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Here's what I did: I cut up some red potatoes into wedges, tossed them in oil and spice and pan fried them on the heat setting of 7.5 (9 is the max and it is a bare element stove). I put the lid on the pan and after a while I flipped them and removed the lid.

I put the lid back on so that they would be cooked all the way through. The weird thing is that the potatoes were browned on both sides, but flimsy and not crispy.

I've read that boiling them for a moment first would help, but I'd like to find a way without boiling them, since it will take a while longer to boil the water.

  1. Did using the lid cause (or contribute) the potatoes to be flimsy/soggy?

  2. Also, I've read this post about using white flour for potato wedges. How would I go about doing that? Is there a way to have crispy wedges without using flour?

  3. I also read this post about how to get crispy wedges while cooking with peppers and onions, but it doesn't address my question.

So, why didn't my potato wedges turn out crispy? Is there a trick that I've missed or an error I've made?

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  • related : cooking.stackexchange.com/q/6667/67 (although that one won't help you so long as you have a lid on it)
    – Joe
    Jul 5, 2014 at 12:33
  • I usually make this dish in the oven, parboil first for a few minutes, then into a really hot convection oven, very easy.
    – Max
    Jul 5, 2014 at 12:49
  • That's what I've done before, but the oven seems to heat up the kitchen quite a bit and since it's summer, I'd like to avoid that.
    – Klik
    Jul 5, 2014 at 17:00
  • You need a lid that lets the steam escape. e.g. a few finger sized holes near the top
    – TFD
    Jul 5, 2014 at 23:20
  • @TFD well the lid I have does have a hole, but probably not big enough.
    – Klik
    Jul 6, 2014 at 17:57

1 Answer 1

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By frying your potatoes then putting the lid on, you fried your potatoes then steamed them, so it's no wonder they weren't crispy. Although it takes longer, par-boiling the potatoes first is by far the best way to get crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside potatoes.

Par-boiling cooks the inside of the potato, so that all you need to do in the pan is crisp the outside.

Try this:

  1. Cut your potatoes however you like. Place them in a pan of cold, salted water and bring to the boil. Boil for 5-10 minutes depending on how waxy your potato is (floury potatoes don't hold together as well).
  2. Drain the potatoes into a colander and let them dry out for 5 minutes. Then give them a shake in the colander to fluff the outside of the potatoes - the fluffy bits will catch and crisp up beautifully. At this stage you can dust your wedges with flour or semolina for extra crispy results. You can also add spices and seasoning.
  3. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add plenty of oil - about 5mm depth. When the oil is hot, carefully add the potatoes - consider frying in batches if your pan isn't big enough.
  4. Fry the potatoes until golden and crispy.
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  • 7
    Or replace the last two steps with brushing the wedges with oil and baking them in the oven for a similar effect.
    – David Richerby
    Jul 5, 2014 at 14:06
  • Is it normal for the floured potato wedges to absorb a lot of the oil? This is what happened to me this time round. I wonder if perhaps the oil was not hot enough before I put them in.
    – Klik
    Jul 5, 2014 at 22:55
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    @Klik Probably either the oil wasn't hot enough or you put too much potato in too little oil so the potato cooled the oil, resulting in the same thing.
    – David Richerby
    Jul 5, 2014 at 23:52

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