A Sunday lunch with roast chicken, roast potatoes , steamed vegetables and gravy is one particular classic English meals that can soar into the culinary sublime or dive into the dismals. An excellent experience leaves you satisfied and replete, a bad one consigns British cooking to the doldrums, where our European neighbours shake their heads sadly over our penchant for soggy vegetables, greasy potatoes and overcooked meat.

Inside our family the others of Sunday lunch takes second spot to the air fry potatoes - they're the raison d'etre of Sunday lunch and if I try and produce a casserole with baked potatoes as a big change, I'm told sternly by my four year old that it's not just a proper Sunday lunch.

On my mettle to keep the family happy, during the last several years I've gradually perfected the art of roast potatoes , until they're golden, crispy and soft and fluffy however not soggy inside.

Listed here are my methods for the perfect roast potato:

1. Par-boil the potatoes first.

Once they're peeled and cut into similar sizes (small potatoes in two, large ones in four), put the potatoes into cold, salted water and bring to the boil. Once the pot is boiling, boil for approximately 4 minutes, then drain all the water off (keeping some for the gravy later), let a few of the steam evaporate off, then clamp on the lid and shake the potatoes about before edges have slightly bruised and fluffed up. This is exactly what will absorb the hot oil to create a crisp surface because the potato roasts. Leave the lid off now so they dry only a little, before oil is ready.

2. Heat the oil first.

In a roasting pan, that's big enough to take the potatoes within a layer, put enough olive oil or vegetable and olive oil mixed, to cover underneath with ease. The potatoes mustn't be bathing in the oil, so keep it significantly less than ½ cm / ¼ inch deep. Put the tray into the hot oven (200C/400F) for 10 minutes ahead of the potatoes need to go in. Once the oil is hot, put the potatoes in so they sizzle and toss them.so they're coated throughout, then return the tray to the oven to roast. The potatoes could be turned 2 or 3 times during cooking.

3. Timing.

The potatoes need to stay in the hot oven before very last second when you are ready to serve lunch. Should they hang around keeping warm they lose their crisp edge and gradually dwindle into leathery bullets. They need 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours at 200C / 400F to reach optimum crispiness. Time the meat to get ready 10 minutes before them, so it may rest, you possibly can make the gravy and summon the troops to table, and only then produce the potatoes still sizzling from the oven. If people are late the potatoes can take another 10-15 minutes getting much more crispy in the oven, but from then on I'd just get on and eat them minus the latecomers!

4. Roasting tin.

I have the crispiest results from my enamel roasting tins. Pyrex trays result in softer, less crispy potatoes, any metal tray is better.

5. Temperature.

Keep the latest the main oven for the potatoes. Juggling roast meat, roast potatoes and everything in a small oven is tricky but the potatoes is only going to get crisp if they are able to bask in blazing heat for a while. If everything else fails, when the meat comes out, turn the oven around max and put the potatoes on the top shelf for a blasting. Last on the set of emergency remedies, put them under a hot grill (broiler) going back five minutes while you are getting the table ready.

After you have perfected your air fry potatoes another problem arises - you can never make enough of them. I now allow five per person within our family!