Has anyone successfully roasted potatoes at the same time as slow-roasting meat? I usually par-cook my potatoes then roast them for an hour at 180 degrees C to finish/crisp, but when I'm slow roasting meat at 150 degrees C I'm never sure how to do the potatoes. Any suggestions that would allow me to finish the meal at the same time?
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When I do my roasts on a slow cook, I generally sear the outside in the pan, then cook at 350 or so for an hour before turning the temp down for a slow roast. Throwing the potatoes in at 350 would certainly crisp them up...– Isaac KotlickyMar 15, 2015 at 12:28
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Are you roasting the potatoes whole? If so, what is the approximate weight of each potato? What type of potato (I need this info, even if they're not being roasted whole)?– Chef_CodeMar 25, 2015 at 18:57
3 Answers
Actually did this last night while roasting a chicken, made some schmaltz from the fat I trimmed off the quarters, large diced them and coated them with the clarified chicken fat, S&P on hot cast iron and into the oven @ 375 with the chicken about 20 minutes before the chicken was done. Raised the temp to 475 and took the chicken out to rest. Raised the rack to the top for another 15 mins+/- finished under the broiler. Nice and crispy outside and fluffy but not mushy i.e., over cooked. Very similar to cooking FF or Pommes Frites 2x in 2 different temps of oil
You could try tossing the potatoes in at the same time as the meat and then take them out ten to fifteen minutes before the meat is done. Then, brush the potatoes with some oil and go over the surface with a blowtorch to crisp it up. I've also found that coating potatoes in sugar (brown sugar in particular) and melting the sugar with a blowtorch forms a wonderful sort of glaze over potatoes, which when cooled turns crispy and adds a nice sweet touch to them.
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2No need for a blow torch -- large hunks of meat generally require a bit of resting time, so you can pull the potatoes once they're cooked through, then once the meat's done, crank the heat up to get a bit of a crust on the potatoes.– JoeMar 15, 2015 at 19:41
I put the potatoes in at some point while the meat is cooking, depending on how long the meat needs to cook, so that they cook through and then crank the heat while the meat is resting to crisp up the potatoes.
Another option would be to par-boil them first and then put in the oven once the meat is cooked.
Either way, make sure you have a good bit of fat in the pan to aid in crisping (I almost always go with bacon fat), and don't over crowd the dish that the potatoes are in, otherwise they are basically just steaming each other instead of roasting.