Baked potatoes are the most comforting dish. A fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth baked potato has a crispy, salty skin.
For many, though, the perfect baked potato in the oven remains a pipe dream. Baking a potato in a hot oven, which seems like it would produce perfect results every time, frequently results in sticky interiors, slightly burned skins, or slippery, mushy skins.
They’re not inedible, but could they be better? Yes. Simple steps can enhance sad, dry cooked potatoes.
See if you’re committing any of these 7 potato-baking mistakes, and receive straightforward recommendations for making your next batch taste fantastic.
1. You Need To Do A Better Job Of Drying The Potato
Wash the potatoes, preferably russets, to remove dirt. Use a vegetable brush to quickly scrub them. After washing, thoroughly dry the potatoes. Excess moisture on the potato’s skin can leak inside while roasting.
Puncture some flesh. Nobody wants to risk the potato exploding in the oven. Safety first.
2. A Foil Packet Is Used To Enclose The Potato
Chefs consider this the secret to the perfect roasted potato. This harms the skin.
We’ll discuss why dehydrating and rehydrating play important roles in creating the perfect baked potato skin. All the liquid from the potato will go back into the skin if you bake it in foil, leaving you with a sad potato.
Please don’t touch the potatoes again once you’ve cleaned and dried them. There will be no packaging.
3. Avoid Placing A Wire Rack Underneath The Potatoes
For even cooking, bake potatoes with hot air from all sides. If you bake potatoes on one side, you may get a hard spot and uneven cooking.
Use a shallow rack and a rimmed baking sheet. Bake potatoes in a single layer, side-by-side. Check for room between potatoes before shutting the oven door.
4. Too Much Heat Is Coming From The Oven
Slow, low cooking yields the best-baked potatoes. If you have time, bake potatoes at 300°F for 90 minutes. 45 minutes at 450 degrees F cuts the time in half. Baking times vary by potato size and oven temperature.
That’s all! Overcooking potatoes past 450°F won’t improve the taste. High heat will cook them quickly, but the skins may be overblown or burned. Charred potato skins prevent a fluffy inside.
5. Not Even The Potatoes Get Their Temperature Checked
Meat and baked potatoes are done when their internal temperatures reach a certain number. Using a probe thermometer, check for doneness. 205°F to 212°F is ideal. Above or below that point, the texture may be sticky or dense.
6. It’s Not The Last Step To Bast
Rub oil and salt on potatoes near the end of cooking. At that stage, both texture and flavor will benefit from their addition. Pre-oiled skins may not get crispy. Even salt evaporates as potatoes cook.
When the potatoes reach 205 degrees F, remove the pan and baste with oil. Mix with kosher salt and olive oil.
Adding 10 minutes to the oven won’t raise the potatoes’ temperature by more than a few degrees. Oil helps crisp long-baked skins, and salt adds flavor.
7. You Wait Until The Potatoes Have Cooled Down Before Slicing Them
The meat rests more than potatoes. Urgent incision. If you don’t, they’ll get dense and sticky from the steaming middle.
Immediately after removing the baking dish from the oven, pierce each potato. Squeezing them makes a vent.
After that, prepare dinner and invite everyone over. By the time everyone sits down for supper, the potatoes will be perfect.
