How to Make the Perfect Baked Potato
Baked Potatoes with Crispy Outside
Wash Potatoes
Remove Bad Spots
Cook Time
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 hour
Ready in: 1 hour 5 min
Yields: One person per potato
Supplies Needed
- Vegetable brush - for washing potato
- Paring knife - to remove bad spots on potato
- Fork - for poking potato
- Small bowl, or paper towel or newspaper - to work over
- Baking sheet - to place beneath potatoes
- Plate - to place potato on once cooked
Ingredients
- 1 per person Russet potatoes
- 1 TBS Olive oil
- 1 tsp Sea salt, (I prefer coarse salt for this recipe)
First Things
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Second, wash the potatoes. I like to use a brush to scrub the potatoes while I wash them. This ensures all of the dirt is removed, and if you scrub a little hard, it thins out the skin.
Third, Remove any bad spots on the potato. A small paring knife works perfect for this.
Stab Baked Potato
Oil the Potato
Salt the Potato
Instructions - Making the Baked Potato
- Now that all of the preliminaries are out of the way, it's time to prepare the potato. Get out a small bowl to work over, or a paper towel or newspaper.
- Stab each potato a few times with a fork. Holes in the potato allow steam to escape during the cooking process, and will prevent the potato from exploding in your oven.
- Drizzle olive oil over a potato, rubbing the oil over the potato with your hand to cover the entire potato.
- Sprinkle sea salt on the potato, while still holding it in your hand, turning the potato over to cover all sides. NOTE: If you are eating a low-salt diet, you can skip this step or use a salt-free seasoning instead.
- Prepare each potato this way.
- Place potatoes directly on the top oven rack as shown.
- Place a cookie sheet on the lower oven rack, beneath the potatoes, just in case any of the potatoes drip.
- Set a timer for 45 minutes for small potatoes, 60 minutes for large potatoes.
- When the timer goes off, stick a potato with a fork to see if it's done. If it's fully cooked, the fork will insert easily into the potato. If it's not quite cooked, it will be harder to get the fork inserted, similar to when you stabbed it before cooking. If it's not quite done, re-set the timer for 5 or 10 more minutes, and check again.
- When the potatoes are fully cooked, turn the oven off and remove the potatoes from the oven. An easy way is to stab each potato with a fork, and place the potato on a plate.
- That's it! Your potatoes are ready to serve. Enjoy!
Potatoes in Oven
Finished Potato
