The Perfect Baked Potato.

[worth1]

Yes the perfect baked potato.
It never dawned on me to do it before but yesterday I experimented with the temperature probe for a baked potato.
First I always slather the potato with skin on with some sort of high temperature oil.
The potato is very dry and a few holes poked in it.

One time in my past I had one explode in the oven because I didn't poke holes.
Not a pretty picture for sure.

I put the potato in the oven at 450 and put the timer on.
The temperature for a perfect baked potato is right around 200F or a little above.
Mine was at 203F.
I also had a 12 inch cast iron skillet heating up as well.
So when the potato was done the skillet was ready to put on the top burner for a chunk of meat I had for supper.
No burner hot spots and evenly heated.
Two birds with one stone.
So there I submit to you the perfect baked potato no matter what size it is.
Seriously, who likes an over baked potato?
I sure don't.

[karstopography]

@worth1 Please describe an over baked baked potato, the signs or whatever indicates what that means. I can’t stand it when baked potatoes are still firm so I know an under baked baked potato is awful.

I definitely prefer one with clean and dry skin that has been poked with a fork and rubbed in a little oil like avocado oil. I salt the skin of the potato after the application of the oil. I generally do mine at 400 degrees. But if they are firm, they remain in the hot oven. Once they push in with some finger pressure, I’ll pull them out.

I bake them on the rack, no foil or pan or anything like that. Definitely not wrapped in foil. That’s a steamed potato, not one that has been baked.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

"One time in my past I had one explode in the oven because I didn't poke holes."

As we speak, my lovely and long suffering wife (La Hefa) is cleaning the oven after exactly that same occurrence.

The Gotch

[worth1]

@karstopography
One that is overly soft and to the point of watery.
Srivled up.
Around 180F the potato is still raw on the inside as well as the 190F stage.
It's practically like a well cooked brisket at that magical 200F stage.
I agree totally with the baked potato in foil.
Nothing but steamed in my opinion and at least one case of botulism due to the practice.
Traced back to baked potatoes in foil.
It appears that the foil doesn't allow the temperature to get above 250F or so the kill the spores or something.
That's my theory on it.
And the reason I never make potato salad with skin on potatoes.
Boiling for such a short period of time won't kill the spores and if not enough acid in the potato salad a sure way to get botulism sickness.
Simply because the spores can start to multiply again under correct conditions.

[worth1]

"One time in my past I had one explode in the oven because I didn't poke holes."

As we speak, my lovely and long suffering wife (La Hefa) is cleaning the oven after exactly that same occurrence.

The Gotch

An exploded sweet potato is even worse
Hot sugar plastered all over the inside of a hot oven.

[agee]

Any particular variety of potato?

[worth1]

Any particular variety of potato?

Russet.

[Shule]

I don't know about over-baked, but I like mine baked long enough to where the skins taste good (and are more like hides than skins; no foil), and the insides are like mashed potatoes (not wet and chunky).

I score the potatoes all over on both sides with a knife; then, I put them directly on the racks, and bake them at 450 degrees F. for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the potato size. They cook faster and get crispier if you slice them in half, length-wise, though (that can also be nice for potato sandwiches).

I usually only cook russetts. If I were doing other kinds, I might do something else.

[Julianna]

That is how I like mine too - leathery skins and mashed potato insides.

I also use russets.

[Vanman]

This is how I bake mine:

[worth1]

You can brush with butter if the butter is ghee because it doesn't contain water or milk solids.
It's the little things that count.
But those foil potatoes i despise especially if still raw.
I think the foil thing came from cooking in coals on a campfire.

[brownrexx]

I had always heard that baking a potato in foil is like steaming it. Yuk. I like the skin dry and even crisp.

[worth1]

What's even worse is when they say, "roasted potatoes" and it's wrapped in foil.

[brownrexx]

They sell them pre wrapped in one of my stores so that people can just pop them in the oven.

[worth1]

They sell them pre wrapped in one of my stores so that people can just pop them in the oven.

Anything to sell a product but at the risk of offending someone, how lazy can you get.

Which brings up the dreaded spiral sliced ham.
I know many of you like them but to me it's the perfect way to dry out a chunk of meat.
All that juice just pouring out of the cross cut grain.
Maybe a better way would to put it on warm or even proof if you have the option.
It's cooked it's cured it isn't gonna spoil.
I will never buy a spiral sliced ham.

[Shule]

@worth1
Spiral-sliced ham is new to me. Never tried it.