Essex University researchers say slicing the spud at a 30-degree angle is the secret to success.
They say the “edge cut”, as it has being coined, means the potato is tastier, crunchier and even looks better than the traditional cut, touted by chefs such as Heston Blumenthal.
According to students from the university’s EdgeHotelSchool, it appears cutting the spud diagonally increases its surface area by 65% and makes it extra crispy.
In October, chef Blumenthal revealed his top tips for achieving roasties that are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside – and that means parboiling for an extended time – up to 20 minutes – ahead of roasting. The students say he has been doing it all wrong, according to gazette-news.co.uk.
They teamed up with the Math department at SamuelWhitbreadSchool and found cutting the potato diagonally at 30 degrees, instead of the traditional 90 degrees dramatically increases the surface area.
They tested their theory using 100 portions of roast potatoes prepared using the normal method and another 100 using the new ‘edge cut’ technique.
Their product was then taste-tested on the general public as well as on chefs in the hotel.
According to their results, the new technique produced a potato which scored 6.6% higher in tastiness than the original spud.
In a statement, the researchers said: “An added bonus was that the new technique allowed you to be creative with presentation. We would also like to challenge every school in the country to find a better cut for the potato and mathematically prove it raises the surface area while keeping the portions at the same volume.”
