Worst of all is just a round potato
January 4, 2019 12:05 AM   Subscribe

The secret to the perfect roast potato? Math.
… instead of the traditional halving and quartering of potatoes at 90-degree angles, [you] should slice the spud into four pieces at 30-degree angles, expanding the potato's surface area by 65% as a result.
posted by Vesihiisi (53 comments total) 35 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thanks! Now I’m sitting here at work before 9am craving roast potatoes.
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 12:56 AM on January 4, 2019 [10 favorites]


But you'll certainly have to turn those middle wedges mid-roast to make sure that both cut sides get browned, whereas with quarters, you can just leave them skin side down, and all the cut sides face up?

But that's all hypocrisy on my part, as I have no problem turning a few things mid-roast: here were the potatoes we had for NYE dinner.
posted by batter_my_heart at 12:57 AM on January 4, 2019 [5 favorites]


They won't cook evenly cut that way.

The correct way to roast potatoes is known in Sarlat. Slice the potatoes into thick coins. Melt a whole lot of duck or goose fat in a skillet. Sear the potatoes. Add garlic, reduce the heat, cover, and let the potatoes finish cooking through. Like an omelette, this is one of those French recipes that are incredibly simple and all about executing correctly with excellent ingredients.
posted by Nelson at 1:06 AM on January 4, 2019 [29 favorites]


Not meth, as I read.
posted by bongo_x at 1:17 AM on January 4, 2019 [14 favorites]


They won't cook evenly cut that way.

That's a feature, not a bug.
posted by howfar at 1:30 AM on January 4, 2019 [3 favorites]


These aren't roast potatoes, but weird potato wedges.
posted by zamboni at 1:30 AM on January 4, 2019 [6 favorites]


I mean, yes... but that cutting pattern looks like it would be quite unsatisfying to eat, despite the net gain in surface area: neither roasted nor fried, as such. I get that food science is a thing, but so is food art (hence the magic of Sarlat, above...)
posted by prismatic7 at 1:31 AM on January 4, 2019


The correct way to roast potatoes is known in Sarlat.

I'm fairly certain that for a great many things, the secret is melting a whole lot of fat in a skillet, adding garlic and/or onions, and cooking those things in it. Works the first time, every time.
posted by sysinfo at 1:36 AM on January 4, 2019 [37 favorites]


Actually, the correct way to roast potatoes is to put them in your creaky old student-house oven, suddenly remember you've got an essay deadline the next day, and dash off to desperately try to force out another thousand words on the hygiene hypothesis of allergies, only remembering about the potatoes three and a half hours later when one of your flatmates rolls in from boozing and declares that something smells like burning.

Reader, they were amazing, and I have never been able to replicate them since.
posted by aihal at 1:47 AM on January 4, 2019 [24 favorites]


The way my grandmother made roasted potatoes was to cut them in quarters, put them in a bag or tupperware together with a couple of spoonfuls of oil, shake them all about, open it up, put in about 1/4 of a cup of flour, shake them all about, and then (after shaking off the excess flour) drop them into the roasting pan with whatever meat had already been in there for a while.

She only ever cooked them for about a 45 minutes after that, and they were good, but I do them for about two hours and they are AMAZING. The flour makes a really crunchy thick shell.
posted by lollusc at 2:09 AM on January 4, 2019 [9 favorites]


by default any roast potato recipe which requires strict mathematical measurements for something that can be done satisfactorily by eyeballing it cannot be perfect because of the tedium of preparing it. these nerds do not deserve magnificent potatoes, they are potato ruiners.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:20 AM on January 4, 2019 [11 favorites]


no the perfect cutting is in sixths, as if you stood the potato up and cut down into it thusly, resulting in long narrow wedges. For 3 large potatoes (enough for 2 people who like big helpings) put the wedges in a bowl, microwave for 5 mins, stir, nuke for another 5. After that, dump the wedges cut side down onto a cookie sheet lined with non stick foil that has been sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Spray wedges with more oil and sprinkle more salt, garlic and paprika. Bake at 375 for half and hour, turning onto the other cut side halfway. you're welcome.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:33 AM on January 4, 2019


Amateurs. I use a microtome to cut my potatoes into 50 nanometer slices. Not only does this increase the surface area by approximately 875,000,000% for maximum crispness, but a single potato provides up to 70,000,000 hearty servings. Admittedly this is somewhat more difficult to spread in a single layer across the tray, but I find it generally takes no more than a couple of million rotations through the oven to get it all done.
posted by kyrademon at 3:07 AM on January 4, 2019 [32 favorites]


Two thoughts:

1) I feel like Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford should have been consulted.

2) The Wedge method takes an extra cut; I feel that cost should be included in the calculation.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:27 AM on January 4, 2019 [4 favorites]


Okay, if we're sharing potato roasting techniques:

The single easiest thing you can do for better roasted (or fried) potatoes is parboiling.

Cut 'em up (however you like); boil in salted water for 3–4 minutes (no more!); drain and spread on a clean, dry kitchen towel. Let them sit for a few minutes – the steam will carry away most of the surface moisture, which is important for browning. Put 'em in a 450°F oven with the fat and seasonings of your choice. Cook until they pass the fork test (usually around 25 minutes).

This helps to ensure that they cook all the way through, with a nice even texture, and no undercooked bits – that's how restaurant get those nice golden wedges with a smooth interior. It also seems to help with browning and overall flavor.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:22 AM on January 4, 2019 [13 favorites]


I'd be happy to taste test all of your recipes. I have an oven and everything. Come on over!
posted by clawsoon at 4:58 AM on January 4, 2019 [2 favorites]


Stop saying wedges! What’s wrong with you all? Potato wedges are lovely, sure but they are their own beast. Round or roundish is fine, you’ll have them parboiled and shook and roasting in enough duck fat that they’ll get wonderfully golden and brown anyhow. You need some potato in between all the crispy; fluffy and steaming and burning the gob off you.
posted by Iteki at 5:00 AM on January 4, 2019 [1 favorite]


Once I made this recipe I haven't roasted potatoes any other way.
posted by msbrauer at 5:05 AM on January 4, 2019 [7 favorites]


Roast potatoes are good and all (very good, if I'm honest), but for some reason my kid won't eat potatoes unless they're hasselbacked, so I've been doing that for the last year or so, and it's really good. You get plenty of crispy top and edges along with a ton of soft, buttery interior. Plus it's a lot easier than making really good roast potatoes.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:19 AM on January 4, 2019 [4 favorites]


Okay, if we're sharing potato roasting techniques:

posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:22 PM on January 4

I’m not sure if we should trust you or not
posted by the duck by the oboe at 5:40 AM on January 4, 2019 [24 favorites]


This is more or less like doing an oblique cut but on potatoes, right? Which is what I usually do. I find that cuts which result in too regularly shaped pieces don't work well because there's a higher chance of any two surfaces sticking to each other, which would then result in zero browning for both. There's no issue with uneven cooking because you should parboil first (and let the potatoes steam off, as somebody already mentioned), and after that you roast them for a long long time till the edges are brown and crispy but the plump insides stay fluffy and steamy.
posted by destrius at 6:59 AM on January 4, 2019 [1 favorite]


Kids these days. In my day, we just ate the potatoes whole after we pulled them out of the bare, hard ground by their hair. Because in my day potatoes had hair.
posted by goatdog at 8:19 AM on January 4, 2019 [8 favorites]


Not meth, as I read.

The secret to staying up for a week straight obsessively perfecting your roast potatoes? Meth.
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:20 AM on January 4, 2019 [5 favorites]


Turn yer toaster oven on and set it to surface of the sun. Take a clean potato, cut it in half lay it flat side down, then cut around the outside in an arc, six wedges per side. Take the little tray that goes in the toaster oven put the wedges on it with a tablespoon of olive oil or mayonnaise, some chopped garlic and seasoned salt, I also like dill. Stir this around on the tray until coated, lay the wedges flat and bake for 18 minutes. They are lovely. You can toss a couple of raw eggs on them in the last three minutes of the eighteen. You can throw on some feta or what ever you like for a meal for one or two if you just double everything. When I buy a five pound bag of organic russet spuds, I get the highest number of potatoes I can in the bag, so they come out to be about 80 calories of potato each.
posted by Oyéah at 9:10 AM on January 4, 2019


Wedges in a halogen oven are great. Coat the wedges with duck fat or ghee, salt, herbs and spices. Put a rack in the oven and on it put a cast iron sizzle plate. Preheat to 250 °C and roast for 15-20 minutes.
posted by No Robots at 9:19 AM on January 4, 2019


Many years ago Mr. Botanizer recreated Mme. Maigret's Roast Potatoes Lightly Fried in Oil. The name of the dish is all the recipe Simenon provided so it has taken some experimentation to perfect. The latest iteration involved boiling whole Yukon Golds, cooling, slicing not too thinly and frying in olive oil. They were wonderful.
posted by Botanizer at 9:23 AM on January 4, 2019


Because in my day potatoes had hair.

Long, beautiful, flowing hair.

And the secret to that hair? $1000 laser skin treatments.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:37 AM on January 4, 2019 [5 favorites]


I cut potatoes into large diced size by quartering along the long axis, then 2-3 cuts (depending on the potato size) across the quarters. Then I toss with salt, pepper, oregano, and just enough melted duck fat to barely coat them, and toss them in the pan with the chicken I started roasting about 1/2 an hour ago. In another 30-45 minutes, both chicken and potatoes are ready. The potatoes turn out golden brown and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and are perfect bite-size pieces as the Cosmos intended.

Also, the Achewood Perfect Oven Fries consistently live up to their name.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:06 AM on January 4, 2019 [3 favorites]


(the point being that the chicken fat has coated the bottom of the pan, and continues to coat the potatoes)
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:09 AM on January 4, 2019


The point being a little olive oil, even less than a tablespoon, won't kill you later, and will even mitigate the cholesterol in the eggs you throw on top.
posted by Oyéah at 10:42 AM on January 4, 2019


People rave about potatoes cooked in duck or goose fat, and I agree it's pretty darn tasty. But using good olive oil instead is also darn tasty and is (as Oyéah mentioned) a lot healthier.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:13 AM on January 4, 2019


^Isn't the low smoke point of olive oil a problem at roasting temperatures?
posted by No Robots at 11:27 AM on January 4, 2019


I'm fairly certain that for a great many things, the secret is melting a whole lot of fat in a skillet, adding garlic and/or onions, and cooking those things in it. Works the first time, every time.

I say I can cook a few things, but really this is 99% of it.

I don't seem to love fats, especially animal fats, as much as a lot of people, and am surprised to see so much talk about duck fat. I've never really heard of this and had potatoes cooked in duck fat for the first time last year and thought it was a quirk of the cook, one of those Europeans (you know how they are).

This seems oddly specific. Is this a common thing? How much duck fat could there be in the world?
posted by bongo_x at 11:30 AM on January 4, 2019 [1 favorite]


Potatoes are like the #1 thing that duck fat is recommended for. There's a gastrodiner in my town that has ridiculously tasty duck fat fries. (The selection of flavored aiolis that comes with 'em doesn't hurt.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 11:42 AM on January 4, 2019 [3 favorites]


Isn't the low smoke point of olive oil a problem at roasting temperatures?

Short answer: Roasting isn't the same as frying/sautéeing/searing. 400°-450° oven temperatures don't heat oil like a frying pan on a high-heat burner does.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:52 AM on January 4, 2019 [1 favorite]


Or I should say, roasting doesn't heat oil to as high a temperature as high stovetop heat does.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:53 AM on January 4, 2019


How much duck fat could there be in the world?

In a world that includes France? More than you could possibly imagine.
posted by howfar at 12:24 PM on January 4, 2019 [8 favorites]


I have goose fat that needs rendering. So I guess I just need to get me some potatoes ASAP.
Fat from poultry (schmalz from chickens, fat from geese or ducks) has a mild, sweet taste and can be heated to very high temperatures without burning. Which makes it excellent for roasting potatoes and other root vegetables. Or anything. It's traditionally an important cooking fat in the areas where oil isn't easily available, both in Europe and Asia.
posted by mumimor at 12:38 PM on January 4, 2019


What's wrong with simply using smaller potatoes? Good ratio of surface area to volume, and more delicious crisped skin.
posted by ardgedee at 12:54 PM on January 4, 2019 [3 favorites]


Because that's "banal" and everyone does that already. Angles are More Exciting and allow the students at the Edge Hotel School at the University of Essex to come up with new Innovative Presentation Solutions.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:55 PM on January 4, 2019


It's not about the size of each potato, it's about maximizing the surface area of the potatoes you have. Smaller potatoes would benefit from being cut this way just as the larger ones do. The only thing you really gain with smaller potatoes is it doesn't take as long for the middle to get cooked through.
posted by VTX at 2:02 PM on January 4, 2019


Potato pieces cubed/diced to any size are 5/6 surface with only one skin side; and roasting (rather than frying) will brown all sides roughly equally. But I honestly don't think that it makes much of a difference in the finished product even if the combined surface area of cubed potatoes is less than the surface area of one of those wedges. Frankly I'd rather just eat potatoes.

Which reminds me, I actually have leftover roast chicken and potatoes in the fridge for dinner! Yay!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:18 PM on January 4, 2019


Related question: How Many Angels Can Dance on the Head of a Potato?
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:18 PM on January 4, 2019 [1 favorite]


roasting (rather than frying) will brown all sides roughly equally.

This actually isn't my experience! In my oven, the sides touching the (pyrex) pan seem to brown faster. If this is different for other people I'm curious why it might be.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:23 PM on January 4, 2019


That's my experience as well, nebulawindphone. I've roasted potatoes in both stoneware and Pyrex, and the outcome is the same – the bottom side is the one that browns. They essentially fry on the surface of the container.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 2:31 PM on January 4, 2019


The only thing you really gain with smaller potatoes is it doesn't take as long for the middle to get cooked through.

Well, that, and small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
posted by uncleozzy at 2:39 PM on January 4, 2019


In my oven, the sides touching the (pyrex) pan seem to brown faster.

Try moving the rack up one slot, if possible. Also, what oven temp are you using? 350-375F (~175-190C) works best for me.

small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

Especially if, like goatdog, you're using the kind with hair.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:44 PM on January 4, 2019


I haven't tried this yet, but I heard it helps to boil the potatoes with a bit of baking soda to break down the starch, or something, so it gets extra crispy.
posted by yaymukund at 4:12 PM on January 4, 2019


Vert small yellow fingerling potatoes, many garlic cloves, and sprigs of fresh rosemary, tossed in olive oil then wrapped in heavy duty foil packet and placed over a load of hot coals in a covered Weber kettle grill (top and bottom vents fully open). Cook for about at least for an hour and a half, turning once or twice so both sides of the foil packet get exposed to the intense heat of the coals. Done when the garlic is browned/burned.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:55 PM on January 4, 2019 [1 favorite]


I speak with the authority of hundreds of Sunday lunches. Cut potatoes into small pieces, about half what every picture here of potato cubes suggests is reasonable. Boil till cooked but firm, drain. Shake the pan so they go a bit fluffy. Roast in your preferred high temp oil (goose fat traditional) or whatever (sunflower oil works just fine, tbh) for at least twice as long as you think it's going to take (40 mins or so) , turning occasionally because the side in the oil is clearly the nicest side. You are permitted to add rosemary for the roasting phase.

Flouring potatoes is the work of Satan.

And I would like to point out that my mother doesn't cook them like this, and my father has a way to cook them that is different again. My parents are lovely people but they're both wrong. But at least they don't flour them.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 1:39 AM on January 5, 2019


Ok as long as we're vouching for potato recipes...

I think the real trick of that one is after the parboiling you shake the potato chunks and oil vigorously in a bowl with a plate over it or whatever, and then when you take the plate off the potatoes are all kinda covered in mush and look like a disaster but FEAR NOT that is the point; in fact scrape as much oil/tater mush over the potato chunks as you can when you move them to the baking sheet, all that mush is going to crisp up into an amazing brown crunchety potato crust. Highly recommend!
posted by little cow make small moo at 8:15 AM on January 5, 2019 [5 favorites]


I have two main ways of roasting potatoes. Either classic, straight down the line parboiled small-medium chunks of potato, into hot fat in a high oven; or 1.5cm dice, tossed in goose fat, sunflower oil, cheap olive oil or similar relatively neutral fat, and put into a medium-high oven with some unpeeled cloves of garlic mixed in + salt and pepper. For whatever reason (I guess surface area to water volume is the issue), the small dice can get a satisfying crunchy coating without needing parboiling.
posted by howfar at 10:09 AM on January 5, 2019


I’ve not had my hands on enough duck fat to try it, but I kinda like April Bloomfield’s method here where she’s basically deep frying them.
posted by lucidium at 1:19 AM on January 7, 2019


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