kartoffeln in natron kochen with baking soda and you can get super-crispy results. The trick is in the parboiling stage – it’s the same technique used by Chinese restaurants to tenderise beef and chicken – add some sodium bicarbonate (or baking soda) to your boiling water and you can transform your potatoes into something truly spectacular. The alkaline environment created in the boiling process breaks down the pectin that holds the potato cell together, allowing starch to leach out and become crispy when roasted.

This is one of those kitchen hacks that will make all the difference – it’s so simple, but so genius. As Byron Halliburton explains to Insider: “The secret to perfectly crisp-skinned jacket potatoes is half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in the water you partially boil them in. It’s the sort of thing that lurks in the back of your baking cupboard next to the novelty cookie cutters and seriously-out-of-date almond essence.”

Elevate Your Spuds: The Magic of Cooking Potatoes with Baking Soda

Drain the potatoes and allow to cool a little. Then, with a meat tenderiser or a flat bottomed glass, roughen up the potatoes by smashing them (see picture). This helps to steam dry them out and makes them extra crispy when roasted.

Transfer to a roasting tray and season well with salt and pepper. Don’t crowd the potatoes, each chunk needs a bit of space to get adequately crispy. Bake for about 45 minutes, turning the potatoes over once and moving the larger pieces to the outer edge of the tray to encourage even cooking. Remove from the oven and serve.