Potatoes’ beauty lies in their simplicity. Mashed, smashed, roasted, or baked, loaded up with cheese or simply paired with butter and salt, you really can’t go wrong.
That said, it’s a sad reality that there are such things as lousy baked potatoes. A poor quality baked potato is a no-no. There are many ways to spice up your humble baked potato, but the best way to make a great baked potato is to start with a high-quality base.
Thankfully, Cook’s IllustratedLan Lam, chefPut in the effort to perfect the technique. ‘hack’That will make sure you have a crispy exterior.
How to Make Perfect Baked Potatoes
Lam set out to make a baked potato with a crisp exterior and a fluffy interior. Lam baked almost 200 pounds of potatoes in order to achieve her goal.
Lam chose Russet potatoes for his first choice. They contain a lot starch that helps create that. ‘fluffy’Baked potatoes have the interior texture we want.
Lam recommends next that you poke holes in the exterior with a fork in order to prevent any accidental explosions due to trapped steam. While she did note that she skipped this step and didn’t have a single incident, she also recommends erring on the side of caution (and we agree).
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Lam tried several techniques to prep her skin. This is where she found her magic. To get crisp, delicious skins, just dip the potatoes in salty tap water. A simple dunk, even if it was more time-consuming than brining the potatoes for an hour, produced the same results.
Lam discovered that oil can be applied in a thin layer towards end of cooking time. This allowed the potatoes to bake for a minimum of 10 minutes.
It was finally time to cook. Lam tested cooking the potatoes in a microwave, a pressure cooker, and even deep frying, but found the optimal method was baking in a 450°F oven for about 45 minutes. An internal temperature of 205°F was the sweet spot for the perfect fluffy interior that wasn’t too gummy. But unlike that perfectly cooked steak, baked potatoes don’t need to rest. It is important to cut the potatoes right after they are done cooking. Otherwise, steam could make the potatoes too dense.
Here it is! Following Lam’s well-tested tips, you too can achieve a perfect backed potato ready to be served as a side, loaded up to become the main dish, or enjoyed all on its own.