Crunchy and crispy on the outside, and fluffy and soft on the inside, that's the general consensus of perfect roast potatoes. However, many people struggle to get that crunchy outer layer, and it could be down to the kitchen appliance they're cooking them in.

I love making roast potatoes, and I generally steer more to using my oven than the air fryer. Don't get me wrong, I have made some great crispy potatoes in the air fryer, but they don't hit the same way as in the oven. Perhaps it could be down to not using the same ingredients for each method. To test whether oven or air fryer roasties are superior, I prepped the potatoes the same way before cooking them in goose fat in both kitchen appliances.

I always use Maris Piper potatoes for my roast potatoes, as they have a high dry matter content, which is what gives them their fabulous fluffiness.

This makes them perfect for roast potatoes, but they need timing when parboiling for the textured surface, which creates a wonderful crispy, crunchy outer.

To prep the potatoes, I start by peeling them and chopping each of them into quarters. You want the potatoes to be roughly similar size for them to cook evenly when parboiling and roasting.

I then gave the potatoes a rinse under the tap to remove excess starch before boiling them in cold, salted water. Always start with cold water, as you want the potatoes to cook from the inside out as the water heats up.

After boiling for 10 minutes, I left the potatoes before adding them to the air fryer and oven.

For this method, I started by adding three tablespoons of goose fat to the basket and preheating the air fryer to 180°C for about nine minutes.

With the basket nice and hot, I added in the roast potatoes and made sure to cover them in the hot goose fat. I also added in some rosemary salt to add some extra flavour.

I cooked the potatoes in the air fryer for about 20 minutes before turning them over and cooking for a further 24 minutes.

I was surprised at how well these roast potatoes came out of the air fryer. They looked better than I had ever made them before. While they did have a good crisp to them, it just didn't compare to the oven.

Rating: 8/10

Just like with the air fryer method, I preheated the oven first to 200C Fan before adding the same amount of goose fat to a tray and putting it in the oven for about nine minutes.

I added in the potatoes, covered them in the fat and some rosemary salt and popped them in the oven and turned down the temperature to 180C Fan.

I left the potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes before taking them out and turning them over. The roast potatoes were ready after a further 30 minutes in the oven.

These roast potatoes came out of the oven unbelievably crispy, far more so than the air fryer. Breaking them open, the outer layer of potato had an incredible crack to it and was fluffy inside.

Although the potatoes do take slightly longer to cook in the oven, the end result is definitely worth it.

Rating: 10/10