Published May 1, 1998.
To arrive at our ideal roast potatoes recipe—potatoes that were crisp and deep golden brown on the outside, with moist, velvety, dense interior flesh—we wound up choosing a waxy potato such as Red Bliss, which is better able to retain moisture than classic baking, or high-starch, potatoes. Covering the potatoes with foil for part of their roasting time helped cut the cooking time in our roasted potatoes recipe (and keep the potatoes moist); this let the potatoes steam in their own moisture. Olive oil, with its higher smoke point, was better able than butter to tolerate the high temperature (425 degrees) at which we were roasting the potatoes.
To roast more than two pounds of potatoes at once, use a second pan rather than crowding the first. If your potatoes are small, like new potatoes, cut them in halves instead of wedges and turn them cut-side up during the final ten minutes of roasting.
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