Baked potato debate

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Me and dh are having a debate over a baked potato....how mundane I know.

I think a baked potato should be cooked in the oven. Takes longer I know but it's how you get that lovely crispy skin

He cooks them by whacking them in the microwave first then finishing them off under the grill. It's quicker and there not much difference in taste but that's not the point.

So wise ones....who is right?

please say me or I will never live this down. He is sat here with a smug look on his face

I'm a little confused, are we talking baked potato as in roast potato? Then oven all the way.
Baked spud with fillings etc I do the microwave/grill unless I've been organised and have little foil trays in then they get done in oven

Micro and oven though they need to invent a toastie maker for jackets - bit like those pie and cupcake makers where it both cooks and browns......

Luna, baked potato = jacket potato

surely nobody would ever do roasties in a microwave

I hate baked potatos not relevant

In the classic work of fiction Jill's Gymkhana, baked potatoes are always referred to as roasted potatoes. It's very confusing.

Having done both this week, oven wins every time (and I thread them onto a metal skewer to help distribute the heat to the centre).

Son had his done in the microwave and finished off in the oven as he was dying of starvation. It isn't the same, it just doesn't get as crispy a skin.

OVEN ....everytime !!! The only way ... crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside

Oven only obv.

Oven on 180 for 90 mins

Ideally, time no object, oven only, for at least an hour.

For speed though, I'm happy with microwave and then finish in oven. Best of both worlds. I disagree that the skin is less crispy with this method – or, at least, I'd say the skin is still crispy enough to pass muster.

I want a baked potato now.

-starts making baked potato right away- in the oven

Microwave for the kids.

Oven for us. I pour olive oil over them, grind some salt then in the oven for 1.5-2hours.

Definitely in the oven. A microwave one does taste different and the skin is better in the oven

Definitely in the oven. A microwave one does taste different and the skin is better in the oven

I don't have a microwave.. and everytime I have tried to cook them in the oven they come out rock hard.. so no longer can I have jacket spuds at home.. which is very sad. What am I doing wrong?

Definitely in the oven. A microwave one does taste different and the skin is better in the oven

I (and Jamie Oliver) do tens mins in microwave then bake in over for about 15/20 mins. The skins crisp up as if totally oven baked.
I've never heard of grilling them....why would you?

Mine have a long cook at 160 (fan oven) while I do son's bath time etc.

Not sure about the microwave grill combi, but will give the microwave/oven a try, I think.

Would it save much/any time if there are four people eating fairly big potatoes though?

Well, there's a meal decided on for this week at least!

When I was a student, in the canteen they had one of those machines that the potatoes sit in for hours on end, and the skins were soooo delicious - really thick, crispy-yet-chewy potato gorgeousness. I've often wondered how you get that effect, whether it's just heating on a low heat for hour after hour?? Neither oven nor microwave produces it for me

Microwave, then v hot oven for a few minutes to get it crispy. He wins I'm afraid.

I always do them in the oven on full heat for about 45 mins with metal knives stuck in them (to conduct the heat better to the middle - good tip for MrsOs there!) and it makes the best baked potatoes ever in terms of taste, fluffiness and crispiness.

DH does them in the microwave for 10 mins if small or 20 if big, then in the oven for 15 or so. I don't think they taste as good, plus you get that really hard bit on the bottom that breaks your teeth if you try to eat it.

Zombie always cooks her baked potatoes in the top oven of the Aga. Depending on the size it normally takes 1.5 - 2 hours. Then lots of butter and soured cream. Yum.

There is only one way to cook them-wrap them in foil and put them in the log burner then open up foil for about the last 30 minutes. I have never tasted such a good jacket potato. We have them in the winter so log burner on anyway so no cooking cost. The perfect Sunday night supper snuggled infront of the log burner.

I start them off in the microwave then bung them in the oven drizzled with olive oil, sea salt and pepper to crisp up and it makes them fluffy too.