Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes - A Delicious Crispy Skin Recipe You Need To Try Tonight (2024)

FAQs

Why is duck fat so good on potatoes? ›

A potato side that's served in fine dining restaurants, potatoes roasted in duck fat have an incredible thick, golden brown crust that's unbelievably crunchy in a way that you will never be able to replicate using oil. And it's a pure, clean flavour that's unlike cooking with other animal fats.

Do I have to boil potatoes before roasting? Not necessary but this can help get the perfect consistency and crispiness. Make sure you boil them but leave them a bit al dente and they will crisp up perfectly in the oven.

Our answer. You can substitute duck fat for goose fat and vice-versa. They both have a high smoke point so can be heated to quite high temperatures, so are ideal for roasting potatoes to golden crispness, and both have a better flavour for roast potatoes than oil.

Duck fat lends a rich flavor and wonderful texture to any food you choose to prepare with it. That's why chefs use it in place of other animal fats and cooking oils to roast vegetables, fry potatoes, create sauces or even make pastries.

Duck Fat Health Risks

A diet high in saturated fat can lead to significant increases in your total cholesterol, which can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. Therefore, duck fat can be enjoyed in moderation but should not entirely replace olive oil or other healthy sources of fat.

Preheat the fat. While the potatoes parboil, add the oil or butter to the roasting pan, transfer it to the warm oven, and heat it for about 5 minutes before adding the potatoes. This allows the outside of the potatoes to crisp up nicely and not just absorb the cold fat when you put them in the oven.

Yes! Soak the potatoes in cold water to remove the excess starch from the outside of the potato. There are a few reasons why you want to remove that starch (it makes the potatoes burn, it keeps them from crisping up, it turns to sugar) but all you really need to remember is to soak them at least one hour.

If you want to make this roast potatoes day before recipe and keep the potatoes crispy, ensure you put them in hot oil before baking them. This will help the potatoes stay crispy. If you're preparing roast potatoes in advance and find they have gone soggy in the fridge.

Duck fat makes foods crispy

When a recipe calls for a crispy finish, duck fat is the go-to cooking oil. What kinds of foods are we talking about? Roasted potatoes, fries, seared meats (where you want to build that perfect crust), roasted chicken.

Any excess duck fat can be strained, stored in the refrigerator and reused for your next batch of roast potatoes.

How to tell if duck fat is rancid? ›

Check for changes in color, texture, smell, and taste. If it looks weird, smells off, or tastes funky, it's likely gone bad. How long will duck fat last in the fridge? After opening, duck fat will last about 6 months in the fridge.

Use a 50/50 duck fat and butter blend for most baking recipes unless using as a replacement for lard, in which case, you can use equal measure.

According to several culinary websites, duck fat has a smoke point 375 ℉ (190 ℃). This lower smoke point makes it most appropriate for low- to medium-heat cooking like pan-frying and sautéing. Duck fat is used in stir-fried vegetables, roasted potatoes, and seared meats.

Duck fat has more mono than other animal fats such as butter (only 26 per cent monounsaturated fat) and beef dripping (43 per cent monounsaturated fat). As for coconut oil, only six per cent is monounsaturated. Olive oil on the other hand has 75 per cent monounsaturated fat and contains antioxidants too.

Duck fat does not only keep the traditional salt flavor of the fries but adds the umami flavor that blends perfectly with the salt that season's fries. The duck fat can withstand high temperatures so the fries come out tasting crispy on the outside and delicious on the inside.

In our recipe for Duck Fat–Roasted Potatoes (see related content), roasting our spuds in animal fat instead of olive oil gives them much richer flavor. But why does animal fat taste so much better? It has to do with the fatty acids that give any fat its particular flavor profile.

Duck fat is rich in unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid and linoleic acid. It has a fatty acid profile similar those of olive oil and Hass avocados.

Using duck fat to sear meats, poultry, fish, and shellfish is a surefire way to achieve an evenly browned, flavorful crust. Try it with veal chops, pork loins, chicken breasts, scallops, shrimp, and much more.