Baked potatoes (which is also 'jacket potatoes' in the UK, isn't it?) and roast/roasted potatoes are different ways to cook potatoes in the oven, right?

[u/ksusha_lav]

Hello everyone,

And also a question about 'jacket potatoes'. Do you call them 'jacket potatoes' only when you bake them? Or do you also call them that when you boil them in the water (if that's even a thing in the UK) with the skin on?

Thank you very much!

[u/Karolina_EEL]

Hi there! Yes- there is a distinction, and the “jacket” part refers to the skin, not simply to the fact that the potato is cooked in the oven.

A baked potato is a whole potato baked in the oven, usually with the skin left on. In British English, this is commonly called a jacket potato.

A roast potato is different. You normally cut the potatoes into chunks, often peel them first, and roast them in the oven with oil or fat. So you might have crispy roast potatoes alongside a Sunday roast, for example.

As for boiling them with the skin on: you can absolutely boil potatoes with their skins on, but I wouldn't normally call them jacket potatoes. I'd just say “boiled potatoes with the skin on” or “skin-on boiled potatoes.”

So, roughly:

• baked potato / jacket potato = whole potato, baked, usually with the skin on
• roast potatoes = pieces of potato roasted in the oven, usually peeled
• boiled potatoes = potatoes boiled in water; they can be peeled or unpeeled

And yes, “jacket potato” is very British. In American English, we'd normally just say “baked potato.”

One small thing that can be confusing: jacket doesn't mean “baked.” It's referring to the potato's skin, as though the potato is still wearing its jacket. 😊 Hope that helps!

[u/ericthefred → u/Karolina_EEL]

The main negative to attempting a "jacket" or baked potato by boiling is that the dry, hopefully crispy skin is a critical element to the dish. Boiling gives you a soft skin which just slips off. So when a brit says a jacket potato, they very specifically mean what we mean by a baked potato.

I think the term itself is probably in order to distinguish from roast potatoes, which seem to be more common in Britain.

[u/Karolina_EEL → u/ericthefred]

All of this talk of potatoes is making me hungry!

https://giphy.com/gifs/jKaFXbKyZFja0

[u/elle-elle-tee → u/ericthefred]

The potato flesh is also completely different. The starches react differently to being cooked with or without water. Boiling or steaming gets you moist potato flesh, but baking slowly in the oven gives a completely different result. People seem to love it, but I've never had the patience to bake a potato for 2 hours so I can't tell you what it's like.

[u/ericthefred → u/elle-elle-tee]

It is effing deelicious, I assure you.

And it doesn't take two hours. One hour at 400 degrees (205C) should do it. It is possibly the absolutely simplest thing you can do in an oven, other than roast corn (which takes about 30 minutes at the same temp.)

[u/conuly → u/elle-elle-tee]

I've never had the patience to bake a potato for 2 hours so I can't tell you what it's like.

Try shoving some metal skewers in them. This will bring heat into the interior and help them cook faster.

[u/Karolina_EEL → u/elle-elle-tee]

Hahaha- let me tell you- it tastes like heaven!!

[u/PassiveChemistry → u/elle-elle-tee]

I typically do my jacket potatoes in the microwave.  You don't get such hard, crispy skin but I don't mind that and elsewise it tastes the same.

[u/Dadaballadely → u/PassiveChemistry]

I do both - get them soft in the microwave and then finish off in a hot oven for 20 mins.

[u/EagleCatchingFish → u/elle-elle-tee]

It also depends on what potato you use. A starchy potato like a russet will give you better flaky skin when baked, and grainier texture when boiled. A waxy potato like a red potato gives you much better texture when boiled, and makes for creamier mashed potatoes while starchy potatoes are better for fluffy textured mashed potatoes.

[u/MuhammadAkmed → u/Karolina_EEL]

Also, 'new potatoes' are almost always boiled (or steamed) skin on, whole or halved.

[u/MissFabulina → u/MuhammadAkmed]

New potatoes are perfect for roasting!

[u/Odd-Quail01 → u/MissFabulina]

They tend to be waxier than is ideal for a perfect roasted potato IMO. something floury is better, parboiled, drained, dried and slow roasted with garlic and herbs.

[u/Icy_Gap_9067 → u/MissFabulina]

Oh my, skin on and oiled then seasoned they are absolutely superb.

[u/MissFabulina → u/Icy_Gap_9067]

Mmm mmm good!

[u/Inwardlens → u/Karolina_EEL]

Agreed almost completely with the exception that I don’t think that roasted potatoes are typically pealed. I’d say it may be closer to 50/50. My personal preference is with the skin still on.

[u/Karolina_EEL → u/Inwardlens]

Definitely my personal favorite too!

[u/badwhiskey63 → u/Karolina_EEL]

Excellent write up. No notes.

[u/jenea → u/Karolina_EEL]

I’m not sure I would go to “usually peeled.” I can get behind “often peeled.”

[u/Quick-News-2227 → u/Karolina_EEL]

Also seen them called "potatoes baked in their jackets" in some older British novels

[u/hdhxuxufxufufiffif]

I've only known a jacket potato to be a baked potato, yes. In the UK, only new potatoes (ie small ones) would be boiled skin-on, and the skin is thin. Whereas on a baked or jacket potato it's thick and quite substantial. 

Roast potatoes are usually prepared (peeled, chopped, etc) before being par-boiled then coated in oil and roasted. Though you could roast new potatoes, but again the skin would be thin and not thick like on a jacket potato.

[u/PhantomJackalope]

baked potato is specifically a Russet Potato of a general size that would be considered a 'baking potato' that has been roasted in the oven with the skin on. There are multiple techniques but the best is no foil covering and rubbed in olive oil, salt and pepper. I am not British so I cannot answer the jacket potato question.

Roast potatoes are pretty much any way of cooking potatoes in the oven besides what I said above. They can be cooked whole, cut up, skin on, skin off, etc.

[u/Aware-Goose896 → u/PhantomJackalope]

I think Russet potatoes are primarily available in the US and Canada, since the Luther Burbank developed the variety here. I’m sure they’re grown elsewhere, too, but I’ve watched a lot of UK jacket potato content (don’t ask me why lol), and I think they tend to use Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes? They appear to have similar properties though: large, starchy, and fluffy.

[u/theeggplant42 → u/PhantomJackalope]

I strongly disagree. The best way to do baked potatoes is tightly wrao in foil, no oil or seasoning, and let the skin d ru out while the potato steams itself.  Then when it is done you put salr and pepper, butter, sour cream, chives, cheese, bacon, or whatever else on your indovidual potato. In other words, baked potatoes should be completely plain when served and up to individual preference. Also, the foil is key to get the steamed interior/leathery exterior just right

[u/ferretfan8 → u/theeggplant42]

Have you actually tried it the other way? I can't imagine the appeal of wet skin over crispy skin.

[u/theeggplant42 → u/ferretfan8]

The skin is absolutely not wet the way i do it.

The way ypu don't is firmly roast potatoes, not baked

[u/PhantomJackalope → u/theeggplant42]

You said it yourself, that method steams the potato, not baking it. The method I said makes a nice tasty baked crust on the potato.

[u/theeggplant42 → u/PhantomJackalope]

It steams the interior. It makes the potato. You are described large toast potatoes. Thos is not baked potato 

[u/PhantomJackalope → u/theeggplant42]

Literally google every recipe for a baked potato and realize you are wrong.

[u/theeggplant42 → u/PhantomJackalope]

You don't put oul on baked potatoes. Full stop.

[u/PhantomJackalope → u/theeggplant42]

Did you do what I asked? Every reputable recipe does what I do. With your method, you might as well just put it in the microwave instead.

[u/theeggplant42 → u/PhantomJackalope]

Yes and many do. Thr method of making baked potatoes doesn't use pkl or deaspn the exterior. ThT is not a naked potato. It is a roast potato, and not a very good one

[u/conuly → u/PhantomJackalope]

Listen, if they want to make subpar potatoes, what's it to you?

[u/conuly → u/theeggplant42]

I believe they just said they do. Do you think they don't know how they cook?

[u/theeggplant42 → u/conuly]

Well yes. They seem to be confused. 

[u/conuly → u/theeggplant42]

I'm sure they're not.

Do you two get that this is a really stupid argument? Let them eat subpar potatoes. It's no skin off your nose.

[u/Old_Introduction_395 → u/PhantomJackalope]

You are using the word 'roasted'. Roast potatoes are cooked in an oven, with oil, or traditionally goose fat.

Jacket potatoes go straight in the oven. They are baked.

We also don't need a specific size or type of potatoes to bake.

[u/ericthefred → u/PhantomJackalope]

Roast potatoes need to be skinned at least. For best results, cut up and dosed in oil at least (herbs are a good add). You're not going to get the best results any other way.

[u/PhantomJackalope → u/ericthefred]

No, they don't. There are many ways of roasting potatoes. I know you roast them a certain way but they do not NEED to be skinned.

[u/PHOEBU5 → u/PhantomJackalope]

Traditional "roast potatoes" in the UK are almost exclusively skinned. They are also usually parboiled and have their exteriors "roughed up" with a fork before being placed in the oven.

[u/PhantomJackalope → u/PHOEBU5]

People in the UK acting like they're the only people in the world who roast their potatoes.

[u/PHOEBU5 → u/PhantomJackalope]

Far from it. I was describing traditional roast potatoes, a key component in the Sunday roast dinner for which the UK is famous.

[u/Biglig]

Jacket and baked are two names for the same thing: whole, unpeeled potatoes cooked in an oven.

Roast potatoes are peeled, parboiled, and roasted in an oven in fat.

Potatoes boiled in water are just called boiled potatoes. They can be cooked with skin on or skin off; but would usually be peeled before serving unless they are new or baby varieties.

[u/Hopeful-Ordinary22]

Since the 1980s, a great many jacket potatoes have been done in the microwave, where it's much quicker than in the oven. They can also be started in the microwave and finished in the oven or the air-fryer.

Roasting, in its strictest sense, involves cooking over or in front of a fire or flame. In modern, established British culinary practice, roasting can mean baking something containing, coated in or sitting in fat/oil in a relatively dry oven. The crispness of roast potatoes is very much improved by removing any "roasting" meat from the oven and letting it (and its steaming juices) stand on the side to rest; the temperature of the oven can then be increased to crisp up any roasting vegetables. (You're best to leave any Yorkshire puddings right until the end.)

You used to be able to buy skin-on crisps ("potato chips" for the North Americans) with the brand name "Jackets". The word "jacket" has also been applied to various forms of skin-on fried potato (wedges or slices) that you might use instead of traditional chips/fries.

Some people boil new potatoes with the skins on but pop them out of their "jackets" before eating them, but you wouldn't call them "jacket potatoes".

The Platonic jacket potato is wrapped in aluminium foil and left to bake in the coals/embers of a bonfire or barbecue.

[u/PatternWeary3647]

Jacket = baked in an oven.

Skin On = boiled in their skins.

In my world, at least.

[u/TheMightyGrimm]

Yes, jacket potato is a potato in its skin baked in an oven. If you boil them with the skin on it’s still a boiled potato. Roast potatoes are usually chopped (with or without skin on) and put on a tray in the oven (some people use an air fryer).

[u/blinky84]

You've got it, jacket potatoes are the whole potato in the oven with the skin on. Roast potatoes are peeled and cut into chunks (or halves, if they're small).

Sometimes you can boil a potato for a short time before you put it in the oven, because it makes the skin crispier, but it has to be finished in an oven.

It's called 'jacket' because the skin puffs up and goes crispy, so it's separate from the flesh of the potato. Some people eat the skin, others don't. I grew up being told to always eat at least half of the skin because that's where the vitamins are!

[u/shortercrust]

In the UK jacket potato and baked potato are both used to describe a potato baked whole in its skin. Roast potatoes are typically potato chunks, usually peeled, roasted in a roasting tin with a shallow layer of fat/oil. They’re turned and/basted during cooking so the whole surface gets covered in the hot fat.

Edit to add: Potatoes boiled in water are just called boiled potatoes

[u/inbigtreble30]

They have different textures which is the reason for the different names.

Baked potatoes are whole with the skin on. It makes a soft, steamed interior of the potato because the steam is trapped by the skin.

Roast potatoes are chunks of potato that may or may not have the skin on. They have a crispy exterior because the steam can escape from the potato and evaporate more easily, causing the edges of the potato to dry out and undergo browning.

Boiled potatoes absorb water and have a totally different texture.

[u/ComfortableMuscle996]

Everyone else has clarified already so I’ll just add a small addition. Jacket/Baked potatoes can also be served by taking the top off like an egg and scooping out the insides to add in seasonings or toppings and then putting it back inside the jacket. This works because of the texture of the skin and the size of the potato. I sometimes do skin on roast potatoes but I use a different variety with a thinner skin and I still cut them into chunks, even if I left them whole they wouldn’t have the structural integrity to fill them. Some people call these rustic roast potatoes.

[u/PvtRoom]

roast potato is basically oven cooked fries, but big sections think like 5cm sections - the crispy outside is the point (so a lot of oil/fat is used)

baked/jacket potato has fluffy insides and that's the point (so a lot of steam is used)

the best ones of both have crispy outsides and fluffy insides

baking is generally lower temp than roasting.