Baked potatoes may seem like an easy dinner to make, but there is nothing worse than accidentally cooking a soggy or even an uncooked jacket potato.
Luckily, there is a simple way to make “beautiful baked spuds” thanks to one chef’s techniques who has pointed out some of the most common cooking mistakes.
Kathryne Taylor is a chef who runs the food blog Cookie and Kate, and has repeatedly tried out different methods until she developed her own “foolproof” recipe on how to make the “perfect” spud.
She wrote: “If you’re accustomed to run-of-the-mill baked potatoes, this might sound like a silly amount of effort.
“But if you have savoured the glorious contrast between crispy potato skin and fluffy potato interior, you know there must be a trick to it.”
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However, cooking the perfect baked potato actually begins at the supermarket, as Kathryne has highly recommended using medium-sized russet potatoes.
She explained: “Russets are high in starch and low in moisture, which makes them nice and fluffy after baking. Their thick skin crisps up well, too.”
“Choose medium-sized potatoes, each around the same size (about one-half pound) so they’re all done at the same time. Large potatoes will take absolutely forever to cook through.”
Bake your potatoes at a very hot temperature of 230C for around 45 to 60 minutes.
Kathryne said: “You’ll know the potatoes are cooked through when you can slide a skewer or fork into the centre of the potato with little to no resistance.”
However, for the very best baked potatoes, you will need one extra step make make sure they are both crispy yet fluffy.
Kathryne said: “Once the potatoes are cooked through, remove them from the oven and brush them lightly all over with melted butter or oil, then sprinkle them with salt.
“This step is key to achieving those crispy, flavorful exteriors. It works so well because we’re adding the butter or oil at the end of baking. Add it too early, and it can burn before the potatoes are done.”
Salting the potatoes also helps enhance the flavour of the potato skin as well, but the salt will only stick when brushed with butter or oil.
Bake the potatoes for an additional 10 minutes and then slice them open into an “X” shape as soon as you get them out of the oven.
Kathryne finished her recipe and said: “Add any desired toppings, and serve immediately. “
