Outdoor Cooking & Charcoal Oven Recipes / Potatoes

Lemon and brown butter crispy potatoes on a Flat Bed Plancha Rack

Cooked in the Charlie Charcoal Oven

Lemon and Brown Butter Crispy Potatoes

New potatoes boiled the day before, crushed onto a hot plancha and roasted in nutty brown butter until crisp on both sides. The lemon goes on as they come out, sizzling into the butter to make its own dressing. In the Charlie the heat comes from the walls as well as the fire, so the potatoes brown evenly across the plancha.

Mark O'BrienChef
Roast
Prep30 minutes, plus chilling overnight
Cook45 minutes to 1 hour
Serves8, with leftovers
DifficultyEasy
Oven temperature180 to 200°C (355 to 390°F)
RackUpper rack
CharcoalAbout half a football of good quality lumpwood charcoal

Charlie Oven — https://charlieoven.com/blogs/charcoal-recipes/lemon-brown-butter-crispy-potatoes

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Ingredients

Equipment

Everything used in this recipe. Already have Charlie? Add the accessories in one go.

  • Charlie Charcoal Oven£5,950.00Choose your oven
  • Flat Bed Plancha Rack£250.00
  • Charlie Oven Tongs 55cm£40.00
  • Stag British Premium Lumpwood Charcoal£96.50
Flat Bed Plancha Rack, Charlie Oven Tongs 55cm and Stag British Premium Lumpwood Charcoal £386.50 together

Method

Setting up Charlie

Light a small pyramid of charcoal in the centre of the grates with one or two natural firelighters. Close the door and open both vents fully. When the oven is about 10°C (20°F) short of 180°C (355°F), set both vents to the hold position, about 2.5 cm (1 in) open. Anywhere between 180 and 200°C (355 and 390°F) works.

  1. Boil the potatoes

    Put the potatoes in a pot of cold water and salt it well. Bring to the boil and cook until just tender.

  2. Chill

    Drain well, then chill overnight.

  3. Brown the butter

    Put the butter in a pan much bigger than you think you need, as it foams up a lot. Set it over a medium heat on the hob and whisk as it melts and starts to bubble. It starts pale yellow with big bubbles. Stay with it, as it can catch or boil over quickly.

  4. Watch the colour

    As it cooks, the butter turns golden and the bubbles settle into a tight foam. Keep whisking until the centre turns from golden to a deep mahogany brown.

  5. Cool it

    Take the pan off the heat straight away and keep whisking for 5 minutes while it cools.

  6. Heat the plancha

    Heat the Flat Bed Plancha Rack on the upper runners of the Charlie at 180 to 200°C (355 to 390°F).

  7. Crush and roast

    Crush the potatoes and lay them in a single layer on the hot plancha. Add enough brown butter to coat them.
    Crush and roast

  8. Turn them

    Flip the potatoes when they start to go dark underneath. Once they are brown on both sides, season well with flaky salt.
    Turn them

  9. Finish with lemon

    As you take them out of the oven, squeeze the lemon juice over the top. It will sizzle a little and make a dressing with the butter.

Tips

Chilling overnight dries the surface of the potatoes, so the crushed edges crisp rather than steam.

Keep them to a single layer on the plancha so the edges crisp.

Part of Mark O'Brien's Christmas menu. Download the full plan, with the shopping list and the timings for Christmas Eve and the day itself.

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The cook

Mark O'Brien

Chef

Mark O’Brien was a finalist on MasterChef: The Professionals 2026 and the first Irish chef to reach the final. After more than a decade in top London restaurants, he now runs Snake Oil Barbecue in Margate, bringing serious chef skills to his love of American BBQ and cooking over fire.

More recipes by Mark O'Brien

Frequently asked questions

  • Can I cook these at the same time as the turkey?

    Yes. Put them in on a rack of their own when you bring the Charlie up to 180°C (355°F) for the turkey's last 30 minutes. They finish while the turkey rests.

  • Can I make them ahead?

    Boil and chill the potatoes and brown the butter the day before. Roast them just before serving.