Perfect Baked Potatoes

What is it about a really good baked potato? I am reminded of a movie that came out many years ago, Eating, all about women and our issues with food. There’s a line where one woman says, “I think I’m looking for a man who can excite me as much as a baked potato.” See the trailer here. I remember seeing the movie and discussing it with a coworker, who then went on to tell me about a baked potato she had a couple of years before that was so amazing, and why couldn’t they always be that way?

Over the years, I have come across different baked potato recipes, and yeah, they’re all good, but sometimes kinda worky and who wants that? America’s Test Kitchen (or perhaps its sister show, Cooks Country) had a recipe a couple of years ago where they coated the potatoes in salty water, then baked at 450 degrees for about an hour, and at the end you brushed the potato with oil, put it back in the oven, and cook it for 10 more minutes. The thing with this recipe is timing and temperature. You had to bake the potatoes to an internal temperature of 205 degrees, and you had to cut them open and eat them right away or else risk sogginess. No one wants a soggy potato. If you’re going to eat that, just microwave it, right? It worked OK, but I didn’t think it was fabulous.

Imagine my delight, then, when this article popped up on my search engine the other day. That’s their photo up above, and yes, it looks DELICIOUS. So I gave it a try, and yes, it was a perfect baked potato. SO good. Crispy, salty skin, fluffy tender insides. Ted and Maya prefer baked sweet potatoes, which I do not like, so I made those for them, and I enjoyed mine. I think you have a little wiggle room with this recipe, too…if your potato is done before the rest of the meal, it’s already sliced, it won’t get soggy. Just put it back in the oven a bit before serving, to warm.

Here are the tips, cribbed (but edited by me) directly from the article.

1. Slice them first. Rather than poking holes all over the potatoes before baking them to ensure they don’t explode in the oven, instead slice a cross shape about 1/4-inch thick into each potato. This helps them release some steam, makes the interior more fluffy, and also makes them easier to slice into when they’re piping hot.
2. Oil and salt. Coat the potatoes in some oil (something with a high smoking point, probably not olive oil) and your favorite course salt.
3. Bake them for longer than you think. Many recipes recommend baking potatoes for an hour at 425 or even 450 F. Instead, bake them at 400°F for closer to two hours. The potatoes won’t burn at this temperature and the long bake means the skin will be so crisp that it’s practically cracker-like. I baked mine directly on the rack in my toaster oven, not on a pan. Using the toaster oven meant less energy used. If I had been cooking something else in the oven at 400, I would have put them in the regular oven.
4. Return them to the oven. After the two hours are up, remove the potatoes and carefully cut into the slices you made initially. Then put the potatoes back in the oven for 10 more minutes. This helps to dry out the flesh further and makes it extra fluffy.

Ted and Maya are going to go out to dinner and a show next week (The Who, assuming Roger Daltrey doesn’t lose his voice), and I’m debating whether my solo dinner will be bacon and eggs, or a delicious baked potato with a salad. Thinking I may need to try the potato recipe again, to make sure it’s as good as I remember.