To ask how to make a jacket potato?

[redpedal]

I'm 27 and have never cooked a jacket potato

I want to make one for tea, how do I get it really crispy but fluffy on the inside? Oven or air fryer? Foil or no foil? Microwave first or not?

So many questions! Please can somebody tell me how I can bake it to perfection?

I’m glad I’ve found this thread! I love jacket potato’s and one friend said she craved mine since having one 😁

I stab it with a knife a few times, rub olive oil all over it, sprinkle with sea salt and bake in oven (gas 6) for an hour and half- two hours depending on size, the outside will by crispy and inside soft and fluffy.

when you cut the middle, use the knife to fluff the middle up before putting on butter and toppings.

The idea is to save energy because it then needs less time in the oven if it's already heated through.

It works perfectly fine, but it's not as nice as doing it all in the oven. The skin goes more leathery than crispy and the insides can be hit and miss. But it's perfectly edible.

My tips for the perfect jacket potato are...

• Never wrap it in foil if you want a crispy skin. Foil stops the moisture from escaping and essentially steams the potato.
• Prick the skin and rub with oil and salt.
• Put them on a baking tray in the middle of the oven on about 180 degrees (fan) for 1.5-2 hours.

We have them once a week and this works perfectly every time for us.

My Dd buys those when she's on a late shift she says there as good as any you csn make.

Having always done the light coating of oil thing I've discovered that i get a far crispier skin by sprinkling with water instead. Then the usual prick all over and sprinkle with salt. Yum.

Literally grabbing my pearls and fainting! Mon dieu! 🙈🙈🙈

Also, don't leave them to sit when they come out. Cut them straight away.

The skin is trapping heat and moisture so if you let them sit for more than a few minutes, the skin will start to steam and soften. Opening them up allows the moisture to escape into the air rather than the skin.

You can either stick it in the air fryer for about 45-60 mins or microwave it for 5 mins then crisp it up for 20.

I reckon it costs less to run a microwave for 5 mins than it does to run an air fryer for 25-40.

TBH when I am lazy and CBA with the skin I just microwave them all the way

Because I am impatient and want the potato NOW 😂

We're having jacket spuds tomorrow - can't wait, they are a favourite.

I microwave for 8/10 mins, sit in foil and poke full of holes, smother in salted butter and 40 mins in oven - perfect 👌

I don't salt or oil mine, because I like the skins really crunchy.

I prick the skins and poke a skewer through the middle so that it heats up and helps the centre cook from the inside. Straight into the oven and they take 90 minutes at gas mark 5 (180C?). When I take them out, I bash them on the worktop once, it makes the inside fluff up.

ETA: And I don't put them on a baking tray, just straight onto the oven shelves

For one potato it's expensive to run the oven for so long, I microwave for a couple of minutes then I'll chuck it nto the airfryer. The most important thing is the potato, many are too waxy to make fluffy innards!

It's like Google never existed on here sometimes.

Stab it all over to prevent explosions in the oven. Run under the tap. Grind salt over and rub in. Cook in oven until skin puffs away from flesh.

Make several and freeze so you don't have to constantly have the oven on.

Also cut up the potato and cook in hot oil in the oven to make excellent potato wedges.

1. Prick with a fork all over or score a cross into the top of the potato
2. Rub with oil and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper

3.Wrap in foil and put in the oven on 170 for an hour

1. The skin will be crisp and delicious and the inside will be soft and fluffy

Jacket potatoes are the most superior form of potato!

Poke holes in it. If it's a large potato then 7 minutes in the microwave then 20 minutes in the airfryer. Add oil and some salt when you transfer to the airfryer.

I prick them a few times with a fork. If I've got plenty of time, I cook them on the bottom shelf of a low oven for up to two hours. If I want them quicker I give them approx 7 mins in the microwave, then put in the oven at a slightly higher temperature for up to an hour, mainly just to crisp the skins up.

Wash, prick, microwave till squashy, oil and salt, oven/airrfryer at 220 till skin is desired crispness.

But an expensive way of cooking them! Microwave, then air fryer would be just as perfect, and save fuel.

But google wouldn't give you all the myriad of different ways of cooking a jacket potato, or the ensuing debate!

This!

You need to choose the right potato. Not all bake as well. Oven for an hour and half. Prick with a fork and salt. No oil.

Beautiful crispy salty skin and fluffy insides. Job done.

Microwave is no replacement for long and slow if you want perfection.

No one is forcing you to read and comment.

I’ve always wrapped mine in foil as I like the skin soft to eat, never had one with crispy skin? Am I missing out? Do people eat the crispy skin or not?

I'm so lazy I always have frozen ones on hand - microwave then cover in butter and salt and crisp in the oven - delicious

I do them in the microwave and then the air fryer now because it only takes around 20 mins!

Poke holes, microwave ten mins.

Oil and salt it up, air fryer 10 mins ish

Done!

These days I prefer a sweet potato jacket tho..... softer, tastier, and just so good.