Editors' Pick
Best Baked Potato
photo by Jonathan Melendez
- Ready In:
- 1hr 10mins
- Ingredients:
- 3
- Serves:
-
1
ingredients
- 1 large russet potato
- canola oil
- kosher salt
directions
- Heat oven to 350°F and position racks in top and bottom thirds.
- Wash potato (or potatoes) thoroughly with a stiff brush and cold running water.
- Dry, then using a standard fork poke 8 to 12 deep holes all over the spud so that moisture can escape during cooking.
- Place in a bowl and coat lightly with oil.
- Sprinkle with kosher salt and place potato directly on rack in middle of oven.
- Place a baking sheet (I put a piece of aluminum foil) on the lower rack to catch any drippings.
- Bake 1 hour or until skin feels crisp but flesh beneath feels soft.
- Serve by creating a dotted line from end to end with your fork, then crack the spud open by squeezing the ends towards one another.
- It will pop right open.
- But watch out, there will be some steam.
- NOTE: If you're cooking more than 4 potatoes, you'll need to extend the cooking time by up to 15 minutes.
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Reviews
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Oh my God! It works!<br/><br/>After years of stiff, hard baked potatoes, I am happy to say that I have produced restaurant-quality ones, thanks to this recipes. I poked 2 large russets 6 times each, then nuked them for 3 minutes, placed them on a plate and drizzled them with olive oil. Then I sprinkled them with garlic salt and put them in the toaster oven for about 35 minutes. I did the recipe's method of opening the potatoes, and it was like magic (just rip a paper towel in half--one side for each hand--to protect your hands while you are pushing the potato open). Fantastic! I will make these constantly.
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These turned out great! Admittedly, I've never attempted baked potatoes in the oven before (always microwaved them...and I knew I was missing out). Anyway, I wanted to have real baked potatoes with our dinner last night, and this is the recipe I (thankfully) chose. Easy to follow method. I did skip the salt and I don't like to bake things directly on the oven rack so I put the potatoes on a foil-lined cookie sheet to bake. Ended up with tender, perfectly baked potatoes. I really enjoyed the tip about splitting them open as well. As others have stated, I'll never bake potatoes any other way again. Thank you!
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Tweaks
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I didn't have baking potatoes on hand and instead used 2 medium red potatoes. I also used olive oil instead of the canola oil. Even with the smaller potatoes, an hour of baking time seemed to be about right. While I am still not a fan of the skin of baked potatoes, Hubby really like the crispy saltiness of these potatoes baked without foil and directly on the racks.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
cooking_geek
Charlottesville, Virginia