# Culinary incompetence - the baked potato **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345 "2011-10-11T20:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/21 "2011-10-12T03:20:05Z")
I once kinda described the Ponderosa baked potato as such to myself, internally. They had really good, deeply flavored, and developed, goldfoil wrapped, real baked potatoes. They also had a noticeable sweat on their skin, when peeled away, the water was from the institutionalized steamboxing and hotboxing and its resultant thermal condensation. I like a Ponderosa potato at the endless salad bar… Too bad they are gone. Dried up and left town. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/22 "2011-10-12T03:20:57Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > My WAG: the nail conducted heat to the center of the potato…for decreased cooking time, maybe? We had those when I was kid. That was the idea, to make them cook faster by conducting heat to the center. They seemed to cook a little faster. But my mother overcooked everything anyway, I don’t think the potatos cooked with the nail were any less dried out than the way she usually made them. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/23 "2011-10-12T07:25:30Z")
I find freezing a baked potato ruins the internal texture, and makes them kind of watery. Perhaps they are reheating frozen ones? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/24 "2011-10-12T07:28:03Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > The foil might also help contain the mess when you forget to poke holes in the potato before you put it in the oven and it explodes all over the place. Not that I’d know anything about that. > > how’s this self-cleaning thingy work again? IMO, that’s the only reason to wrap the potatoes in foil. Usually I scrub the potatoes and throw them in the oven. Then I swear, and take them out again, and poke them full of holes. I used to rub them with oil, but I don’t eat the skins, and my husband doesn’t really care if the skins are oily or not. He SAYS that he likes potatoes in foil, but when I do wrap them in foil, he complains that they are too moist. I make sweet potatoes the same way, but I serve them with cinnamon and butter. When they’re done, I like to cut an X into them, and then push the long ends in a bit, so that the potato will open up and let out some steam. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/25 "2011-10-12T09:09:44Z")
> [@](#): > > **Lynn** : …but I serve them with cinnamon and butter. No brown sugar? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/26 "2011-10-12T09:19:48Z")
Duck fat rather than oil on mine. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/27 "2011-10-12T11:28:33Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > I find freezing a baked potato ruins the internal texture, and makes them kind of watery. Perhaps they are reheating frozen ones? This is what I was going to say. My grandpa used to get “Meals on Wheels,” and he would put the ones he didn’t like in the freezer to give to us later. (Don’t worry, we’d buy him stuff to replace it. But we were not going to take away his joy of giving.) The ones that had baked potatoes would be watery messes after you reheated them. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/28 "2011-10-12T12:09:26Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > I microwave potatoes regularly. Poke holes in the potato with a fork prior to 'waving (so steam can escape) and the result is very similar to oven-baked. Microwaving is better, I would say, because the skin does not turn out so tough. This. I have only recently begun to figure out how to nuke potatoes edibly, but I wonder if someone can advise me on how to nuke potatoes even better. I am by far too lazy to do anything that takes much more effort than this. My way: Wash and scrub potato. DON’T dry it. Poke some holes. DON’T wrap. Put on plate, still dripping wet. Place paper towel loosely over, just to contain any possible minor splatter. Nuke on high 8 minutes. (Optional to turn it over mid-way.) I used to do 10 to 12 minutes, came out reasonably good except skin was like shoe leather. Only recently figured out to nuke for just 8 min. Comes out pretty good, but not really great. Skin is still slightly leathery, although not too bad. But I think if I cook shorter time, innards may be a little undercooked. Can anyone recommend specific improvements to my algorithm? Remember, nothing that would seriously violate my law of conservation of laziness. Oh, one more step: One of these days Real Soon Now, wash the dishes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/29 "2011-10-12T12:35:08Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Duck fat rather than oil on mine. Even better. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/30 "2011-10-12T12:56:08Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > My mother used to put a long nail (I think they were aluminum) lengthwise in the potato. What was the deal with that? Two words. Reincarnation. Vampires. You can figure out the rest. I’m going with the frozen potatoes theory, with being reheated multiple times being a close second. PS. Living dead spuds freak me the fuck out too. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/31 "2011-10-12T13:12:01Z")
I worked at a dive restaurant that deep fried its “baked” potatoes. They went in whole. When they were done they were wrapped in foil to give the illusion that it was baked. I wonder how common this is. ---
**Author:** ![Fourtyfold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Fourtyfold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fourtyfold)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/32 "2011-10-12T14:43:28Z")
I did once manage to make a potato turn out as described in the OP, as far as I could figure out, it was a combination of using an old, waxy type spud with a hurried nuking. It just hadn’t dried out inside at all. > [@Senegoid](#): > > I have only recently begun to figure out how to nuke potatoes edibly, but I wonder if someone can advise me on how to nuke potatoes even better… I’d recommend using a lower power setting, say 1/2 to 2/3. Gives the inside chance to cook evenly, without making the outside too dry and tough. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/33 "2011-10-12T15:17:14Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I worked at a dive restaurant that deep fried its “baked” potatoes. They went in whole. When they were done they were wrapped in foil to give the illusion that it was baked. I wonder how common this is. Steak fries can be deep fried potatos, that are usually cut into four or more sections. A whole potato just takes longer to fry. It would be a quick way to cook the potato, but it would have a different skin texture and meat texture. Most restaurants bake a big batch of potatos before the dinner rush, and keep them warm on top of some cooking equipment or in specialized warmers. Deep frying them wouldn’t be as attractive now-a-days because oil is expensive and you would be getting it dirty and shortening it’s life (groan). You would also be limited in how many potatos you could fry at once. When frying, the transition from too hard to mush would be more abrupt than in an oven, requiring more attention. But it could be viable. If a restaurant were running out of pre-baked potatos, it would be a way to get some new ones done in shorter time than an oven, and better flavor than a microwave. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/34 "2011-10-12T15:19:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Coating them with oil (ideally olive oil) will give them an excellent flavor, appearance, and texture to the skin. Psst - kosher salt after you do that. Thank me later. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/35 "2011-10-12T15:22:27Z")
This is why restaurant baked potatoes are almost always foil-wrapped. They cook them in a big batch in the afternoon, and keep them warm all evening for dinner service. The foil keeps them from drying out as they sit in the warming tray for hours and hours. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/36 "2011-10-12T15:29:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Steak fries can be deep fried potatos, that are usually cut into four or more sections. A whole potato just takes longer to fry. It would be a quick way to cook the potato, but it would have a different skin texture and meat texture. > > Most restaurants bake a big batch of potatos before the dinner rush, and keep them warm on top of some cooking equipment or in specialized warmers. Deep frying them wouldn’t be as attractive now-a-days because oil is expensive and you would be getting it dirty and shortening it’s life (groan). You would also be limited in how many potatos you could fry at once. When frying, the transition from too hard to mush would be more abrupt than in an oven, requiring more attention. > > But it could be viable. If a restaurant were running out of pre-baked potatos, it would be a way to get some new ones done in shorter time than an oven, and better flavor than a microwave. This was chiefly a fried chicken roadhouse, so they had an acre of deep fryers. They must have had it down to a science, because I could never tell the difference nor could the customers. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/37 "2011-10-12T17:59:10Z")
Re: My question, how better to microwave bake potatoes: > [@Fourtyfold](#): > > I’d recommend using a lower power setting, say 1/2 to 2/3. Gives the inside chance to cook evenly, without making the outside too dry and tough. Thanks. I’ll give this a try. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345/38 "2011-10-12T21:22:04Z")
A possibility for bolloxing up the potato, according to my wife, is that the cafe is parboiling a batch of spuds to soften them up, followed by a shorter bake in the oven. Result is a squidgy, watery spud that tastes bad. The sort of baked potato I enjoy is a little hard to characterise - the middle has a floury sort of texture - it’s definitely not soft, nor hard, something in between. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culinary-incompetence-the-baked-potato/599345.md?page=1)