Celebrity chef James Martin has shared a game-changing piece of advice for anyone aiming to serve the ultimate roast potatoes this Christmas: start preparing them right now. His foolproof method, which involves a clever freezer trick, promises perfectly crispy results while dramatically reducing kitchen stress on the big day.
The Genius Freezer Trick
James Martin explained that the key to freeing up valuable time and oven space on Christmas Day lies in advanced preparation. During an interview, the chef outlined his step-by-step process for creating the ideal roast potato, which begins long before December 25th.
"What you don't want with potatoes is you need to make sure the starch is taken off it," James began, emphasising the importance of not overcrowding the pan during the initial boiling stage. He advises adding the potatoes to a saucepan with generous amounts of water and a pinch of salt, then bringing it to the boil.
After cooking for approximately three to four minutes, the next crucial step is to drain them into a colander and give them a vigorous shake. This action creates those all-important rough edges that are essential for achieving maximum crispiness later on.
Why You Shouldn't Cook Everything Together
Instead of roasting the par-boiled potatoes immediately, Martin recommends placing them into an oven tray with your chosen fat – be it lard, dripping, or duck fat – and then transferring the entire tray directly into the freezer. This is the secret time-saving step that can be done weeks in advance.
On Christmas Day, the frozen potatoes simply go straight into a preheated oven at 200C for about one hour. James provided critical timing advice, suggesting you should put the potatoes in precisely when your main meat, like the turkey, comes out to rest.
He explained the science behind this timing: "The problem with cooking everything together is that large joints of meat create steam in the oven, which prevents roast potatoes from crisping up properly." By cooking the meat first and letting it rest for the recommended hour, you eliminate this steam, creating the perfect dry heat environment for the potatoes to develop that desirable golden crust.
Attempting to cook everything simultaneously not only extends overall cooking times but guarantees your potatoes will lack that perfect crispy texture due to excess moisture in the oven. With most households working with a standard conventional oven, this strategic approach to timing becomes even more valuable.
