a quick question about 'jacket' potatoes

[caperplips]

I am curious about something. Whenever I read a 'what's for dinner' thread I always see jacket potato mentioned.

I am not from the UK and have a few questions about this. By jacket potato does this mean baked in the oven?

When I was growing up a jacket potato was one boiled or steamed in it's skin, usually only in summer with new potatoes. And potatoes cooked in their skins in the oven were called baked potato.

We would only ever have had baked potatoes as a side dish with something like casserole / stew. It would NEVER have been served as the main component, especially not for dinner.

So if you serve them for dinner do you literally just have that? I sort of can't imagine just serving a baked potato on the plate for dinner so my upbringing is ingrained into me!

I love them with lots of real butter and salt and would have them with a stewy type dinner.

How do you eat them?

I had a jacket potato with baked beans for dinner tonight, it was lovely! Although I'm trying to lose weight and I was missing the butter and cheese

I am married to a man who would have his 'Tea' at 6pm when growing up whereas I grew up having dinner at around 8pm. He would have supper before bed, our family would not.
So, his family would have had a large baked potato and toppings each for Tea occasionally. My family would have them as a side dish never as a main meal.

It is horses for courses...

sleepyhead
Yes I loved spud u likes. I have burnt my tounge on many a spud from there !
I think they were treated a bit like we treat Subways now , food on the go or sit in and eat . Quick , relatively inexpensive, and lots of different fillings .

@caperplips I think British people say they are going to eat "Jacket Potato" in the same way that another meal will be described as "pasta" - the meal has lots of other components but is summarised by its main carb component.

The best baked potatoes are those done in foil in the ashes of a campfire.

this... a thousand times this. 🥔

Anyone do them with scrabbles egg?

Baked beans are vastly improved by cheese. That's my favourite topping
DH's is tuna and cheese.
We have jacket potatoes every week and take it in turns.
Top scoring tea on cost, taste and lack of washing up.

Not scrambled egg but home made egg mayo with a dollop of mustard and loads of pepper on a jacket is scrummy

A side? They're far too big to have as a side.

Depends on the size of the potato.

We used to play host family to foreign students. I will never forget the night we gave them a (very large) jacket potato with beans and cheese to eat (with salad) for dinner. They all looked absolutely horrified! It’s definitely an English thing

eyeczawikaivov that is the most perfect explanation.

I love a jacket potato but have them as a treat because the amount of butter, cheese, mayo (in tuna) needed to make them what I want them to be makes them a definitely treat only dish. Might have one today...

I have one of these. It cooks potatoes as if they have come out of the campfire. The description states also for chestnuts, ut the original in German is for potatoes.

Incidentally I love the jacket potatoes mixed with crispy bacon
www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=thomas+kartoffeltopf&sprefix=thomas+kartoffel%2Caps%2C168&crid=14AXK2MSQC99T

Definitley baked potatoes in Scotland. Always a safe bet at school dinners with beans and cheese when I was a teenager. Now I'm not that keen on them. Not particularly keen on potatoes, full stop.

I grew up in England and we always called them baked potatoes. My old boyfriend was horrified when I ate the (lovely, crispy) skin. His whole family were sitting staring at me, each with a discarded skin on their plates. I think they referred to me as uncivilised. Surely the skin is the best bit?!

Surely the skin is the best bit?!

Sure is!!

Depends on the size of the potato

Baking potato sized. They're big buggers.

We usually have medium sized baked potatoes with a slice of pizza, salad, coleslaw, sweetcorn. I have to have butter & cheese on the potato (I like cheese).