How to Make Restaurant-Grade Baked Potatoes
My ex-husband didn’t know how to cook a lot, but he was always ready to learn. I will never forget a December evening with a temperature of 76 degrees (we lived in Florida), when he called from another room: “Hi honey, I have a couple of questions.” “What?” I asked. “First, how do you bake potatoes? And should there be so many spiders on a Christmas tree? “
Part of the Skillet The Grown-Up Kitchen series , designed to answer your most basic cooking questions and fill in any gaps that may be missing from your home chef education.
In his defense, he never celebrated Christmas when he was growing up, so he had no way of predicting what thousands of arachnid babies would sneak away from our – first as a married couple – Christmas tree. But a 29-year-old man had to be able to bake potatoes.
When it comes to side dishes, there are times when nothing will work except baked potatoes. It’s a simple dish, but crispy-skinned potatoes with a fluffy inside require two things: fat and patience. Sure, you can microwave the insides, but you won’t have such crispy, salty-crusty skin, and I can’t imagine why you’d want to give it up.
The smallest baked potatoes should be allowed to sit in the oven for at least 45 minutes, and that’s okay. I’m sure you have a task that will take at least 45 minutes. I have a few other principles for making the best baked potatoes, whether they are meant to accompany a steak, fill with chili, or something.
Choose an absolute unit
I don’t dabble in small potatoes. If you’re going to fully load it, and I suspect you are, a tiny spatula won’t be able to handle everything you throw at it. While large potatoes may take longer to cook than small potatoes, you need an extra 10 minutes or so, and the extra 10 minutes of waiting is worth the extra potatoes.
Grease and sprinkle with salt
Crispy Skin Club members know that fat is the key to success. If you are “not eating the rind,” it’s probably because you didn’t smear enough schmalchis on it. There is nothing wrong with using vegetable or olive oil, but duck fat, chicken schmalz, and bacon fat lend a pleasant smoky flavor that screams “steakhouse.” Once this is done, sprinkle it with salt. One teaspoon per potato is a minimum.
Chill the freak
The key to patient cooking is rebranding “waiting for food” to “time for me.” You don’t have to watch the potatoes bake, so have a cocktail in the tub, hunt down someone on the Internet, or look at a steak. You can also use this time to cook whatever you want to tuck into the hot potatoes, so sauté some bacon, grate some cheese, and chop the garlic. (Oh, and put in some oil so it can warm up to room temperature.)
With these guidelines in mind, you’re ready to bake your potatoes. To do this, you will need:
- 1 very large reddish brown potato
- 1 tablespoon duck fat, chicken schmalts, bacon fat, or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- Any potato condiments you like
Preheat oven to 425 ℉ and rinse the potatoes well under cold running water. Dry the potatoes thoroughly, poke many holes in them with a fork (I pierced them about eight times in total), and then rub all over with the fat of your choice. Sprinkle it with salt and place it directly on the center rack of the oven. Let it simmer for at least 45 minutes, turning once or twice while cooking. Most of the potatoes will take an hour; You will know they are ready when the skin is crispy and the insides are completely soft when you stick a fork into the potatoes. Remove the potatoes from the oven, let them cool for five minutes, then slice with a sharp knife and load them.