How to Cook Potatoes Perfectly Every Time and Avoid These Common Mistakes
Whether you're roasting, mashing, or frying, chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr are here to answer all your potato cooking questions.
At New York's Frenchette and Le Rock, co-chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr nearly upstage their exceptional steaks, roasted chicken, fluke meunière, and other Gallic delights with an arsenal of perfectly cooked potatoes — fried, mashed with cream and butter, or simply roasted. Here, they explain how to perfect potatoes at home by identifying and troubleshooting the most common mistakes.
The most common roast potato mistakes
Don't roast raw potatoes
Simply tossing raw potatoes into the pan before roasting will guarantee tough results because the high water content will steam out over the course of a long cooking time. "You feel more like you're eating the skin, because the structure just collapses inside," says Hanson. "It also gets too hard. There's crispy, and then there's tooth-shattering." To achieve that perfectly crispy exterior and creamy interior, parboil potatoes until 3/4 cooked, when a knife tip can pierce the potato, but it won't slip off when picked up. Drain the potatoes and then roast them for about 20 to 30 minutes at 425°F.
Don't start with a cold pan
Putting potatoes in a cold roasting pan increases the likelihood that they'll stick. Hanson and Nasr suggest heating a pan in the oven, then adding oil. Let the oil heat to just before smoking before dropping in the potatoes.
Don't crowd the pan
Leaving space between the potatoes helps them cook evenly, so it's best to keep them in a single layer.
Don't micromanage
It's important to let potatoes brown completely on one side before turning them over. "As with most food," explains Hanson, "potatoes are just not as good if they've been handled over and over."
Don't add tons of oil
Only use enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan; otherwise, they'll have a fried quality. "I prefer using duck fat, but I understand that can be hard to obtain for most folks, so olive oil or clarified butter works well too," says Hanson. For an extra layer of flavor, the duo likes to add a few sprigs of rosemary or sage to the oil.
Don't use the wrong variety
Don't try to roast a waxy potato like red bliss. It's better to stick to Yukon Golds. Otherwise, the chefs like German butterballs or even fingerlings.
Related:The World's Best Spud Recipes Come from This Potato Paradise
The most common mashed potato mistakes
Don't use cold butter and cream
Having your butter and cream at room temperature or warmer helps them absorb more easily into hot potatoes.
Don't over-blend
Using all warm ingredients means you shouldn't have to overwork the mixture, which can make the potatoes gluey. "You have to treat your mashed potatoes like a mousse: Avoid whipping it too much when you add the butter and cream," says Hanson.
Don't mash with a fork
For a creamy result, stick with food mills or potato ricers, which act like a press, pushing the cooked potato through tiny holes. "Mashed potatoes should be smooth, buttery, and hot, almost like a puree," says Hanson. "I completely disagree with people who like chunky mashed potatoes. They may say that it's 'rustic,' but I don't get it."
Related:Our 40 Best Potato Recipes
The most common French fries mistakes
Don't use small spuds
Unless you want really short fries, Hanson and Nasr insist on finding the largest potatoes you can, like Idaho russets.
Don't fry fresh-cut potatoes
Soaking peeled, washed, and cut fries in cold water overnight removes excess potato starch, which prevents fries from sticking together and helps achieve maximum crispness.
Don't cook them only once.
Hanson and Nasr subscribe to a two-step cooking process: first, blanching the fries in oil until tender but not browned, and then — when you're ready to serve the fries — cooking them in 380°F oil until golden and crisp.
Related:17 Next-Level Fries You Need to Make at Home
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