Proper roasted potatoes

[Cheshire Cat]

Surely roast potatoes are cooked in an oven and not deep fat fried. The latter would be deep fat fried potatoes .

 

[Stevieboy]

Here's how I do mine :

Walk to the Carvery.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Cooling between the cooks is definitely a must do step. One thing I also do once I have cut my tatties is soak them in cold water, sometimes over night to get rid of excess starch. I think theres a gain to made there on crispiness too.

 

[Hanglow]

I admire your dedication

I par boil , drain and let cool until they stop steaming, toss them in a pan with remilled semolina flour and seasonings, then bake at about 220c in beef dripping/goose fat or if not available I would use normal light oil then with about twenty minutes left add a fair bit of butter and garlic/herbs etc.

For mash, a nice floury potato, simmer untill just done, well drain, put back on heat with a **** ton of butter and mash until smooth but don't overmash. Then season. Never use milk/cream, just lots of butter.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I admire your dedication

I par boil , drain and let cool until they stop steaming, toss them in a pan with remilled semolina flour and seasonings, then bake at about 220c in beef dripping/goose fat or if not available I would use normal light oil then with about twenty minutes left add a fair bit of butter and garlic/herbs etc.

For mash, a nice floury potato, simmer untill just done, well drain, put back on heat with a **** ton of butter and mash until smooth but don't overmash. Then season. Never use milk/cream, just lots of butter.

For me, butter is good but double cream is better. The seasoning though is crucial - keep adding salt and tasting, there comes a point when the mash suddenly tastes amazing.

 

[DocAnna]

For mash, a nice floury potato, simmer untill just done, well drain, put back on heat with a **** ton of butter and mash until smooth but don't overmash. Then season. Never use milk/cream, just lots of butter.

If we are going to move on to mash. Key for me is to boil in large pieces ie either whole potatoes, or halved large ones length ways. Start in cold water to ensure the potatoes cook through without the outside being watery. I use a potato ricer for mashing. Avoid over beating the mash as it will develop a glue like structure which can't be recovered from. To keep mixing to a minimum, melt the butter and milk or cream in the microwave so it's hot when you add it and takes less mixing to distribute. Seasoning and additions including salt, pepper, wholegrain mustard or chopped spring onions can be added to the melted mix as well before adding to the potatoes again to ensure consistent distribution.

I appreciate I'm coming across as a bit potato obsessed ... I just like to make sure my family are happy with home cooking!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Rick Stein uses an electric whisk and other chefs bake the whole potato then scoop out the centre to ensure it’s not watery.

 

[Sadfield]

If we're going mash, its Stoemp seasoned with Thyme, Bay and Nutmeg, over Pomme Puree, for me.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Rick Stein uses an electric whisk and other chefs bake the whole potato then scoop out the centre to ensure it’s not watery.

Bake the tatties and use a ricer is the absolute best way to do it, if you have the time.

But eith mash more than any other type of potato IMO, a much bigger % of the final result is the tatties itself. You can bake and rice a ***** tattie, and get mash that isnt that good, or you can half arsedly do a good tattie and get bafflingly good results.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

We’ve got a ricer must have used it at least 3or4 times in 5+ years
only do mash when making a fish pie.

 

[Stevieboy]

Mash is a complete waste of a potato.

 

[Stu's Brews]

I found that the type of potato you use can make a massive difference to the quality of your roasties. I always use Albert Bartlett Rooster potatoes now as they seem to always work well. I parboil them for 10 minutes, give them a good shake in a colander and then roast for about 45 minutes. They end up nice and crisp on the outside but with a soft, fluffy centre.

 

[Cwrw666]

I'm a lazy bugger - I use unpeeled spuds, chop into lumps unpeeled, wet them with veg oil and stick them in the pan under the meat.
My son in law insists on doing them `properly' but TBH mine are better.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Mentioned above that if you don't make mashed potatoes right, they can get gluey.
That's not an understatement. It's what happened to mine the first time and they became so dense and gluey it was ridiculous. I felt I had discovered some new patching for holes in the wall, roads or rooves.
Those might make good, fried, potato balls if some spices or something were added.

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

If we're going mash, its Stoemp seasoned with Thyme, Bay and Nutmeg, over Pomme Puree, for me.

We made Stoemp a few months ago for Belgian Day it was excellent.

It's like mash with a massive upgrade lol


We make normal mash with fried onions and horseradish, mash by itself is very boring.

 

[Redwulf]

This became an obsession for me a few years ago and I managed to wean the kids off aunt bessies and onto my real ones.

Potato choice is important, you really want King Edwards or Maris Pipers peel and cut them in to a roughly uniform size and only do as many as you can fit in the your tin/dish without stacking them.

As you peel them soak them in cold water and then rinse them before bring them to the boil and simmering for 10-15 mins adding a pinch of salt (Maris only need 10 mins, KE's need 15). Drain them in a colander and give them a good shake to rough them up.

Put 3-4 Table spoons of oil (50/50 veg and Olive Oil or 100% Goosefat) into a roasting tray and heat that in the oven for 5 mins, then add the potatoes and toss them with oil....

I'm sure its possible to do that without burning yourself but I've never managed it. If you must add garlic/herbs etc at this point. Then Sling them in the oven 30 mins before the meat is done.

Tossing them again after 20 mins or so (less chance of burns this time) . When the meat comes out of the oven up the oven to 200c-210c for the yorkshires and before you put the yorkshires in just press the potatoes with a masher to gentle break the edges a bit, toss them again and put them back in.

20 mins or so later (22 mins in my oven) they will be spot on when the Yorkshires are ready.

 

[Hanglow]

I hate pureed potatoes, any time I've had them including high end restaurants they remind me of rehydrated smash from school.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

He knows how to make perfect mashed potatoes

 

[Donegal john]

If we are going to move on to mash. Key for me is to boil in large pieces ie either whole potatoes, or halved large ones length ways. Start in cold water to ensure the potatoes cook through without the outside being watery. I use a potato ricer for mashing. Avoid over beating the mash as it will develop a glue like structure which can't be recovered from. To keep mixing to a minimum, melt the butter and milk or cream in the microwave so it's hot when you add it and takes less mixing to distribute. Seasoning and additions including salt, pepper, wholegrain mustard or chopped spring onions can be added to the melted mix as well before adding to the potatoes again to ensure consistent distribution.

I appreciate I'm coming across as a bit potato obsessed ... I just like to make sure my family are happy with home cooking!

Ahh but if we start adding spring onion we move into the “champ” territory and that’s a whole different ball game.

 

[Nicks90]

Mash spuds should always be done with a ricer and not a masher, salt and pepper and an enormous block of butter.

I love jazzing it up with fried/burnt bacon bits, onion or spring onion and herbs etc, but that's really straying away from the pure essence of mash!