A recipe developer claimed the secret to the perfect roast potato is all to do with the oil, so I put it to the test
I’m on a mission to discover the secret ingredient for the perfect roast potato, and this time I’ve stripped it back to basics. After experimenting with unconventional ingredients like mayonnaise and clotted cream, I decided to try out a recipe by a culinary expert who insists that the key lies in the oil, reports the Express.
TikTok sensation Amy Sheppard recently shared her unique roast potatoes recipe, advising her followers to ditch traditional fats like goose fat. Instead of sticking to one type of oil, Amy suggests that the best results are achieved by combining two. She uses an equal mix of vegetable oil and olive oil.
In her viral TikTok video, Amy advised: “Forget about goose fat! Just use 50/50 vegetable oil and olive oil. “Heat a good couple of glugs of oil in a thin bottomed roasting tin until hot. Tip in the potatoes, turn them over until coated.”
For most Sunday roasts, my mum or I would whip up roast potatoes using vegetable oil. It was only during the festive season that mum would opt for something a bit more indulgent, usually goose fat.
Using oil also means you need to crank up the oven temperature to 220 rather than 200. I still preheated the roasting tin in the oven for around ten to 15 minutes before adding the oil.
It’s crucial to ensure that the oil is piping hot, otherwise you’ll end up with greasy spuds that bear no resemblance to a crispy roastie. The crust on the roast potatoes was reminiscent of the spuds from my childhood. Instead of a caramelised coating, the oil created a more understated crust.
You can feel it when you bite into them, but you might be mistaken for thinking the oil hadn’t done its job. The combination of oils, in my opinion, didn’t outperform using just one type of oil.
In fact, I don’t believe it makes any difference at all. I’m struggling to see the intended result.
Despite generously coating the potatoes in the hot oil and turning them in the pan, the roast was somewhat disappointing. The oil resulted in an uneven roast, with about half of the potatoes turning a golden yellow rather than a golden brown.
However, despite the potatoes’ lacklustre colour, using oil doesn’t overpower the potato’s flavour, but helps to keep it as neutral as possible. This gives you the perfect base to add whatever flavour you want to the spuds.
Even a sprinkle of salt only enhances the natural flavour of the potato. In contrast, the clotted cream made the roast potatoes a bit too rich for my taste, so I’d prefer to use oil instead.
If your goal is to achieve a more uniform crispiness and crunch on all of the potatoes, I’d advise against using oil. Using something like mayonnaise can help achieve that desired effect while also adding a luxurious flavour without becoming overly rich.
Oil-roasted potatoes remind me of my childhood, so perhaps I have a nostalgic connection to them. However, the crust might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
In my opinion, the combination of two oils doesn’t do anything extraordinary for the roast potatoes. Besides, who can afford to buy loads of olive oil in this current climate?
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