Her roast potatoes look amazing (Stock Image) (Image: Getty)
If you’ve always dreamed of making the perfect roast potatoes, but never quite been able to execute it for yourself, then one has the method that you’ve been waiting for.
Until the summer comes, it’s roast potato season, and if you want your roasties golden brown, with a delightful crispy crunch but to be flavourful and soft on the inside, then @theculinarycartel has just the method that is foolproof. “Golden, crunchy, and perfectly seasoned, these roast are the ultimate side dish for any occasion,” she wrote as part of the caption.
“Serve them alongside your favourite roast, or eat them straight from the pan—I won’t judge,” she continued. The chef also shared that the prep will take you just 15 minutes, and then they’ll need to be for an hour and 15 – but it’s a small price to pay for how amazing they’re guaranteed to be when they’re hot and fresh out of the oven.
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She said that she was going to “dive into some potato science,” but told people to “trust her” because it was actually “really simple”. All you need to do is add a magic ingredient – baking soda.
“Start with cold, salted water and add a touch of baking soda. This raises the alkalinity of the water, making the pectin on the exterior of the potato break down,” she explained. “Basically, baking soda creates more texture, which means more area to get crispy.”
Then, you need to “cool your potatoes, then cover in a mix of duck fat and oil, cook undisturbed for a few minutes and then flip and continue to roast”. She described the potato skin as a “perfect crust” once she’d taken them out of the oven.
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In the comments, someone asked: “Can I just use normal oil or does it make a difference?”
She responded: “A high smoke oil like rapeseed or peanut is fine. Just don’t use olive oil. Duck/chicken/ beef drippings gives a great flavour”. “Thoughts on potatoes in an air fryer?” a keen home cook wondered.
“Really good! Same principles as these. But you can only make small batches as they need space to get crisp,” she responded.
Will you be trying to get your potatoes perfectly crisp like these? Let us know in the comments…