what is the best way to bake a potato?

Answer 1

depending on size about 1 hour in oven at 175degrees,wrapped in foil,then remove foil and replace spud for 10 mins at 200 to get a lovely fuffly centre and a nice crispy skin.

if in a hurry you can microwave for about 10mins,then wrap in a tea towel for 5 mins while spud finishes cooking through,then put in oven for 10mins to crisp skin!

great either way,but oven method is best!

Answer 2

The 'Cook's Illustrated' people did a fair bit of work on this. To summarize:

Use the right potato -- russets and Yukon Golds work well; red and new do not.

Don't bother with the tin foil, and there's no reason to pierce them.

Bake _slowly_ -- 75 minutes at 350F, though obviously there's a little wiggle room on the time depending on the size of the potato.

I believe they didn't have anything strong to say about oiling the skin, but I find coating the skin with some sort of vegetable oil (peanut works well) makes for a much tastier skin. (Scrub well, of course.)

Split it with a fork when it comes out, and dump in the butter. I like to mash a little cheese into it, but everything after 'split it with a fork' is a matter of personal taste.

"Traditional slow baking is best. This is mainly because of the effect it has on the skin; the skin of a potato baked at 350 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes simply has no peer. Just under the skin, a well-baked potato will develop a substantial brown layer. This is because the dark skin absorbs heat during cooking, and the starch just inside the skin is broken down into sugar and starts to brown. The most important step to a fluffy potato is opening it wide when it's hot and to let the steam escape to the air rather than get trapped in the potato, making it soggy." -- from cooksillustrated.com

This site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A738687

has a good list of toppings.

Answer 3

Wash it well, then slice off a little bit of the bottom (you decide which part that is) so it'll sit flat. If it already sits flat, don't cut any off. Cut vertical slices about 7/8 of the way through the potato, as close together as you can manage without cutting any of them off. Put margarine or butter, some salt, and some Parmesan cheese in the slits and on the top of the potato, then bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour -- a little shorter for tiny potatoes and a little longer for honking big ones.

I also enjoy "half-baked" potatoes. This is good to do with leftover boiled or baked potatoes, should you have any, that were just done 'normally.' If you don't have leftovers, microwave a potato for about 5-6 minutes. Slice it in half lengthwise. Grease a cookie sheet well, and place the potato cut side down. Rub a little oil onto the skin, too, if you like. Bake about 30 min at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The cut side should be crispy and the potato should be hot through. Bake a little longer for big ones and shorter for smaller ones, of course.

Answer 4

The recommended oven temperature for baking potatoes is 350°F / 175°C / Gas Mark 4. Schools are divided on whether it is better to wrap the potato in aluminum foil to retain moisture or to leave the potato unwrapped to create a crispy skin.

Once a potato has been baked, some people remove the skin and eat only the softer and moister interior, while others enjoy the taste and texture of the crispy skin. Most of the vitamins, minerals and trace elements in a potato are in or immediately below the skin, but then so are most of the pesticides, fungicides, and chemical coatings.

American restaurants serve baked potatoes with sides (commonly referred to as fixings) such as butter, sour cream, chives, shredded cheese, and bacon bits. British people often choose to have grated cheese (often with baked beans), tuna or a variety of other fillings.

Participants in the New York Marathon are given an aluminized PET film warmup wrap at the Central Park finishline. Wrapped in them, they parade about Manhattan's Upper West Side, where they are locally known as "baked potatoes" because of the similarity of their appearance to a foil-wrapped potato.

Answer 5

the only why to bake potato is in the oven, get steak potato's there real big and meaty scrub the potato real good then cut it down on all 4 sides not real deep then prick the whole thing and put in a hot oven at least400 and bake for 45min. to 1hr. there great, make sure you get Idaho potato's they make the best kind..



never wrap it in foil it will ruin the skin and make the pot. mushy

Answer 6

Scrub the skin with a vegetable brush. Dry completely. Stick it with a fork in a couple places (like 2 or 3 times) and dry roast it in a 350 degree oven for 45-60 minutes depending on the size of the spud. THis method produces a flaky inside and a tasty skin as well. Wrapping it in foil will cause it to sweat/steam and even though it will cook slightly quicker, the potato will not be as tasty or fluffy.

Answer 7

Personally, I like to wrap it in aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 450 for about 70 minutes (give or take depending on how large the potato is). When you can easily slide a knife into the potato, it's done.

Answer 8

Actually, a true "Baked" potato is rubbed with either olive oil or butter and then rolled in coarse salt, that is the way that I make them. Here is a website I found that explains this method:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/PotatoBaking.htm

Answer 9

Rinse of the potato, slice off the ends, put little slits in the potatoe and stuff sliced onion and butter in the slits. Wrap it in foil and bake untill tender, about 45 mins.

Answer 10

Scrub the potato very well.
Poke it a few times all the way around with a fork.
Wrap in your favorite bacon.
Wrap with aluminum foil.
Bake at 350 for about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the size of the potato.

I check mine for tenderness by sticking a knife in it.

Then season to taste.

Answer 11

Potatoes are one of the very few foods that come out fine in the microwave oven. Clean, poke some holes in it, and microwave for several minutes.

While I prefer oven baked, the microwave is the easiest and fastest way.