Picture the scene: you’ve washed, peeled, and chopped your spuds, you’ve added some oil and your favourite seasonings, and you’re looking forward to some tasty oven chips.
And then, instead of fluffy-and-crispy perfection, you’re faced with a soggy mess of starch half an hour later.
I won’t say it’s 100% comparable to a Greek tragedy ― I’ll leave it at 90%. But it turns out there’s a common mistake most of us make when it comes to potato prep ― and it’s really easy to fix.
How?
It’s all about drying your spuds before cooking them.
We’ve written before about how failing to let your boiled potatoes completely cool down before roasting them, as still-wet spuds steam rather than roast ― and boiled potatoes harbour a lot of H20.
Well, the same thing goes with your oven chips, it turns out.
Mary Berry points out in her crispy baked fries recipes that, after you’ve sliced your potatoes, it’s important to “use kitchen paper to pat dry them well.”
This is because “the drier the potatoes, the better, as that ensures the crispiness we are after,” she says.
It’s also important to lay your oven chips flat on the baking tray, ensuring they don’t lie over each other ― this can also cause steaming instead of roasting, Mary Berry says.
Share the recipe, then!
Mary Berry suggests you use about five medium potatoes for three people (I like flourier spuds, like King Edward or Roosters).
Preheat your oven to 200°C ― while it’s heating up, peel and slice your spuds. Then, pat them dry with paper towels.
Drizzle about a tablespoon of oil per 2.5 spuds over them and add seasonings of your choice.
Then, brush a dash of olive oil onto the tray, and cook until golden (around half an hour).
Bon appetit!