The 15 Hour Potato
The legend. The icon. The dream. The VIRAL 15 HOUR POTATO BABY! I will never get enough of this potato. EVER. Top tier potato every time, well alongside the classic roastie. And don’t let the ’15 hour’ part put you off, you’re actually only cooking for around 3 hours of the total time but it’s the 12 hours of waiting that’s the real struggle, but it’s worth the wait I can assure you. There is a reason this recipe went viral and you owe it to yourself to find out why.
I also genuinely made a video of me cutting into various different 15 Hour Potatoes just to record the crunch sound so I could play it again and again. It’s so satisfying and calming that it has replaced Enya in my bedtime playlist.
The making part
When you come to make this, I highly recommend using a mandolin but pleeeeease always use a finger guard as I’ve seen a fair few accidents during my time working in restaurants. You can use a sharp knife instead, however it will just take longer to get those super thin slices.
Once your potato slices are ready to go, make sure you really layer up that potato as high as you can get it. I use a loaf tin as I have found this sort of container works best as anything wider and flatter will take forever to fill and you may risk the potato breaking apart during the deep fat frying. Once the layering is complete, cover with parchment paper and weigh down with some heavy tins as this will keep the potato compact and minimise any gaps within the layers. After a painful 12 hours in the fridge, you’ll be ready to fry these babies up.
Looking for a vegetarian option? Check out the veggie 15 Hour Potato that uses vegetable suet in place of beef dripping. I say veggie but it’s also vegan as well, so double win there. Or if you’re looking for a slightly speedier option that’s great for a larger group of people, you need to try my family style version as I’ve simplified the recipe to help ya out a little.
Ingredients
- 200g melted beef dripping
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1.5kg maris piper potatoes
- 1 ltr vegetable oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 130°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2.
- Peel and thinly slice your tatties (using a mandolin is ideal for speed, consistency and ease but make sure you use a finger guard to avoid any accidents).
- Melt you beef dripping and mix in the salt and sliced potatoes. Now you need to work fast or just keep melting the beef dripping in the microwave as it sets quickly.
- Line a loaf tin and start layering one by one the slices of spuds.
- Place parchment paper on top and put in the oven for 3 hours or until tender.
- Once cooked, you need to add some weight on top so it’s compressed. I like to use tins. Then leave in the fridge for 12 hours to set. The waiting is the hardest part of the recipe.
- Once set, cut into little chunks or chip shapes and deep fry at 190°C until golden.
- Sprinkle with more salt and serve with anything you fancy…but these little blocks of deliciousness are good enough to eat as is.