How To Cook The Perfect Baked Potato…

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There is nothing like a delicious hot oven baked potato, and cooking one is as easy as popping it in the oven right? Not exactly.

While cooking baked potatoes is not rocket science, there are a few steps you should take to ensure you make the perfect baked potato every time.

Make sure you are cooking the right potato. Does this really make a difference? In my opinion yes. I have tried to bake several different potatoes and the one that provides the best flavor is the Russet Potato.

You will only need two ingredients to cook a delicious spud: Kosher Salt and Canola Oil. Make sure you use kosher salt and not regular table salt. Kosher salt has large crunchy crystals that really give your potato a unique flavor and texture. If you don’t have canola oil, you can use vegetable or olive oil. That should work fine.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

The first step is to wash the potato with a stiff brush under cold water. You can purchase a vegetable brush at any local home goods store, like Bed Bath and Beyond for instance. They are not expensive at all and very handy to have around.

Once the potato is clean, grab a fork and poke a bunch of deep holes into your potato. This will help moisture escape while the potato is cooking.

Dry the potato and then coat it with oil.

Put a light coating of kosher salt on the potato. I like to gently roll the potato in the salt to make sure it sticks while cooking.

Pop the potato in the preheated oven directly on the oven rack. Place some aluminum foil underneath the potato to catch any drippings.

You will want to bake the potato for about 1 hour or until the skin of the potato feels crisp and the flesh inside is soft.

Here is how to make that fancy cut on the potato that you see in restaurants. Grab a fork and cut a dotted link across the potato from end to end. Then grab both ends at the same time and push together toward one another, and it should pop open. Be careful and watch out for the hot steam!

Enjoy!

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