by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: November 27, 2008   Last Updated: May 03, 2011

There is nothing complicated about baking a potato but there are a couple of principal ways in which the process can go drastically wrong. In the first instance, the potato can be cooked to an extent where it looks perfect at first glance but the center is under-cooked, hard and unpalatable. Conversely, the potato may be light and fluffy inside but cooked so long that the skin is dry, wrinkled and hard. Striking the right balance is not always easy but there are a couple of ways to ensure the cooked baked potato is as near as possible to perfect in all respects.

The first step in baking a potato is ensuring that the potato variety used is suitable for baking. Advice can be found in a supermarket or grocery store but in general it is necessary to look for a floury rather than a waxy potato.

The oven should be put on to preheat to 400F while the potato is being prepared for baking. The potato should be scrubbed clean and any eyes removed with a sharp knife and discarded. The potato should be dried with kitchen paper or a clean dish towel. One way of ensuring that the potato cooks evenly is to take a metal skewer more commonly used for cooking kebabs and carefully insert it lengthwise through the centre of the potato. The metal conducts the heat through the potato, allowing the core to cook more quickly and the entire potato more evenly. It still remains necessary to pierce the potato skin several times with a fork, to allow steam to escape while it is cooking and prevent it from bursting.

In order to protect the potato skin during cooking and prevent it from drying out, wrap the skewered potato loosely in tinfoil. The steam which will form shields the potato from the dry heat of the oven and helps to keep the skin smooth and moist. If desired, the foil can be very carefully unwrapped for the final fifteen minutes of the allotted cooking time to give the skin some color and a slightly crisp texture.

Place the foil wrapped potato on to a baking tray or sheet and in to the oven for one and a quarter to one and a half hours, depending on the size of the potato. When the potato is removed from the oven and unwrapped, the skewer should be grasped through oven protecting gloves and will very easily slide free. The potato should then be gently and carefully massaged, still using protecting gloves, before being cut open and served with the topping or toppings of choice.

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