Baked potato debate

[NeedACLeverNN]

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

Always do them in the over. Nothing bvetter than that
we don't have a microwave so can't out them in there anyway

Panasonic combi microwaves have a 'jacket potato' button. You enter the weight of the jackets and it simultaneously microwaves the flesh from the inside out whilst grilling the skin to make it crispy. Two large, perfect jackets in 15 minutes.

MrsOs, have you tried cooking them for longer and a slightly cooler oven?

Best of both:
slather with butter
7 mins the microwave (2 big potatoes)
20-30 mins in the oven on a high heat
Perfect.

Microwave then oven here too.

The first time my mum had a (solely) microwaved spud, she said it tasted like pub grub

Florin I'm with you, in log burner.
Microwave is an instrument of the devil. OK very useful but not good for you

I do mine in the slow cooker. Just prick them, rub them with a little oil then in on high for about 4 hours. I do batches and freeze them then take them out and reheat in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 mins. Hands down the best baked potato you'll ever have! If you're doing them straight from the slow cooker and want to crisp the skins up just pop in the oven at 200 for 10/15 mins. We love baked potatoes in my house!

I don't understand the log burner thing. If I put a potato in mine, it would be incinerated. How do you stop your dinner from becoming a pile of ash? I know this is trendy in Michelin star restaurants, but I want a cooked potato, dammit

Oven! :)

How long in the slow cooker please?

I miss the Aga - so much nicer, and easier because you can leave them in there for hours while you're out, I wouldn't do that with an electric oven.

I don't like them even partially cooked in the microwave, so we only have them when time isn't an issue. I like mine left on for hours until they have the look of Bonfire Spuds 😬

Butter, beans & cheese. Or cheese & sour cream. Food of the Gods.

I have a combi microwave, so it's microwave and oven at the same time. Two big ones go in for about 14 mins full power, with the oven on max (250c) to crisp up the skin.

Worth having a combi just for this IMO.

slow cooker baked potatoes - let's just say you'll only do that once.

Oven preferred method for me, I really like the crispy skin.

But since I've found out how to make baked sweet potato chips in the oven I don't really even think about baked potatoes anymore. They are genius

Oven only.

Did someone say they have a 'potato button' on their microwave?

Nineties, I hadn't thought about it for years but you've reminded me – a long-ago microwave of mine DID have a potato button!

Whoever designed it had their priorities right.

Microwave then oven, loads of butter and some salt, now i know what i fancy for dinner thanks

Oven only. Makes the house smell divine.

If there's not much difference in taste but that isn't the point, then I don't get what the point is.

What actually is the point?

It wasn't until I was in my teens that I realised a baked potato should have crispy skin. My mum microwaved them throughout my childhood and we loved them that way.

I now do the microwave and shove in oven to crisp up but I still don't like really really crispy skin.

Either, as long as the skins are oiled so they go all lovely and shiny and tasty. Can't stand them when there's about 1cm of impossible-to-chew leather instead.
Oven is slightly better, but camp fire ashes is the best (put in before you go to bed, have for breaskfast!)

The crispy skin is the best bit! Especially if you cut in half, dig out the centre, mash with cheese and butter, refill and pop back into the top oven for 10 minutes.

MrsO 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?

Try using red potatoes. prick all round with knife and stab right through middle (stops potato explosion if left in oven too long). Then put directly on shelf, in middle of oven, at 160-180°C, for at least 1hr15mins. They can't not be perfect that way.

For soft skins on oven baked jacket spuds, rub them in margarine before baking.

for wood burner, its like doing in fire coals, wrapped in thick tin foil, put in ashes, (pref not max air open)
they cook in about 20 ins, to be fair they can come out black if over cooked, but I usually do extras in case, or take them out early & leave them in the foil on top of wood burner, they continue to cook.