Cooking a baked potato is straightforward, however there’s one mistake that folks typically make that may spoil the tip end result – soggy, wrinkled pores and skin. Fortunately, it might probably simply be fastened with only one ingredient.
I make baked potatoes crispier and tastier by coating them with 1 easy ingredient chef loves (Picture: Angela Patrone)
Jacket potatoes are splendidly versatile, serving equally nicely as a facet dish or as a hearty important meal when loaded with fillings resembling tuna mayo, baked beans, cheese or a mouth-watering chilli. But nothing is sort of so deflating as pulling a cooked potato out of your air fryer or oven solely to seek out it sporting soggy, wrinkled pores and skin.
Many individuals assume that wrapping a jacket potato in tin foil is the way in which to go, however in my expertise, this strategy not often delivers the products, because the foil traps steam, leading to longer cooking occasions and an unpleasantly slimy pores and skin. Fortuitously, I’ve found a brilliantly easy approach to make sure completely crispy potatoes with a stunning golden-brown pores and skin each time, and it requires only a single ingredient advisable by chef and Feasting at Dwelling founder Sylvia Fountaine — salt.
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Salt pulls moisture from the potato pores and skin, permitting for a crispier pores and skin (Picture: Angela Patrone)
Sylvia is a agency advocate of salt, and never simply any selection, however sea or kosher salt particularly. I am a selected fan of sea salt, and discover my jacket potatoes emerge from the oven crispier and extra flavoursome than ever earlier than.
However why salt? Throughout cooking, salt attracts moisture out of the potato pores and skin, enabling it to dry out swiftly whereas holding steam to a minimal.
Moreover, it boosts the general flavour and creates a protecting layer across the potato, considerably decreasing the chance of burning or charring. Whereas it might seem easy to make use of salt, many individuals have a tendency so as to add it to their baked potatoes solely as soon as they’ve completed cooking. Nonetheless, seasoning them previous to baking ensures they emerge from the oven significantly extra flavourful and crispy.
Alongside salt, I desire to make use of a impartial oil that will not impart any further flavour to the potato, resembling olive, vegetable or avocado oil, as different cooking oils can show far too overpowering.
Essentially the most difficult aspect of cooking a baked potato is the persistence required, but the tip end result makes it completely worthwhile. The salt crust on the pores and skin considerably enhances the potato’s total flavour.
Salt additionally enhances the flavour and varieties a protecting barrier across the potato (Picture: Angela Patrone)
The best way to prepare dinner baked potatoes
To start, I preheat my oven to 200C fan earlier than totally washing the potato and piercing it a minimum of thrice with a fork to permit steam to flee. This stops the potato from bursting underneath the oven’s warmth.
I then drizzle vegetable oil over it, ensuring all the potato is nicely coated, earlier than giving it a beneficiant rub with sea salt and putting it onto a baking tray.
A baked potato usually takes round 50 minutes to an hour to prepare dinner. Naturally, this varies relying on the dimensions of the potato and the kind of oven you are utilizing. As soon as cooked, to ensure a lightweight and fluffy moderately than stodgy inside, I promptly slice the potato open with a knife to permit any residual steam to flee.
With the oven switched off, I go away the potato inside for an extra 5 minutes, as this additional enhances the crispiness of the pores and skin.
Once you finally retrieve your tray, you may be greeted by the crunchiest and most mouth-watering baked potatoes you’ve got ever had.
For the topping, I stored issues simple with a beneficiant knob of butter and a few freshly grated cheddar cheese.
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