There are a lot of opinions on how to make the best roast potatoes, but there seems to be a consensus between two top chefs on one key step in the process.
Roast potatoes are a beloved part of any British Sunday roast, and while there’s plenty of debate on the best way to prepare them, two top chefs seem to agree on one crucial step. Tommy Heaney, the chef at Heaneys in Cardiff, shared his usual method — parboiling the potatoes and roughing them up for extra crunch — before revealing a secret tip.
To guarantee the perfect roasties every single time you make them, he suggests chilling the spuds before cooking.
Describing his technique to Express.co.uk, Chef Heaney said: “Treat your roasties like triple-cooked chips. Parboil the potatoes, strain them, pop them back in the pot [with the] lid back on and give the pot a good shake to ruffle them up.”
He continued: “Chill in the fridge until the next day. Then fry in your roasting tray with plenty of oil or fat until coloured all over. Add garlic and rosemary, and then finish in the oven on a high heat.”
Michelin-starred chef Mark Poynton, who recently opened Ancient Shepherds in Fen Ditton, Cambridge, also advocates for cooling down parboiled potatoes.
Chef Poynton advised that the potatoes should first be parboiled in “heavily-salted water” then, once drained, left to “steam dry” on a cooling rack.
Once the spuds have reached room temperature, the potatoes should be placed “in the freezer for 30 minutes”.
While this differs from placing the potatoes in the fridge overnight, whichever method you choose will ensure that the spuds are no longer warm before going into the oven.
And this could be news to many home cooks, who may have originally baked the potatoes while they were still warm.
The final steps involve pre-heating a deep roasting tray drizzled in vegetable oil in the oven at 200 °C, and adding the chilled potatoes to the hot oil.
“Roast the potatoes [and] turn gently every five minutes till golden all over,” chef Poynton advised.