Watching Water Boil is Expensive

Here is a fact of physics: Water takes a long time to boil. If you are starting your roast potatoes from raw at 11:00 AM on a Sunday, you are wasting your most valuable resource: Hob Space.

You have four burners. You have gravy to make, veg to glaze, and pans to deglaze. You do not have the luxury of dedicating two massive stockpots to boiling potatoes for 40 minutes. Every minute a chef stands there waiting for a potato to soften is a minute they aren’t plating, garnishing, or cleaning.

The best Sunday Roasts aren’t cooked on Sunday. They are started on Saturday. Blanching (par-boiling) in advance is the hallmark of a professional brigade. It turns a 90-minute panic into a 30-minute finish.

The Philosophy: Reducing “Decision Fatigue”

In high-pressure environments (like a Sunday service), cognitive load is the enemy. Will Guidara (Unreasonable Hospitality) teaches that you cannot offer exceptional service if you are drowning in logistics. If your chef is worrying about whether the potatoes are soft enough, they aren’t worrying about the presentation of the beef.

By moving the “heavy lifting” (the peeling, boiling, and chuffing) to Saturday—a day which is usually prep-heavy anyway—you remove the variable. On Sunday, the decision is simple: “Take tray. Put in oven.” You are automating the process to guarantee consistency.

The Tactics: The 24-Hour Potato Protocol

You can’t just boil them and leave them in a bucket. That leads to grey, slimy mush. You need a preservation strategy.

1. The “Cold Water Start” Never drop potatoes into boiling water. The outside will turn to mush before the inside is cooked.

• The Tactic: Start with cold, salted water. Bring them up to temperature slowly. This ensures an even cook throughout the tuber.

2. The “Knife Slide” Test Don’t overcook them. You are par-boiling, not mashing.

• The Tactic: Test with a small paring knife. If it slides in with a little resistance but doesn’t crack the potato open, get them off. They will continue to cook for 5 minutes after you drain them (Carry-Over Cooking).

3. The “Steam Dry” (Critical Step) Drain them. Do not cool them with water (that makes them soggy).

• The Tactic: Leave them in the colander or spread on a rack. Let the steam escape. The drier the surface, the crispier the roast. This is also the moment to shake them vigorously to roughen the edges.

4. The “Fat Jacket” Storage If you put dry potatoes in the fridge overnight, they can oxidize (turn grey) or dry out too much (become leathery).

• The Tactic: Once they are cool (and only when they are cool), toss them lightly in a small amount of oil or beef dripping. Just a coating.
• This seals the potato, stops oxidation, and means they are “oven-ready” for Sunday.
• Store in GN pans, covered, in the walk-in fridge.

5. The Sunday Resurrection

• The Tactic: On Sunday, your oven fat must be smoking hot (200°C+).
• Carefully tip the cold, oil-coated potatoes into the hot fat.
• Because they are cold, they will drop the fat temp instantly, so ensure you don’t overcrowd the tray.
• Roast for 35-45 minutes. They will be better than if you cooked them fresh.

The Software Pitch: Prep What You Need

The danger of Saturday prep is over-prepping. If you peel and blanch 60kg of potatoes on Saturday, but you only have bookings for 30kg, you have just wasted hours of labor and shelf-life. Blanched potatoes don’t last forever.

You need the Roast Forecaster.

This tool links your Prep List to your Revenue.

• You check the tool on Saturday morning.
• It says: “Sunday Bookings: 120 covers.”
• It calculates: “Required Prep: 28kg of blanched potatoes.”

It gives your Saturday team a hard target. “Peel 28kg. Blanch 28kg. Then stop.” It prevents the “just in case” over-prep that kills your GP.

👉 Get the tool here: https://smartpubtools.com/sunday-roast-forecaster/

The Conclusion

Sunday is for “Firing.” Saturday is for “Mise en Place.” Move the mess, the steam, and the stress to Saturday. When you walk into the kitchen on Sunday morning and see racks of perfectly prepped, blanched potatoes ready to go, you have already won the service.