Why Aren't Your Potatoes Crispy Enough?

forget the long-winded intro for this video you want creamy roasted potatoes with a crunch so intense that eating them sounds like this well listen up follow along boil 2 cups of water on high and add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda most tater newbs think that they can just dice up a hash and bite down on a pencil because I'm going in raw but this bath will pre cook my spuds entirely so I can achieve a soft creamy interior before the oven is even preheated I have here about 4 pounds of russet potatoes russets the big brown icon that most people think of when they hear the word potato don't mess around with Yukon Gold red purple fingerling or anything else these have been d skinned and chunked out into big 2 or 3 inch nuggets because in the end they're gonna get a thick gold-plated chitin so if you dice them up too small you'll be left with nothing but crunch with no room for fluff inside so if your knife game is slow let the nug hang out in a bowl of water so the air doesn't turn them Brown while you work the pot is boiling so I can dunk these in and cook them for about 10 minutes there is a sweet spot that you are looking for a fork should pierce them but still provide just a little bit of resistance if you take these too far they'll turn to mush so don't set it and forget it this one feels good so I'll strain the water out and it's important to leave these alone for a few minutes they're steaming hot and steam is water from this point forward my goal is to drive the water off the surface of the potatoes entirely so letting them hang out and fits for a couple minutes is easy money while you wait let's talk flavor potato flavor is fine but on its own it's kind of flat and starchy if you don't already have some kind of flavorful fat like rendered TRISO fat bacon grease schmaltz or duck fat now would be a good time to gently warm some aromatics in a plain oil maybe try a garlic infused olive oil with rosemary or thyme even though this whole video is kind of an exercise in texture primarily pairing top-shelf flavor to the crunch will yield a potato miles ahead of anything you can buy at any brunch racket these are done letting off steam and thanks to the baking soda bath you can see that they have a sort of thin bright-white dehydrated exterior so move them into a big bowl add some form of flavorful fat liberally maybe a few grinds with pepper and salt depending on how they taste so far and agitate them that thin dry exterior gets roughed up into a thick almost pasty coating now you can sort of see how over boiling the potatoes could spell disaster for you this is the kind of abuse that they have to hold up to throw these into a 450 degree oven and leave them alone for 20 minutes it's gonna look like nothing is happening for a long while until the water inside the potato starts to dwindle after 20 minutes flip each chunk onto a none Brown side and return it back into the oven repeat this process a couple of times until they're crisp t' all over this will take at least 45 minutes now just like my Brussels sprouts video I expect some galaxies brain genius to point out the fact that you could easily just use a hot skillet and constant stirring to achieve the same effect and while it is true I guarantee that you will wish that you spent the past hour making more than two measly servings of God's here potatoes serve these alongside any meal or as the star in chorizo potato tacos with tomatillo salsa and raw white onion if you're the type of person who watches these videos for entertainment purposes alone I've got to say this is the one that you should actually go out and cook these potatoes are the best that you will ever make and probably the best that you'll ever have [Music] mmmm [Music]

Channel: Internet Shaquille

Views: 1,434,092

Rating: 4.9494405 out of 5

Keywords: potatoes, crispy, oven, roasted, seriouseats, j kenji lopez alt, breakfast

Id: KxUX7vgNGfM

Length: 3min 48sec (228 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 08 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/ArthurPeale]

I've used a similar technique when making french fries. I've used vinegar instead of baking soda. I'll have to try baking soda next.

[u/MaliciousLegroomMelo]

Short version: boil russet potatoes first, soak in a water and baking soda brine, coat them in oil, salt, seasonings, bake at 450 deg for 45-60 minutes, flipping frequently to get all sides brown.

[u/completelytrustworth]

This is literally just J-Kenji Lopez Alt's recipe minus the garlic infused oil

[u/Yoris95]

Damn my potato game is weak compared to his.

[u/Britatata]

I really enjoy his videos, they are quick, clear, easy to understand. They motivate to actually try it out

[u/Blaizefed]

Alright, this is the 2nd one of his videos I have found here in as many weeks. Both times, no fucking around, dives right into it. Quick, clean, only talks about what I am here for, and never asks me to smash any buttons or ring any bells.

Sold, subbed, thank you Reddit.

[u/BigHaircutPrime]

The only thing I don't like about the recipes he covers is that they all take several hours. The reason why everyone's food tastes mediocre is because they don't have two hours to cut, boil, dehydrate, and bake shit. Most of us have like 15 minutes.

[u/[deleted]]

Schwitz? What's that?

[u/Beznet]

Would these work for sweet potatoes as well?

Edit: Well I answered my own question, he has another video dedicated to sweet potato fries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPnHfGE1LBA