Let's Make Crispy Roast Potatoes

Hey hey potato fans! Today I made crispy roast potatoes, using the baking soda method. We are gonna make the most delicious, golden-and-crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-and-fluffy-on-the-inside, oven roasted potatoes EVER using the magic of science! SCIENCE!

I like these because you can make them using minimal ingredients (potatoes, water, salt, oil, baking soda) or fancy them up to your taste.

First, we're going to need some potatoes. I'm using reds today because it's what I had. Russets will give you the crispiest outsides but roast up kind of pale. Reds don't get as crisp on the outside but brown up oh so nicely. Yukon gold is going to be your sweet middle ground. Use those if you can!

I used 9 medium sized potatoes here and that was too many. I always over estimate how many potatoes I'm going to need. 6-7 of these would have been sufficient.

Other notables:

- Baking Soda: you will definitely need baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon will do. You might think you'll need more than that, trust me, you don't.

- Seasoning: I tried this Cajun blend today and it turned out quite well. You could also go with salt and pepper if you want to keep things simple. The garlic I used to infuse my oil (not pictured here). Be aware of what you add in the seasoning stage because it will burn and may turn bitter.

- Oil: I had leftover duck fat so that's what I went with. You could also use canola oil, corn oil, bacon fat... whatever can handle high heat. You'll need about 5 tablespoons of oil.

Chop them potatoes into large chunks. If you cut them too small they will disintegrate into sludge and you will be sad. Slicing into wedges also works rather well.

I leave the skins on because I find it appealing. If you want them to come out consistently golden all around, take 'em to the peelers. You do you!

"Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble."

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add your half tsp. of baking soda, and then gently add them taters. Once it's back up to a rolling boil again, set a 5 minute timer. We want to parboil them, not cook them through.

(The *sizzle sizzle* is from the garlic I had going on the next burner)

Here I am infusing my duck fat with some crushed garlic cloves. Apparently I used 8 but use as much or as little as you like.

If I had it, I would have also added rosemary in this step. But I didn't, hence the Cajun spice.

Weird angle shot of the garlic removed from the infused oil. Hold onto those golden nuggets of flavor, we aren't done with them yet!

Once your potatoes are done boiling, remove them from the water to a large bowl. Add a couple tablespoons of your oil and start tossing, adding more oil as you go.
They should get to a point where you can't toss them anymore because they'll all be glued to each other. We want this! That starchy coating is what's going to make them delicious!

Add your seasoning (salt, pepper, spice mix) and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to get them evenly coated.

Pre-heat your oven to either 450°F (232°C) if you're using a standard oven, or 400°F (205°C) if you're using a convection oven. The circulating air helps them cook more evenly which equals more goodness. My oven automatically takes off 25°F when using the convection feature so I had to trick it and set it to 425°F. Annoying.

Spread them soon-to-be-tasty nuggets onto a baking sheet. This is also the point where I realized I had chopped up too many potatoes. This is a prime example of pan overcrowding. Look at this glorious mistake! Ideally you want a bit of room between each one.

Pop them into the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes because that's when we'll need to flip them.

While that was going on, I minced up the cooked garlic, cleaned up some dishes, and drank some tea.

Clean as you go. You'll thank yourself later.

When the 20 minutes is up, CAREFULLY remove the sheet from the oven and flip each one over as best you can.

By carefully I mean allow the steam to escape before you stick your arms in there. I was once waiting in a hospital emergency room and there was another woman there who had severe burns up both arms because she didn't wait for the steam to escape before pulling out her turkey. Big ouch! :<

Put them back in and set a 30 minute timer. Feel free to check them every 10-15 minutes to shake or flip them after this point.

When there was only a couple minutes left, I added my garlic back in and gave them a bit of salt because they needed it.

And that's it! I sprinkled on some dried parsley because I was feeling fancy af.

These work well for breakfast, second breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper... you get the idea. I'm eating them on their own because that's how I roll.

Oh potatoes, you'll always be the main show for me. I would never try to make you my Camilla, ever!
You shouldn't let anyone make you their Camilla either, unless it's what you want. Don't settle for being second best, you are a star, baby. A star!

Cat tax~ He was very curious about what I was eating so of course he had to smell check.

Most viral edit: y'all are wild! Thanks for loving potatoes as much as I do. <3