Posted this over on the advice section by mistake so reposting it here to:

Baked potatoes


Anyone know how I can get them so that they are so soft they turn a dark yellowy colour on the inside and yet the skins are soft amost juicy on the outside NOT crispy, I have tried the microwave first then oven, Ive tried oven on low for 4 hours (they just explode). Is there a certain secret to getting nice jacket spuds like this?

Thanks

I always bake my jacket potatoes for 2 hrs at gas mark 5/190c - this is for me the optimum method for baked spuds. If you want a soft not crispy skin then try wrapping them in foil.

I agree about the oven part. If I'm in a hurry I microwave them a bit first, and then finish in the oven. The yellow colour inside though is to do with what sort of potato you start with, nothing to do with the way you cook it.

Doing baked potatoes in the microwave is sacrilege; they should only be done in the oven. IMHO

I agree with above poster. Whenever I want a soft skin I too wrap the potato in foil, and usually spread some olive oil on the foil first. I prefer a crispy skin normally though.

Oh, and to stop them exploding you need to give it a good prodding with a fork before you cook it.

I dont like baked spuds cooked in the oven. I dont really eat the skins anyway and not ever so keen on the burnt skin taste, whether or not they are actually burnt.

The colour of the flesh depends on the potato's variety.

Have a look here to see which give a more yellow colour, then keep your eye out for them in the shops.

The age of the potato is also quite important, because as potatoes age the starch within the potato breaks down into sugar. This leads to the skin darkening quicker when cooking, meaning you're more likely to remove the potato from the oven before the flesh is properly cooked. Between now and August-September, baking temperatures should be reduced to compensate for this.

As a side note, dry matter (proportion of solid to water) is another matter that governs cooked potato texture, with higher amounts of dry matter producing drier flesh than lower amounts which produce soft, more moist flesh.

Not sure why im doing 3 jacket potatoes at 2:50am

I'm THINKING about jacket potatoes at 4am.

Whilst I agree, for flavour (and I love eating the crispy skins) I can't justify using two hours of gas to cook one jacket potato, when 10 mins in the microwave will do.