Common roast potato mistake prevents them from crisping up - here's what to do instead
Roast potatoes are a classic choice to accompany Sunday roasts and just about any main dish. However, many find it challenging to achieve the perfect texture.
The ideal roast potato has that perfectly crispy and golden exterior, and fluffy inside, that can seem so tricky to achieve.
However, there seems to be one common mistake that can easily lead to soggy potatoes that don’t fully crisp up.
Regardless of how you choose to cook your potatoes, overcrowding the baking dish, frying pan, or air fryer basket will compromise their crispiness.
One problem you might encounter is the pieces sticking together during cooking, making them more likely to break apart when you try to separate them.
Overcrowding also limits airflow, preventing the potatoes from cooking uniformly and crisping evenly on the surface. This can result in uncooked centres or soft patches on the outsides.
If you need to cook large batches of potatoes to feed a crowd, the oven is your best option due to its larger capacity.
Use multiple baking trays and be sure to swap their positions halfway through cooking to ensure even cooking and crisping under the direct heat of the oven element.
While it's important not to open your oven too frequently to avoid losing heat, you should make an exception once during the cooking process to flip your potatoes halfway through.
Unless you’re using a rack, one side of each potato piece will be in contact with the base of the pan, reducing its exposure to direct heat.
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Flipping the potatoes ensures that all sides receive an even amount of heat, helping them to crisp up properly.
In some instances, the side of the potatoes not exposed to direct heat may end up undercooked and fail to achieve the desired crispiness, and if the pan is excessively hot, the unexposed side might burn and stick to the base.
Flipping your potatoes halfway through cooking helps prevent both of these issues by giving every part of the surface a chance to crisp up properly without overcooking.
This is also a good opportunity to stir the potatoes and redistribute the fat for an even coating. If there's excess fat or oil in the pan, you might also consider basting the potatoes to enhance their flavour and texture.
