Being a big fan of Rösti but not so much of cooking I sometimes buy the pre-made stuff in the packets.

Coop had a multi-pack deal for their rösti (mainly red packet) last week and I am regretting buying it as I cook another one of the packets tonight. I should point out that I like the berner rösti where it has bacon in it which does make it more fatty but it spits potato (and the rest of the ingredients) all the way up to the extractor fan and all over the floor. Maybe I should invest in a lid or maybe this was why they were on offer!

More just a warning for those that don't like cleaning their kitchen from head to toe after every meal as I am still a Coop / rösti man just not in one combination!

Buy other branded rösti not the berner rösti I bought from Coop last week

Anyone else out there a big rösti fan? Some do it yourself rosti makers?

Hah, exactly the same happened to me... the problem was I put some oil in the pan before cooking. Im now reliably informed to just leave it in an oil-less pan and it will do the work itself. Did you add oil?

It's never happened to us, I guess you either added oil or your pan was too hot. You have to be patient when cooking roesti

Surely you have one of these in your kitchen?

No oil for me - it slips far too easily out of the packet for any extra oil.

Yours must have been flying out the kitchen with oil in there too!

I have had other brands and they have all been better than this. Probably whenever i move out I will find pieces of potato lodged in cupboards somewhere.

Cooking it slowly as well as no oil makes no difference with this brand (done a few tests on the multiple packets I had!).

I am hurt that people would suggest my cooking skills are not up to order after seeing that I used packet rösti!

Of course I have one of those..... The girlfriend complained about the cooking - now has a dent in and doesn't work so well.....

And it didn't stop the potatoid projectiles?

Sorry my bad sense of humour kicked in and it was a just a little white lie.

Looks like the right thing for the job though if I buy anymore Coop rösti.

Does anyone make it themselves? Seems like far too much effort for me, but do people find it worth the effort (I did it the once and although it seemed healthy didn't taste much better)?

Maybe the potatoes blew it right off the pan

Yes, and it's not much effort.

Oh, and it tastes miles better.

I agree with Tom, it's easy and far tastier. And I think less oily actually so healthier

Sure that was rösti and not popcorn??

Never used ready made rosti - but I wonder what the fat is. If it says 'vegetable oil' you can bet it's palm oil- which for me and the Orangoutans is a big NO. Same for ready made noodles and rice.

I'm sure I read somewhere that packet rosti was full of trans-fats.

We use butter when we make ours.

On the topic of Rösti, does anyone have an idiot-proof recipe for it? I'm hardly the world's best cook, but I do like to make things from scratch where possible (it usually tastes better). Any guidance would be appreciated!

I think the most important thing is getting the right potatoes, "festkochend", so the ones you use for roast potatoes not the ones you use for mash. I then work on 2 med potatoes per person +-. Boil them for about 5 mins in their skins. Let them cool (the Swiss leave them overnight I believe) & pull of the peels. Grate coarsely. Melt about a teaspoon of butter in a good pan, add a bit of oil so the bottom is covered. When the pan is hot add some of the potatoes, to cover the bottom and be about 1/2cm deep or just work out how many people you are feeding at 1/2 roesti per person. Let if fry a bit on medium. Press the potatoes down with an egglifter every now and then and slide your egglifter along the edges. Lift the potatoes now and then to check the bottom. Once it's solid (but not sticking to the pan which happens when the pan is too hot) put a dinner plate upside down on the pan, invert it quickly so the cooked side is on top, and slide back into the pan. Cook a bit longer, pressing down into the pan and sliding the spatula along the edges as before, check the underside and when cooked slide off into a plate. I normally have 2 pans going at the same time to speed things up. En guete!

i tried making it also without using oil but it got all stuck to the pan and wasn't crispy and good like you get it in restaurants

Thanks for the tips. I've never seen this word when I go shopping. Is there a different word in French or do they use the German as a loan word?

Apparently it is canola oil (Rapsöl) in the Coop rösti packets (the brand the OP mentioned) vegetable oil (Pflanzenöl) in Migros rösti, and sunflower oil (Sonnenblumenöl) in Hero (the brand sold in Landi/Volg.)