How do you make heavenly jacket potatoes?

[Arlanymor]

I am talking, crispy skin on the outside and gorgeous fluffy potato in the middle. Should be easily shouldn't it? I just can't replicate it at home, despite trying different cooking devices and methods.

Any tips? The best I have ever had is in the Wild Oak Cafe in Llanidloes and I meant to ask them at the time... but I was worried the answer would be: a professional jacket potato oven!

I cook mine differently and the skin comes out crisp and papery and the potato is fluffy!

I just rinse maris pipers under the tap, poke with a fork, 3 times each side, and put them straight on the oven shelf and turn to 200c for 75 mins. I don't preheat, so maybe that bit dries out the skin?

They're always perfect. However I continually screw up rice.

Co-op Irresistible Baking Potatoes make lovely fluffy jacket potatoes. They come in a bag of four. Highly recommended.

Wash potatoes. Prick all over with fork. While still wet coat lightly with salt. 5 minutes in 800w microwave. 50 minutes in oven at 220 fan. To increase resistant starch and make them more healthy. Allow to cool. Reheat in oven at 220 for 20 minutes.

Stab a few times wrap in kitchen roll 10 minutes in microwave then rub with oil and salt in the air fryer at 200 for 20 mins turning half way through

Oil and salt on skin, skewer through the middle. Cook till soft. (Test with knife) split and scoop out middles. Put through a potato ricer with loads of butter and scoop back inside skins. Perfect.

I do this except on higher temperature for 1 hour 15.
Oven baked direct on shelf with oil and salt and pepper rubbed into skin always works

I do 20 mins in microwave, pricked.
Then rub with oil and salt and air fryer for 20 mins.

I wash mine and pat them dry with kitchen towel. I stab them with a fork a few times then cover them lightly with extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper.

I then put them in the air fryer for about one hour, more if they are larger potatoes, turning them over half way through.

They come out well and other people have said they love them. But you do have to experiment a bit with the timings.

Pierce and microwave for around 7/8 minutes, then pop it into the airfryer for 18-20 mins. It is perfection!

20 mins in microwave?

Put pricked potatoes into the wood oven when you get home from school. Serve at dinner time.

Can’t remember which chef suggests this - probably Nigel or nigella or Jamie - but we always give our cooked baked potatoes a bash on the plate / kitchen worktop before cutting them open. Hold in a tea towel and whack them on the surface like you’re breaking apart a chocolate orange.

It fluffs up the inside immediately, and when you split it open, you don’t get a solid slice of potato all smooth - you push it to split it, and the inside is all fluffy and awaiting butter. I know you can scoop it out, but bashing works better and is more entertaining.

It was jacket potato day here, nice and papery and crisp. I just pierced and put in the oven and forgot about them.

Mmmm now that is what I am talking about! I am going to have that exact filling for my lunch tomorrow!

We did wrap them in a clean tea towel (as ds1 pointed out it was laundered but stained..) and bashed them on the work surface like a chocolate orange. Very enjoyable 😆

This is how I make mine. I scoop the inside out and mash it up with butter cheese salt and pepper so there’s never any hard bits the spoon it all back in to the lovely crispy skin ! So good !

Oh yay! It’s the best. Tasty and much fun!

I’m sure the kids thought I had gone quite mad as they lined up to swing and smash 😆

haha that is more dramatic than we do!! I just use the tea towel as a sort of oven glove to hold it with, all bunched up. Not like a medieval catapult swing! Ah well, no going back now 😂😂😂

Pierce with a knife on every side and microwave for 10 mins, longer if you’re cooking more than one. Then onto a baking tray. Frylight do a butter flavoured cooking spray, I’ve got it solely for jacket spuds! Spray potato add rock salt and into the oven for 15-20 mins.

That's called a twice baked potato! You can scoop it out, add things like sour cream/bacon/seasoning/cheese, return to the oven, then cook. It's lush 😋

Microwave and the air fryer

Wash and dry potato. Prick with a fork.

Microwave 4 minutes, turn, microwave another 4 minutes.

Lay out a piece of tin foil on a tray, fold the edges up to make a little foil potato bed (imagine cat sleeping in cat bed!). Drizzle with oil and lots of rock salt.

Removed potato from oven, place on tin foil, using tongs rub it around to cover in the oil and salt. Add more salt if desired.

Pop in oven at lowest temperature for at least 45 minutes, turn occasionally.

Serve with huge dollop of salted butter, then grated cheese piled high and a final big blog of coleslaw balanced precariously on top.

😋

I'm often asked how I make my jacket potatoes taste so good.
If possible, I prefer to use red potatoes, the Albert Rooster ones are particularly good.

Firstly, I pierce the potatoes a couple of times and then microwave for around 5-10 mins, depending on the size and no.of potatoes I'm cooking.
Then I smother them in oil, and add salt and pepper.
Depending on time constraints, etc, they then either go into the airfryer (sitting directly on the little grill plate) at ~190°C for around 30 mins until nice and crispy and soft inside.

Or, they go into the oven at 180° (fan), directly onto the metal shelf for about 90+mins, or so until crispy outside and soft inside. If needed, I'll turn up the oven to 200° for the last 20 mins to make sure the skin is really crispy.

I sometimes use a low and slow method, if I have plenty of time, whereby they go in the oven at 150° for a few hours until cooked through and then I turn the temp up to 210°C to get the crispy skins. This takes around 15-30mins. Again, they go directly onto the shelf and are smothered in oil and then salt and a little pepper.

Honestly, imo, the oven produces the best results, but the air fryer does a pretty good job, too.

Don't forget, though, that your oven may produce better results at slightly different temperatures to mine, so play around with the temperature a bit, if they don't come out right at these temps.

Microwave for 7 minutes, rub with oil and salt and cook for 30 minutes at 200. I don't prick the skins. Love a jacket.