Potato Help
 

Please help me Cellar.

I am totally worthless at cooking potatoes in the oven.
I don't mean baked potatoes - I got them.
I mean roast potatoes, or crispy potato cubes, or wedges.

No matter what I do, they stick to the bottom, and I end up with something like scrambled potatoes.

I am in the middle of cooking potato wedges EXACTLY following a recipe online, because I'm tired of the sorry mess in the dish and on my plate. Just gone to turn them over, expecting them to be nice and crispy on one side and found as always, they are stuck to the pan. Forget nice crispy skins as in the picture, I will have the insides on show and no chance of eating the half mash result stuck to the bottom.

What am I doing wrong?
Not enough fat? Too much? Oven too low? Oven too hot?
These I parboiled, then sprayed with oil. I tossed them to ensure all were coated. Into a 200 degree oven as per recipe, turn halfway through.

Once I would simply shrug off. But every time?
I must be making a fundemental error.
Any advice on what it is would be welcome.
All I really want is that none of my potatoes, whatever the size or shape, get stuck to the bottom. I want crispy potatoes like everyone else, damnit!

Please help.

Cooking spray on the pan. I think oil on the taters keeps them mushy and makes them not crisp enough to be removed from the pan readily. But I'm no chef.

Potato wave!

Yeah, don't parboil them too long, let them drain thoroughly, toss them in oil. Oil comes in a bottle not a spray can. Be a philanthropist with the oil and a miser with the vinegar.
Make sure your oven is fucking hot 400-450f
then put the taters in.

Also don't toss them in oil until just before going in. For an extra delicious effect, mix some corn starch, smoked paprika, garlic powder and fine salt together, toss the drained parboiled taters in that mix until they are coated, then oil them then bake them.

You are over boiling your potatoes if they get mushy or bits come off them. Be sure to use plenty of water, cut them into even sizes, and the boiling is very brief. I usually skip it.

Also don't use 'new potatoes' use something with a decent skin.

Now get in that kitchen and make us proud!

I think you're right about the coating. Eating the ones I made today (which were really not as bad as I originally thought) they were definitely missing something.

I did not overboil the potatoes. I did them as per the recipe; bring to the boil then drain. They were NOT mushy going in. It was only when I tried to turn them and they stuck. Of course you get mush when you end up scraping through a partly cooked wedge.

Infi, when I roast potatoes I always put the oil in the pan. And heat it up.
This recipe called for an oil spray, so I used one - and especially because I had a Smokey Chipotle oil spray I wanted to try out. When I put the oil directly in the pan I find the potatoes suck it up (mushy) and still stick.

Maybe I should consider cooking longer without parboiling?
Doesn't fit the recipes I've been following but I'm willing to anything a try...?

Also - heavy on the oil light on the vinegar (paraphrased)?
I assume that's just a saying, because no vinegar went anywhere near these....?

Oh and I admit these might have been the wrong type of potato, as we buy what's in season.
But this has been happening to me for years now, so I'm guessing I can't just blame today's potatoes.

Thanks for the advice chaps.

What temp was the pan when you put them in it?

Putting them in while wet will also make them stick.

Go with a slightly lower temp and cook longer. YMMV.

Argh. Wet.
I always drain them but never dry them.
Today's ree-sipe never told me to either!

This time a cold pan into a hot oven, but as I said I've had this problem with roast potatoes which go into a hot pan with hot fat.

Maybe the drying thing is the enigma key.
I guess coating them achieves the same objective.
Nigella rolls her roast potatoes in polenta.

Fry them on the stovetop.

I've considered it.
I'm not all that much better at frying than I am at roasting.

I always seem to either overcook the outside and leave the middle raw, or cook too slow and have flabby cooked items when I wanted crispy.

I actually good reasonably well - I can do meat and fish in the oven just fine. I can make very good stove top meals, and casseroles and stews, pasta and sauces. And baked goods usually work well, and with practice are bloody good.

But oven cooked potatoes and fried foods are hit and miss.
And I so hate wasting food that I tend to try to avoid them rather than experiment.
I'd love to be able to make really good patatas bravas - I can make the sauce no problem. But again - if I try to fry or bake them I either get them soft and mushy or hard as bullets (and they don't get parboiled at all).

Oh wait - you were cooking them IN THE OVEN?
Sacrilege - See Spexx's post & keep 'em movin'

oven fries are awesome if done right. Use a cookie sheet, no more than one layer deep.

Lots of heat, move them about plenty.

Personnally, I prefer to use a frying pan. The potatoes are usually a leftover from the day before as we tend to cook them for more than one meal.

1) Slice or dice the potatoes
2) Put canola oil in a frying pan along with butter (be generous with both)
3) Heat until the mix is boiling
4) Throw in the potatoes
5) Move them around with a wooden spatula so they're coated with the mix oil/butter
6) Let them fry a bit
7) Repeat 5) and 6) until they're to your liking

And be aware that some varieties of potatoes are for only mashed potatoes. They are softer when boiled and don't do well when cooked a second time.

1.) What is this parboiling nonsense? Totally unnecessary. Never do it. Cut them up, toss them in a tiny bit of oil, and bake them on high heat for at least 35-45 minutes.

2.) Forget cooking sprays. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.

Ditto. I never parboil. I do toss with oil before sticking them into the oven though.

I never used to par boil, but my step mum makes the best roast potatoes, so I watched her a while ago and that's how she did it.

I don't get them stuck to the pan, but I do use a stainless steel baking tray, so maybe that helps. I usually have my oven at about 225 for potatoes and other root veges. Normally I cut a fist sized potato into quarters then par boil for about 5 mins. Drain while hot then put them in a large bowl. I find the excess moisture dries out pretty quickly if you let them sit for a while. After that I pour a liberal amount of oil over the top with whatever herbs (usually rosemary and sage or something like that) and toss them around for a while till they're glistening all over, then it's into the pan and into a hot oven.

I think the pan I use has a lot to do with them not sticking because it's quite thin and heats instantly. I've never been fond of heavy roasting pans for no particular reason other than that the weight of a family sized roast plus a heavy pan can be a bit of a problem.

I think the baking paper idea is a good one. That was going to be my first suggestion, but it's already there as I suspected it would be. I line my meatloaf pan with baking paper too because it just makes things so much easier.

Right.
Making again tonight.
Forget the whole not-experimenting thing, the rents are both out.

Intention:
Chop into wedges.
Don't parboil.
Toss in seasoned cornmeal.
Put onto a greased baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper and drizzle with oil (can't really toss once they're coated).
Turn halfway.

Temp 200 (fan oven) for approx 40 mins.

If they're good they will become part of my small list of envied and asked for dishes.
And at the very least we'll have them again tomorrow for as part of Sunday lunch (marinated salmon and salad).
If they're grim I'll give them to our neighbour for compost and never love any of you again.

Corn STARCH not corn meal
drizzle = FAIL
you can toss them after they are coated or before

They turned out okay.
Maybe I shoulda waited until I was really hungry though.
I got bored halfway through eating them. Then again I did use three potatoes for just me.

One wedge was not quite cooked through. I only had three more to eat at that point so didn't feel guilty binning them.
I think the greaseproof paper made the big difference. The cornmeal made them very dusty (see what you mean foot) but I had no cornflour/ cornstarch anyway.

Drizzle did work (in fact I used my spray again).
What I really want - I think - is sauteed potatoes/ patatas bravas. So after all this I need to learn how to fry after all.

Thanks for the tips many nice people. They worked well enough to make me realise I don't want to cook wedges, even though I can now - kinda.

Glad you got it figured out. I make french fries this way quite a bit. I also throw some seasoning on depending on my mood - cajun, salt and pepper, garlic.

Clod's guidelines are almost exactly what I do - besides timing and shape :)

Sundae: Yay! Now, if you ever want to eat wedges again, don't make 3 potatoes for yourself. ;)

Excuse:
they were lickle ones and I didn't expect them all to be edible and I was experimenting with the sizes and I didn't realised it was a no-parking zone and she said she was over sixteen...

You're right.
And I need to practice frying too.

If you want things nice and crispy use peanut oil for any kind of frying. high smoke point and a good flavour too. Of course, if you have a peanut allergy, it's probably not the oil for you.

Peanut oil is great!

Bleurgh. Peanuts.
I might pretend I am allergic to them in future. And bananas.

bananas fried in peanut oil are the bomb

I haven't noticed that things taste like peanuts after being fried in the oil.

Another good oil for frying is macadamia oil. It's a bit more expensive, and it does give the food a very slight nutty flavour, but it's good for some things.

Sorry, I did jump to a conclusion re peanut oil.
I'd still rather not risk it though :)

Too hot for potato experimenting right now.
32 degrees in here. I'm melting.