watched this vid used these methods😮 and BRAVO 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 FANTASTIC!
Marion, I know this is unrelated but I've been using your stir-fry beef method(s) with kangaroo fillet steaks and you've got to try it. Better than any beef cut for the thin strip chinese/mongolian meals.
Cool!!!! I will try that Max! Thanks for letting me know!
Vegetable oil perhaps with some lard or dripping too, but vegetable oil gives a great crunch. Bear in mind when cooking at high temps it is good to use fats that are better at cooking at high temp for longer periods.
Next time, it should be a blind taste test for it to be more exciting lol
Loving the getting to see the test kitchen, so interesting!!💕💕💕
Have you ever tried par-boiling and then instead of an oven cooking them in a deep fat fryer. You can flavour the vegetable oil if you want. It makes the most perfect roast potatoes….. providing that you use the correct potato to start with. Those Dutch ones would be perfect
Thank you for your roast potatoes experiment. Nice to know I've been doing it right for years.
What is the best potatoes for mashing?
You mjssed one important step with the soda to get them extra crunchy. After you cooked them in the soda water you put them into a bowl and toss them around for a bit. It gives them a very rough surface, and THEN you add fat and salt and put them into the oven. This guarantees the maximum level of crunchyness. Try it for yourself.
P.S. add some rosemary if you like.
I always always parboil before baking. It yields the best texture
This is so good to know. I loved this! Very informative.
Now you need to try different salts 😊
LOVE THIS EPISODE!!!! THANK YOU!
Maris Piper potatoes, Beef dripping, par boil in salted water for about 5 minutes,drain and allow to
dry before adding them to hot fat.😊
"Marion does not sleep when trying to figure out the best ways to cook roasted potatoes " the number of 50mn in the oven😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 #loveya
Russet potatoes, for sure. (Mehlig kochend, here in Germany) I use vinegar in the cooking water. Then shake 'em a bit in a steel calendar:
the rough surface allows the surface more crisp. A shout out to Hayley (hope I didn't butcher her name, here): soo funny!
As for the fat: I could think of rendered beef fat (referring to the Philly Cheese Steak recipe from Mike Greenfield (Brothers Green, back then)) and maybe also rendered bone marrow (referring to Guga/ sous vide everything).
Should be worth, trying.
Greetings from the far north of Germany! (You once asked, who is watching. And from where, around the globe.)
A light sprinkling of semolina before tossing in the lard/duck fat and baking will also increase the crunch.
I love the idea of heating the pans before adding the fat. You could so easily toss herbs into the fat as you coat the potatoes to add a wonderful hint of flavor. And, NOTHING beats lard! Not even goose fat, which is better than duck fat in my opinion. Duck fat tends to gaminess, goose rarely does.
mixing some corn starch into the oil when your coating the potatoes always work for me especially if your air frying them
I always salt the parboiling water … same salt concentration as pasta water
Best way to do roast potatoes in my opinion... par poil, add a little bit of semolina and salt and pepper and then shake them in the pot (with a lid) to bash the surface and get more sgraggly bit to add some crunch... then drop them in your preheated (220-230 C) oven dish full of already very hot goose fat (better than duck fat and more flavourful in my opinion and it really needs to be sizzling hot) to create instant frying of the outside. I guarantee those will be fantastic.
If you're doing roast potatoes and you've got some vegetarian guests, you can replace the goodse fat with a vegetable shortening like Crisco or Trex (Trex is at least available in the UK). I got the best veggie results with Trex.
Dutch cream? Where I live you get Red,Yukon gold, or Russet potatoes, sometimes fingerlings.
😮 new to me definitely doing it tomorrow for a lovely Sunday lunch 👌😋🤤
Thank you Marion 🤗
I give the drained parboiled potatoes a wee shake in the pot before adding the fat. Gives a great crusty crispy finish.
I use Desiree potatoes, no par-boiling, roast in same tray as meat (be it chicken, lamb or beef) with olive oil, only turn once, cook for 1hr(ish). I can't make enough to satisfy my lot.
You missed an important step with the baking soda potato’s, Kenji says to toss them in a bowl after boiling to give even more texture to the surface of the potato.
Idk what you mean by slimy though, I’ve made the Kenji roasted potatoes tons of times and never have I felt there was anything slimy about them.
Thanks Marion - it’s’ really good idea to have some science testing to show off why this way is the best! About temperature - it’s always good to know if it’s fan forced oven or not?
A blend of bacon fat and butter vs. lard would be interesting.
Oh yes!!! I'm sure that would be awesome!
Thank you for the lesson!
Hi Marion. Luv your stuff.. always having a bit of fun while u 'do it'. Would luv to see a comparison at diff temperatures in the oven and compare your best roast potatoes with smashed potatoes. Super yum as well. My mum always swore by lard roasted potatoes (and they were damn good) and belgians .. who have the rep of the best chips in the world use beef tallow. Your potatoes looked amazing btw. I also agree with a lot of the comments. Rough up the potatoes a bit after par boiling. Make lots of little broken edges that soak the oil and become super crispy!! Best bits!
whole new vid idea
- pork lard vs beef tallow.
- diff temps of the oven.
- diff salts or seasonings with rosemary, garlic,, thyme, sea salt, kosher salt, etc..
one important thing about the boiling you missed
you need to rinse after boiling to really get rid of the outer starch
but the more important bit about the boiling is that you do it in salt water, so that the salt can seep into the tato
else all you have is a salted edge instead of a salted tato
Any comments on what to do with the skin, I know some people parboil the potatoes with the skin on then peel them. Other people roast them with the skin on as well. How much of a difference does it make?
I'm wondering about the skin too! I usually half or quarter them into equal sizes first anyway so there won't be skin on all sides. Maybe I'll just give it a try next time I roast potatoes! 🤔
Umm, we all need more of marions test kitchen
Romania has a trick rub the potatoes with corse salt and washed it down with water, path dry and cook it in oven with lard, garlic, black pepper and sweet paprika
50 MINUTES LATER!???
Hum! HOW ABOUT the TEMPERATURE!?
Or is that TOO difficult!? 😡
Geezus!!!
No to bicarb and after par boiling, drain and put some fine semolina flour over the spuds, put the lid back on the pan and shake to ruff the edges and disperse the semolina flour, season and roast in your fav fat, halfway through baste and add unpeeled garlic cloves to the oil, best roast potatoes in the world xx
Love the video but you should try the Nigella Lawson way with semolina
After par boiling shake them in the same hot pan (minus the water) with a bit of semolina to coat them, then put in the oven. They come out really crispy & soft in the middle
Boil first, Yukon golds are best! For fat, I love EVOO and Himalayan pink salt
I love to take new baby red or Yukon potatoes, boil in salted water until just tender, drain and get the water off, put on baking sheet with melted butter and lightly smash with a glass make sure butter is on both sides and I then finish in the air fryer. Soft middle and crunchy outside.
Beautiful bracelet. I’m thinking of getting one like that.
1. Using 1 teaspoon of bicarb would have been enough… the idea is that you can get a ‘fluffable’ outer layer quicker during par-boil, which means you can remove them sooner, and will lose less potatoes while fluffing… (it is not necessary, just cut more potatoes and make a mash side dish with the ones you lose)
2. You didn’t season your water for the par-boil, so all of your roasties would be grim tbh … sorry, it’s harsh but true!
3. You didn’t fluff your spuds! So you achieved the minimal crispness possible.
Extra tips: why not parboil with a bulb of garlic, then add thyme or rosemary to the pan for the last ten minutes of roasting…
Use lower starch potatoes.
Soak your cut potatoes in water overnight to remove as much starch as possible.
Choose fat’s with high smoke point.
Preheat the fat, so spuds sizzle in the tray when you put them in.
Pour hot fat onto spuds also, instead of rolling them in the tray… (to ‘set’ the fluffy crunchy bits instead of flattening them!)
Now make another video… and let’s see Russets vs Agria potatoes for a US vs EU battle of the tatties! 💪 😅