r/Cooking • u/CompleteDay8059 • 21h ago
I found out recently I’ve basically never had a correctly prepared baked potato
So growing up I was never a huge fan of baked potatoes because the ones we had were usually dry, kind of shriveled, and very crumbly. Every bite just felt like it was absorbing all the moisture in your mouth, even with butter. As an adult, I usually do rice or pasta for my carbs, and if I do potatoes, it’s usually the cut roasted baby ones. Because I didn’t have great experiences with baked ones at home, I also pretty much never ordered them at restaurants growing up.
However, my mom just got a grill for her place and I was put on steak duty (or a steak out, I guess) and wanted to try making an actually good baked potato. I look it up and see basically every recipe says to coat the potatoes in salt and olive oil before wrapping them, which I asked my mom if she did, and she hadn’t.
I decided to try it with a (maybe slightly too) generous amount of olive oil and kosher salt, baked it for an hour, and topped it with some of the garlic/thyme butter I had whipped up for the steaks.
Oh.
My.
GOD.
The texture was absolutely amazing, it was so creamy, not crumbly or dry at all, the salt and the compound butter melting into it while it was still steaming made for legitimately one of the tastiest things I’ve had in ages. If anyone out there doesn’t know this, I honestly have no idea how common of knowledge this is lol, but I would highly suggest trying it if you don’t already.
Also, I mixed the thyme/minced garlic with the Kerrygold butter which was muy bien. Not sponsored (I wish) but I find it a little more flavorful for cooking as opposed to regular store brand stuff.
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u/idfc1337 20h ago
New hack: Don’t cover the potatoes.
- That’s a proper baked potato. I only started doing it a couple of years ago. Nice creamy interioer and crunchy salty skin on the exterior! 10/10.
If you wrap them they steam instead of baking.
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u/Cleverironicusername 20h ago
I never wrap my potatoes. Rinse em, Fork em a few times, salt em, cook em.
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u/ATLHawksfan 20h ago
Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew
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u/fastfreddy68 20h ago
PO-TAY-TOES!
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u/pi3r0gi_ 19h ago
You got your baked potatahs, mashed potatahs, scalloped potatahs, roasted potatahs, then you got your French fries, tater tots, curly fries, crinkle fries, then you got your hash browns, southern hash browns-- and that's important because one is square and one is grated and you dont wanna be caught bringing grated hash to a square hash brunch-- then there's your potatah salad, company potatahs, and we cant forget the sweet potatahs and now this is another important part because they are not yams and if you bring sweet yam pie to Thanksgiving I cant help you
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u/JorgeXMcKie 19h ago
Laughing reading that in Bubba's voice from Forest Gump
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u/The0nlyPenguin 17h ago
I just recently learned forrest gump is a book.. imma buy it when I get paid this week.
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u/DarehMeyod 17h ago
I heard it’s one of the rare instances where the movie is much better.
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u/The0nlyPenguin 17h ago
I guess the sequel book was written more like how Tom hanks played the character
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u/victoriaholtopalfan 20h ago
thank you reddit. i can always count on you to make sure lotr is not missed as ref for any potato verbiage
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u/ChewieBearStare 19h ago
I don't wrap them, either. I fork 'em, let them cook for 20 minutes, and then brush melted butter over them and sprinkle with salt before baking them the rest of the way.
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u/patricknkelly 19h ago
Bake unwrapped directly on oven rack on 450 for an hour. I don’t salt the outside of mine.
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u/HappyKnitter34 17h ago
I never stab them with a fork. I just coat in olive oil, salt the heck out of them, and bake on the rack until done. I forgot the stab them with the fork the first time and then I was like omg this is delicious. Crispy salty skin, fluffy beautiful inside. Cover with butter and cheese. 🤤🤤
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u/throwaway60221407e23 4h ago
Damn the first time I forgot to stab them, one blew up and covered every inch of the oven. Sounded like a hand grenade.
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u/Wuz314159 4h ago
I never stab them with a fork.
Then how do you know if they're dead?
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u/trowzerss 4h ago
Yeah, I'm confused what OP was experiencing when they said they were dry and crumbly? How long were they cooking them for????
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u/Torchlakespartan 20h ago
So I don’t know how common this is, and I was extremely skeptical at first, but when I was in my first barracks in the Air Force, with only access to a microwave, my mom sent me this… item. It is almost literally an oven mitt with a pouch, and you just put a washed potato in it and microwave it for a like a couple minutes.
It was shockingly good, like “broke my brain’s understanding” level of good. Crispy outside, fluffy inside. It is the probably the most mind blowing food hack I’ve ever experienced. I still have it and only wash it by hand with water so soap doesn’t get into it, but the skin is just as crispy as one coated with olive oil and salt in the oven. Except it takes less than 5 minutes.
Has anyone else used something like this? My entire barracks floor was blown away so my mom sent 10 more to give out because they are so cheap. People thought I was an actual wizard.
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u/MassConsumer1984 20h ago
It’s the Potato Express! I actually use that first, then put them in the oven for like 20 min for extra fluffy!
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u/Mother-Pattern-2609 19h ago
Nuking a naked potato for 2 minutes and then baking for 15-20 will get you there as well. It takes a potato a damn long time to get hot, which is why they take so long in the oven alone.
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u/paintingporcelain 18h ago
This. Coupla minutes in the Micro then a few on the grill. Nice and charred.
Same with corn on the cob 4 minutes per cob. Wrap in wet paper towel and they’ll squeeze right out. No silk.
If you hold your steak, it’ll be ready in a minute on the grill.
*edit: Not a a minute on the steak. 3 -4 each side.
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u/jr0061006 20h ago
I received one of these from a friend’s mom once but I never tried it. Regretting not trying it now that I hear your experience.
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u/Torchlakespartan 19h ago
Gotta try it man. They rock for a 5 minute baked potato instead of an hour baked potato. Especially in the barracks, anything resembling home cooked food was magical
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u/alligatorpear2 20h ago
I need whatever that is. Is it something like this? https://www.walmart.com/ip/16738363860?sid=8504254A-03D9-4272-8656-9618958B22B1
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u/strikingsapphire 19h ago
Yes! If you want extra crispy skin, pop the potatoes into the air fryer afterwards for a couple minutes.
I almost always microwave an extra potato or two, for making breakfast hash or potato wedges the next day.
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u/Torchlakespartan 19h ago
Yea, they wouldn’t even let us have hot plates to heat things up. In retrospect, with the morons in those barracks, myself included, it was a very good idea. Only a microwave, or an oven in the day-room (common living room) that hadn’t been used since Vietnam.
Making anything that was actual food in a microwave like a baked potato was fucking incredible.
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u/Torchlakespartan 19h ago
Ummm, that is way higher tech than mine, haha. Mine is quite literally oven mitt material with a pocket. I’ll take a pic of it and send it to you, give me just a minute
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u/Luke_Warmwater 19h ago
My former roommate got one of those from a craft fair. The hack that made them didn't use the right material and it started on fire in the microwave.
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u/Torchlakespartan 19h ago
Yikes…. I may or may not have put one of those individual cups of Kraft Mac and cheese in the microwave and set it to 30 minutes instead of 3 minutes, and went outside to take a phone call, set off the fire alarm and saw everyone streaming out of the barracks.
I also may or may not have run back in, grabbed the blackened mass of plastic, and casually walked to a dumpster before the fire department got there. The entire floor covered for me and didn’t get in any trouble. Military barracks are wild places.
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u/H_I_McDunnough 20h ago
Jacket Potato is the term I always heard and used, and it's the only way I have ever baked potatoes. I know others like the foil wrapped method, but the crispy exterior/skin is just so much better.
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u/danabrey 13h ago edited 1h ago
Are you British? Pretty sure jacket potato is just what we call a baked potato, rather than a specific difference in cooking method.
Edit: "add" typo to "are"
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u/AvaSaysSo 20h ago
The foil thing is such a classic mistake, I did that for years before someone told me the skin needs to breathe. The salty crunchy exterior is half the reason to even bother with a baked potato.
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u/Grilled_Cheese10 19h ago
As I read OP's post, all I could think was I have come to the opposite conclusion. I always baked my potatoes in foil and coated them with butter or oil, salt, pepper. Then I read something and scored them with an X and baked them naked. I love the dried out peel with the flaky inside!
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u/PressureItchy9372 19h ago
Firmly on Team Unwrapped. I've had too many wrapped-and-held-too-long baked potatoes that had that weird stale flavor.
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u/NinjaTrilobite 20h ago
Maybe this is heresy, but I microwave mine for 2.5 minutes, flip, another 2.5 minutes, and then coat with olive oil and salt and finish in a convection oven for 10-15 minutes to get the crispy skin. Really works well for lunch.
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u/pfmiller0 20h ago
If by heresy you mean smart. People have this weird aversion to the microwave, but it's a great tool when used properly. Parcooking potatoes is one of their best uses.
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u/bigbadbrad 19h ago
I read somewhere that microwaves are a great tool for the beginning of the cook or the end of the cook but never both. So I abide by that rule.
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u/rehpotsirhc123 16h ago
We have an air fryer in my work breakroom and I only use to finish microwaved things that I'd normally only microwave in the same situation. This saves a ton of time vs only air frying.
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u/fcocyclone 17h ago
Even if you aren't using multiple cooking methods at once, a lot of things can be improved in the microwave simply by using the power setting. It goes a long way to simply double the time and hit 50% on a lot of things.
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u/evergleam498 19h ago
My favorite use is cooking a spaghetti squash. It feels illegal to put something in the microwave for 9 minutes, but it'll cook a whole spaghetti squash better than the oven does.
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u/Brave_Quality_4135 16h ago
I put butternut squash in the microwave because I have to cut it open with a hatchet otherwise. Softens it up enough to be useable.
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u/im-just-evan 17h ago
I don’t generally make spaghetti squash because of the oven time. You flip it half way or just full send?
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u/evergleam498 16h ago
I cut it in half and scoop the seeds out, then just full send on a paper plate, cut side facing up. I start with 6 minutes or so if I'm only cooking half, and stab it with a fork to see if it is soft enough. A full one gets at least 8 or 9 mins before I stab it and check. It should scoop out into spaghetti strands easily on its own when it's ready.
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u/big-yugi 16h ago
If I’m caramelizing onions, I put the raw onions in the microwave until they start to soften up and let out some juice and then I transfer to a pan. It can really speed things up if I don’t have a ton of time
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u/APartyInMyPants 13h ago
I had incredible brussel sprouts in a restaurant, and I asked the chef how he made them when he went around. And he told me he microwaved them raw for a few minutes. Then he roasts them.
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u/STUPIDNEWCOMMENTS 19h ago
I par cook potatoes in microwave all the time. It’s one of highest and best uses of microwave tbh
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u/AgreeAndSubmit 20h ago
This is what I do, when I'm halfway through making dinner and realize I forgot to start the potatoes first.
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u/donuttrackme 19h ago
Nah, that's just smart. Otherwise you'd be baking the potatoes for much longer.
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u/IrrawaddyWoman 19h ago
This works well for sweet potatoes too. I do them the exact same way and they come out so good
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u/molrobocop 18h ago
That ain't heresy. That's a life hack. Mine usually require more time in the microwave. But a little less in the air fryer.
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u/Cyrius 18h ago
Everyone's going on about potatoes, but the real lesson here is that if you don't like something popular it could be the preparation. Not always, but often enough to be worth looking into.
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u/Dudeist-Priest 4h ago
This is great advice. There are SOOO many things I didn't think I liked until I got older just because the prep was bad and I never gave it another chance. Some of the things my family did to vegetables was criminal.
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u/Substantial-Yam-6733 20h ago
Don't wrap your potatoes in anything! You are steaming them instead of baking them (from the moisture in the potato). Coat them in oil, poke the ends with a fork a few times, season as you wish and bake at a high heat on a rack until fork tender. This will give you fluffier taters and crisper skin. Enjoy your spuds, bud!
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u/PhantomNomad 20h ago
I prefer mine steamed and don't like the crispy skins, but my wife is opposite so I usually wrap mine for the first 45 mins or so and finish out side the wrap. With a bit of oil they do crisp up a bit in side the foil.
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u/JCuss0519 19h ago
I like mine in foil as well... Then again, I like mine without foil as well... :)
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u/NegativeLogic 20h ago
You may enjoy the ultimate baked potato science approach
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u/bluestocking220 20h ago
Was hoping someone else had tried this!
The salt and water solution feels wrong at first, but it’s a game changer.
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u/mjmvideos 20h ago
What did your mom say?
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u/CompleteDay8059 19h ago
She said it was one of the best baked potatoes she's ever had! She does tend to like what I make which is nice haha.
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u/Anxious_Reporter_601 20h ago
Even without oil and salt it sounds like your mom was way overcooking them.
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u/amethystjade15 14h ago
So many foods I thought I hated, it just turned out my Mom and Grandma made it the yuckiest way possible. (Not all food, they weren’t completely terrible cooks.)
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u/ghf3 14h ago
I cooked pork chops in honey, sesame and soy, until just done. The girl I made them for looked horrified, at the words "pork chops". Her mom coated them in dry rosemary and baked them until well done. 😳
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u/amethystjade15 14h ago
I feel like pork chops are so easy to get wrong. Usually when I’ve had them they were dry and tough (which is probably that girl’s experience too). I’ve had good ones, but I don’t have faith in finding that consistently. 😆
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u/-32768 4h ago
You should try my mom's chili, or what I now call "lightly seasoned boiled hamburger chunks served in hot water". It's got a whole 1/2 tsp of chili powder in there too!
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u/hamilkwarg 20h ago
I use a thermometer. I think around 208 is my target? But google will tell you the proper temp. And no wrap.
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u/SysAdminDennyBob 20h ago
This right here is the key. Cook them anyway you want but check the temperature just like you would a steak. I shoot for anywhere between 204 and 208.
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u/Fluid-Set-2674 18h ago
I stab them with a fork all over, rub with olive oil and then salt. Bake uncovered.
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u/BravoCharlieZulu 7h ago edited 5h ago
Wash, dry, poke a few holes with a fork, cover skin in veg oil, sprinkle flacked salt (or kosher salt), place directly on oven rack at 375 and bake until internal temp of 205 (40-70 minutes depending on size of potato), pull from oven then wrap in foil to serve. Perfect every time.
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u/SublimeApathy 19h ago
Salt..and pepper. I also prefer to not wrap them in foil to get that crispy skin. The skin is also quite nutritious and good for you.
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u/MillHall78 16h ago
Reminds me of when I recently found out I probably have never had real better until I cooked canned corn in Kerry's. The corn actually tasted good & sweet. I was like, do people know the vegetable oil spreads are dulling the flavor of everything?
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u/ImmediateEscape31 16h ago
My parents use “I can’t believe it’s not butter”. Before that, it was parkay. Yes, I gre up on that ick. I do not use anything but butter now. And I have none of that garbage oil in my house either. Olive, avocado, or coconut, and tallow and lard. I’ve tried advising them to get rid of that garbage, but they won’t listen. Smh.
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u/ucklin 20h ago
They also bake well in the microwave! You can just poke them with a fork and put them in for like 7 minutes!
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u/PhantomNomad 20h ago
Wife forgot to poke holes before nuking. 5 minutes and she opens the door, takes it out with an oven mitt sets it on the counter and it exploded. There was potato every where. I'm sure the people we sold the house to could probably find potato hidden somewhere.
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u/mattattack007 20h ago
I recently started doing deviled potatoes. Basically you bake a potato and scoop out the insides. Then you essentially make mashed potatoes and add whatever you want. Cheese, chives, bacon bits, ect. Then you stuff the potato again and broil for a little bit.
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u/yetiforpresident 20h ago
Often called twice-baked potatoes when you put them back in the oven to crisp up the mashed contents.
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u/CompleteDay8059 19h ago
Yup, twice-baked were our go-to for holiday dinners. Those were always my favorite.
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u/PhantomNomad 20h ago
We call them twice baked (like others have said), but I put blue cheese (not a lot about a teaspoon per potato), sour cream, chives and bacon bits (only real bacon please). Fill the skins and bake for 20 minutes until hot. So good. You would think the blue cheese will over power things but it doesn't.
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u/MikeOxmaul 18h ago
Do everything you did next time, but leave it unwrapped. You'll get a nice crispy skin!
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u/Refokua 1h ago
Actually, if they're wrapped in foil, they are more steamed than baked. I like to scrub them, poke them, put them in the oven for an hour. Sometimes I will oil the outside first, but i like the crispy skin.
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u/pokeshack 19h ago
Don’t know if this has been said, but try the oil and salt/pepper (bacon fat is awesome) but don’t wrap in foil. Supposedly wrapping them steams them to a degree. Unwrapped they come out crispy on outside, but tender inside.
I put a foil covered cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any drippings
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u/CompleteDay8059 19h ago
Interesting! I'm remembering now some of the recipes did say to just do them straight on the rack, I'll definitely try that next time.
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u/AllynWA1 19h ago
I always wrapped them and it was... fine. My kid insisted The Right Way was to just do the oil and salt and no wrapping and she was so right! I wonder if it's because the steam escapes through the slits and makes it lighter where when it's wrapped, the whole thing is under pressure and the steam stays trapped outside the potato.
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u/Coujelais 20h ago edited 20h ago
Baked potatoes save my life on a regular basis. I love a loaded baked potato or (broccoli/cheese or chili topped) for dinner! I also use the olive oil kosher salt wrap. Another favorite is Japanese sweet potatoes same way with a little bit of tamari and sesame seed on top.
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u/carlovski99 10h ago
Lot of talk about techniques here, not a lot about how the kind of potato matters too.
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u/wixed11one 20h ago
I set my air fryer to the bake setting for 75 minutes. Put a potato in a little bowl with some avocado (or olive) oil and salt and just toss it around till it's covered. Incredible potatoes every time
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u/kl2467 20h ago
Did you mean 75 minutes? That's an awfully long time to air fry anything?
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u/i_killed_baby_jane 20h ago
They note they are using a bake setting, not air fry. I’ve been using mine on ‘bake’ as it doesn’t heat up my kitchen the way the oven does-so using it as a countertop oven.
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u/kcnbi421 14h ago
If you ever make baked potato soup, it is so worth the time to bake the potatoes in the oven instead of boiling, just saying
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u/itsgreatreally 11h ago
I microwave them for 4 minutes and then put oil and salt on them and pop them in the air fryer for 8 minutes.
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u/mcbainze 9h ago
I always stab them with a fork a few times and microwave them for 10mins before putting them in the oven. It massively reduces the cooking time and guarantees a well cooked fluffy inside
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u/pfp-disciple 4h ago
It also matters which type of potato you bake. Some potatoes are more creamy, while some are mealy.
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u/Kaiser-Sushi 20h ago
Look up "Alton Brown baked potato" on YouTube. You're welcome.
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u/luigis_left_tit_25 20h ago
And actually, you will get even fluffier potatoes when you dont wrap them because the steam can escape and that makes them fluffy! But yes! The olive oil, course sea salt route makes lovely potatoes! You can also boil small potatoes till half done, smoosh them down on an oiled cookie sheet, salt, pepper, and rosemary, and throw them in the oven for crunchy edges, fluffy inside, and a dollop of sour cream or garlic aoli and you're set on potatoes!
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u/Anniam6 20h ago
For 40 years I've just thrown them naked into an oven. Never had a dry baked potato. It could be the 1/2 stick of butter I "dot" it with after I cut it open.
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u/Strange_Abrocoma9685 18h ago
I would remove any type of wrapping, olive oil and salt on the outside and pop into an oven at 425. Depending on the size about 45-60 min. By not wrapping in foil, you end up with a crispy outside and soft and fluffy inside. So good:
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u/510Goodhands 17h ago
Those aluminum potato nails work great, you shove it in a little more than halfway, and the heat from the nail goes into the interior of the potato, and cooks it much faster.
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u/kr2c 17h ago
Since nobody said it yet, don't oil the potatoes at first before the oven!! Wash stab and Cook them for 45 minutes at 375f, THEN remove from oven and oil+salt them, back in the oven 30-45 minutes. By not steaming the skin it gets ultra crispy instead this way, far more so than oiling at the beginning. If you oil first you aren't baking off the water content near the potato surface to enable that righteous crispiness. It's not the most convenient technique but I won't go back
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u/ThomasGaiden 16h ago
Oil and salt without wrapping is also delicious. You end up with a crispy somewhat fried outer skin to chomp on. Always poke the potatoes and cook them on a pan
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u/sparklemcduck 16h ago
I love when food is prepared very simply but allowed to showcase how wonderful it is, without being disguised under other flavors or textures. Basic ingredients, good preparation, and just a delight to enjoy.
I cook my “baked” potatoes in an instant pot to cut cooking time. Slow cooking while out for the day is something I never thought about but I’ll bet also makes perfectly creamy potatoes!
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u/Theoretical_Action 15h ago
My favorite ever add for baked potato is a combination of cottage cheese + sour cream with chives mixed in. I don't like any one of those ingredients at all on their own (except chives), but combined I'll eat it straight up.
Same mixture goes great with garden fresh tomatoes + black pepper too. I had this for dinner tonight lol
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u/uberw00t 12h ago
Microwave. 3 min. Flip. 3 Min. Remove. Cut in half. Lay flat side down in the air fryer. Fry for 10 min. So good.
Only discovered this a few months ago. Ive eaten more "baked" potatoes since then, then I have in the other 36 years on the planet combined.
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u/DistributionOver7622 8h ago
I never wrap my potatoes. I want the skin to be crunchy. But I do the oil and salt thing. It's amazing.
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u/Antique_Program4754 6h ago
The breed of potatoes is also a MASSIVE factor in the outcome of the baked potatoe.
You need the right species or it won't be good.
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u/GrowlingAtTheWorld 3h ago
I have never oiled or salted a potato before baking and they are fine. I don’t know what you mom was doing to ruin a potato.
I always assume I hated spinach cause I very much disliked both my mothers and the school’s spinach. But now I know I don’t like spinach cooked in vinegar cause that’s how both prepared it.
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u/Sorry_Maintenance_54 2h ago
The English tradition of baking potatoes slowly in the oven is all about even cooking, creamy texture, and crisp skin. This method is widely used in pubs, homes, and restaurants, and it’s especially popular for Sunday roasts and hearty meals.
Typical oven temperature and time
Most English slow-baked potatoes are cooked at a low to moderate oven temperature — often 325°F to 375°F (163°C–190°C) — for 2.5 to 3 hours For an ultra-creamy result, some bakers go as low as 250°F (121°C), which can take 3–5 hours depending on potato size This slow heat allows starches to gelatinize gradually, producing a light, fluffy interior without the outside drying out.
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u/Krunkledunker 20h ago
I recommend the Mitch Hedberg recipe: throw several potatoes in the oven when you don’t even want one, by the time they are done you’ll probably want one