# How Do You Cook Your Baked Potatoes?



## mugsy27 (Aug 17, 2007)

do u prick them, wrap them in foil, nuke em, nuke em then bake em??

i havent made a baked spud in years, and the last one didnt come out to good.

im gonna try one again tonight...so lets hear it folks..gimmie some TNT ideas!!


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## carolelaine (Aug 17, 2007)

I prick them and put them in the oven without foil at 400 for an hour or until they have some give to them.  This time of year I might just prick them and put them in the microwave.


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## keltin (Aug 17, 2007)

I wash it and wrap it in foil. Sometime I smear it with butter and then wrap it. Bake it at 450 for about an hour, then insert a thin bladed knife or toothpick to see if it’s done.

When it’s done, use an oven mitt, and smash done on the potato so that you flatten it out a bit, but don’t break the foil. Make a long cut in the top of the foil from end to end, then press the two ends toward each other to poof up and flare the potato open. Scrape and flake it with a fork, then add butter, sour cream, etc.

For twice baked potatoes, I poke holes in it, wrap it in a wet appear towel, and then nuke it till it is done. Cut a large oval piece from the top, and scrap that flesh to a bowl, then score the flesh of the potato with many criss-cross slits from a knife and then use a spoon to scoop all the flesh out to a bowl (leaving less 1/4” thick wall of flesh all around). Then mix up the flesh like stiff mashed potatoes, add the yummies, then pack it bake into the shell and back it at 400 till the top browns.


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## mugsy27 (Aug 17, 2007)

great advice guys...keep em coming!!

keltin...do u poke holes in it b4 u wrap it in foil to bake?

also...i have a convection oven..should i use that feature...or just bake it?


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## keltin (Aug 17, 2007)

mugsy27 said:
			
		

> great advice guys...keep em coming!!
> 
> keltin...do u poke holes in it b4 u wrap it in foil to bake?
> 
> also...i have a convection oven..should i use that feature...or just bake it?


 
No, I don’t poke holes in it when I use foil and bake it....only when I nuke it.

The convection feature of your oven will cook more evenly and quickly. In most convection ovens, you need to cook about 25 or so degrees lower than in a regular oven because the heat is so well distributed. If you use the convection, try the heat at 425 with the potato wrapped in foil, and check it after 40 to 45 minutes of cook time. If the knife or toothpick meets any resistance instead of soft flesh, you need to cook a bit longer.


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## Constance (Aug 17, 2007)

I often cook them in the microwave (prick first) simply because of the convenience, and the fact that I nuke potatoes to use for a lot of different dishes (scalloped, twice-baked, mashed, potato salad, pan-fried, etc). 
A friend of mine wraps each potato in plastic wrap first, then nukes them, and they are really moist and delicious prepared that way. But I worry about the health aspects of cooking them in plastic, so I put mine in a covered casserole dish.
Kim prefers potatoes baked in the oven or on the grill, and I must agree that the crusty skin they get when done that way is very nice. He rubs the outside of the potato with a little olive oil, rolls them in coarse salt, and wraps them in foil. They bake in a 400 F oven for about an hour, depending on the size.  The cooking time on the grill depends on the temperature of the fire.


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## Barb L. (Aug 17, 2007)

In the oven, no foil, pricked 400 hr. or till done , (grilled - nuke first for about 3-4 mins. then on grill) !  Yum


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## Loprraine (Aug 17, 2007)

If doing in the oven, scrub them, prick them, in the oven until done.

If on the bbq, scrub, prick, rub with a bit of oil and some salt.  Cook till done.  Real easy.


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## bandonjan (Aug 17, 2007)

I have cooked them both ways in the oven, foil or
no foil. I like them equally well. Whichever way I
cook them, I butter/oil the skins first. I don't use
the microwave for a baked potato. I do cook them
at 400 for an hour.


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## jpmcgrew (Aug 17, 2007)

I rub them will olive oil and roll them in a kosher salt and cracked black pepper mix put on a pan no foil bake at 400 degrees 45-60 minute or so turn a couple of times while baking.They are really good this way


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## amber (Aug 17, 2007)

I prick them with a fork and then wrap in foil and bake at 400 degrees until done, usually an hour for a large russet.  I dont care for nuked potatoes.


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## Andy M. (Aug 17, 2007)

Pricked, unwrapped 400 F oven 1 hour, or

Pricked, nuked for 3 minutes, baked for 30 in a 400 F oven

I never wrap a potato in foil for baking as I don't like the way the skin comes out.  It tends to be a steamed potato rather than a baked potato if it's cooked in foil.


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## keltin (Aug 17, 2007)

Andy M. said:
			
		

> Pricked, unwrapped 400 F oven 1 hour, or
> 
> Pricked, nuked for 3 minutes, baked for 30 in a 400 F oven
> 
> I never wrap a potato in foil for baking as I don't like the way the skin comes out. It tends to be a steamed potato rather than a baked potato if it's cooked in foil.


 
There is truth to that. I’ve tried baking without the foil, and the skin gets tough and nearly inedible. It’s fine for twice baked, but I like a softer skin if I’m actually going to eat it. Plus the foil really holds it together for the smash and pucker technique.

Does anyone else actually eat the skin?


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## Andy M. (Aug 17, 2007)

keltin said:
			
		

> There is truth to that. I’ve tried baking without the foil, and the skin gets tough and nearly inedible. It’s fine for twice baked, but I like a softer skin if I’m actually going to eat it. Plus the foil really holds it together for the smash and pucker technique.
> 
> Does anyone else actually eat the skin?


 
I like the drier skin. I prefer that texture and it definitely tastes better (yes, I actually eat it). I don't smash and pucker so that's not an issue for me.

I also find that my method yields a drier flesh that works better for a twice baked


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## amber (Aug 17, 2007)

I prefer a softer skin on my baked potatoes, thus the foil, but have tried baking them without foil as well, and they do indeed get crispy, so to each his/her own.


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## mugsy27 (Aug 17, 2007)

ok...i wish i had read andy's remarks a bit earlier....

did the tater wrapped in foid (un pricked) at 400 (convection oven) for 1 hour.

it came out great...except for the texture of the skin.  i like it crisp and it wasnt.

goin in for round 2 tomorrow night...so keep on keepin on with the advise!!


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## keltin (Aug 17, 2007)

mugsy27 said:
			
		

> ok...i wish i had read andy's remarks a bit earlier....
> 
> did the tater wrapped in foid (un pricked) at 400 (convection oven) for 1 hour.
> 
> ...


 
Whoops! I should have mentioned that in my previous post. Isn’t that the oddest thing about personal taste? I don’t like a crispy skin unless it’s fried….on a baked potato, I like the skin as soft as the flesh. Odd stuff. Sorry about that.

My wife refuses to use a potato peeler. Instead, she uses a paring knife when peeling potatoes for dishes. A paring knife, when in a hurry, often yields thick meaty skins. I keep trying to get her to use a peeler, but she wont. To show her the example of the “waste”, I took the peelings she did and deep fried them and topped them with garlic herbed butter and lemon served with ketchup and A1 sauce (she loves A1 on everything!). 

They were actually very good, and she liked them so much, she now cuts the potatoes thicker on purpose hoping I’ll make fried potatoes skins again. Moral is, to each his own. Let all find their way for in each path there is much fruit to be enjoyed!


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## Dave Hutchins (Aug 17, 2007)

Iknow of a large hotel in Chicago that rolled them in rosin and bakes them in a wood fired oven..Kinda strange..  I like to oil with evvoo and roll in kosher salt and bake at 425 for a hour and prick with a fork to check if they are done I love a crisp skin it is the dinner of champions and gourmans it has such a earthy taste to it how could any one not love Mother earth


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## Uncle Bob (Aug 18, 2007)

Washed, dried, oiled, a little salt sometimes, foiled and baked! I am a skin/peel eater that comes down on the side that soft is better for my personal taste!


Enjoy!!


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## Caine (Aug 18, 2007)

I stab them visciously a few times with a dinner fork, then place them, naked, on a rack in a shallow baking pan, in a 400F oven for 45 to 60 minutes, depending on number and size of potatoes. Then I squeeze them with an oven mit on. If they squeal, they're done.


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## AllenOK (Aug 18, 2007)

At work, for 60-count taters, I wash, brush with butter, sprinkle with salt/pepper, don't prick, and bake nekkid in a 350 degree F convection oven for one hour.  Perfect taters.

I eat the skins, and prefer soft skins, which works perfectly with butter-brushed taters.  Some butter, sour cream, real bacon bits, chives, cheese, and more pepper when I eat it.

If you really want a good baked tater, make the bacon for bacon bits before you start to prep the taters, and rub the taters with the bacon grease, then season with pepper only, as the grease has enough salt already.  Proceed as above.  YUMMY!


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## Hugh-Candoit (Aug 18, 2007)

Handy tip if using a Microwave either before oven baking to finish or going the whole way, insert a cocktail stick down to the centre and leave there.
when the centre is cooked the stick will pop out


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## YT2095 (Aug 18, 2007)

wrap `em in foil and throw `em into the fire for half hour.
we don`t eat them often, and the only times we do is when there`s either a large BBQ or campfire.

rare to never we do them at home in my kitchen.


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## applesauce (Aug 25, 2007)

Scrub, rub with olive oil, wrap in foil, stab 'em to death, and cook in oven.  and for a potato topper... Mix together 2 containers sour cream, 2 cups shredded cheddar, 3 oz pkg of bacon bits, and 1 bunch of green onions chopped. yum, yum yum


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## Hugh-Candoit (Aug 25, 2007)

I like that topping applesauce, will try that over the weekend.


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## buckytom (Aug 25, 2007)

AllenOK said:


> If you really want a good baked tater, make the bacon for bacon bits before you start to prep the taters, and rub the taters with the bacon grease, then season with pepper only, as the grease has enough salt already. Proceed as above. YUMMY!


 
that sounds deelish allen. gonna try it.

recently, i tried to make a "real" baked potato (nekkid in the oven, not the microwave), but it came out too dry and tough. 
i haven't baked a tater in the oven in so long that i couldn't remember if you should prick the spud first or not when using the oven, so i went ahead and stabbed away. the combination of over-pricking and baking too long at 350 dried it out.


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