Alternate fat for cooking potatoes in?

[OhYouMerryLittleKitten]

Having to scrap the goose fat idea. Is lard going to be ok? I want lovely crunchy scrummy potatoes.

[PenguinBear]

I use oil in mine and they always turn out beautifully... I always just make sure oil is sizzling.

[MrsMiniversCharlady]

Lard is fine. Or vegetable oil. My mum shakes a bit of flour over the cooked, drained potatoes before tipping them in the fat and they are always really crispy.

[DameFannyGallopsBEHINDyou]

Olive oil brings them up good and crispy - strangely enough a tip from Michael Caine who's as far from a vegemetarian as I can picture...

[nellyjelly]

Agree re olive oil. Delicious.

[DorsetKnobwithJingleBellsOn]

Olive oil.

[bureni]

Peanut oil is also very good but expensive, for the taste its worth it.

[Bunbaker]

I always use oil as well. I actually did a blind tasting by doing half my roasties in goose fat and half in olive oil. No-one could tell the difference.

Pedant alert: It is alternative not alternate.

[ceeveebee]

I always find olive oil to make the potatoes soggy, I don't think it can cope with high temperatures. But maybe it's just me.
I use groundnut oil all year round, goosefat at Christmas

[AMumInScotland]

Sunflower oil, nice and hot. And rough up the parboiled potatoes - drain them, put them back in the pan, hold the lid on and shake about! Lovely and crispy!

[OhYouMerryLittleKitten]

I don't think I'll try olive oil. We normally use sunflower oil but I wanted them to be super special.

So, if the trick is to get it super hot then do I need to do them in a separate oven to the stuffing and pigs in blankets? Take my turkey out to rest, porky things in that oven and potatoes in little oven? Where do my parsnips go?

I'm normally laid back about it but we've guests this year.

[AMumInScotland]

No you can do them lower. Just so long as you don't put the ptatoes into cold or tepid oil. It doesn't have to b super-hot, just oven-hot IYSWIM?

[DameFannyGallopsBEHINDyou]

Parsnips can go at same temp as the potatoes, and it's not so much that the oven has to be super hot as that the oil needs to be hot before you put the potatoes in to avoid sog.

So as you would with Yorkshire pudding, take the turkey out before turning the oven up, heat the oil, scuff the spuds in the colander and straight in the hot pan.

[ArbitraryUsername]

I cook mine in lard. They're delicious.

[Anifrangapani]

Clarified butter. You can get it really hot without burning.

[MrsDimples]

Butter. Lots & lots of it.

[AlohaMama]

As everyone says just heat up oil in the oven before adding the potatoes. And if you're par-boiling them, once they're drained give the saucepan a little shake to bash them up a bit, makes the outsides nice and crispy.

[SantasLittleControlGeek]

It's not so much the oil as the way you cook them that gives them a lovely fluffy interior and a crisp, crunchy outside. I boil mine for 10 minutes, so that they are just starting to go soft on the outside. Then drain, put the lid back on, and gently bash them around in the pan to break them up a bit. Then stick them in a really hot oil of your choosing (I'm another olive oil advocate but I see you'd rather not - any will do) and roast for 20 minutes a 180 - 200 depending on how well your oven does.

[ceeveebee]

I heat the tray with the oil in for 10 minutes while potatoes parboil, then drain and give pan a good shake to rough up edges, put in hot oil

Carrots and parsnips I put in cold oil on same temperature (190-200)

[DewDr0p]

Goose fat is amazing but olive oil also works really well. Get it smoking hot (ideally use a roasting tin that can go on the hob and whack the heat up under it) tip in your parboiled roughed up spuds and baste well with the sizzling fat.

[OhYouMerryLittleKitten]

Oh, brain melt!

No idea now! Perhaps dh will have to eat lots of different potatoes this weekend!

So not super hot then. Cos I need my sausages not to be cindered!

[OhYouMerryLittleKitten]

Oh no!

Ok.
Parsnips cold oil.
Potatoes sizzling oil.
All in at 200 with sausages and stuffing.
Type of oil to be determined?

Which potato. Normally do riverford, but their potatoes tend to be random white ones not ideal roastie sorts.

[DewDr0p]

Potatoes are even better done on 220C I think (sorry OP) - but you could cook all at 200 and then maybe give the spuds a last 10 min blast on 230 to get them super crunchy. I give mine a good hour btw.

[OhYouMerryLittleKitten]

How long do you do them for? I suppose that's quite important!

[ceeveebee]

Yes about an hour for potatoes and parsnips (I don't parboil parsnips) and maybe 45 mins for sausages.. I put potatoes on top shelf which is hottest in my oven. If parsnips or sausages start looking like they're done, I take them out, put in serving dish, cover in foil and put back in bottom of oven.