# How do you eat a baked potato? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749 "2019-06-19T16:09:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/41 "2019-06-20T08:36:12Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I don’t know which poll entry covers spooning Wendy’s chili (doctored up with their chili sauce and sour cream) inside the potato and eating a bit at a time. > > And I’ve never, ever heard of a potato skin or peel called the shell. A baked potato stuffed with Chili, sour cream & cheddar is a complete meal. We usually make it for dinner at least once a month. I’ll eat some of the skin because of the nutrients. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/42 "2019-06-20T08:55:28Z")
Cut it in half, longwise. Cut a grid into the flesh. Add butter, and likely some combination of cheese, bacon, and sour cream. Give the butter and cheese time to melt, then…eat it one end to the other like described in the OP. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/43 "2019-06-20T08:57:12Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Orally. Melt it in a spoon with butter and shoot it up. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/44 "2019-06-20T09:41:48Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Orally. I’m scratching your name off the list of my Party Guests. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/45 "2019-06-20T11:06:45Z")
The Baked Potato Stall at the Royal Highland Show, near Edinburgh, used to have a sign next to it which proclaimed: Every skin has vitamins in Not to eat it is a sin But if in doubt Don’t be a lout Please put your leavings in the bin ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/46 "2019-06-20T14:25:31Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Orally. Ah, any other way is disgusting, so why am I having a laughing fit? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/47 "2019-06-22T15:48:50Z")
Innards first, then the skin. Butter is the only topping I use now. I miss the days where I could eat them with bacon and cheese in college and not gain a pound. Baked potato bar was a thing at my college dorm cafeteria. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/48 "2019-06-23T11:06:51Z")
End to end, like a hot dog. That’s right. It’s an excellent self-contained food package that way. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/49 "2019-06-23T12:45:41Z")
Either I cut it up and eat it in pieces or I eat the innards first and then the shell. Sour cream, butter, bacon and cheese are needed obviously. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/50 "2019-06-23T13:25:50Z")
Oddly, I seem to be almost the only one who doesn’t really eat baked potatoes. I like them pretty much every other way, but baked doesn’t do it for me. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/51 "2019-06-23T14:36:36Z")
I don’t eat them often, but I was craving a baked potato yesterday. I added sour cream and butter and chives and jalapeño slices and a little radish. Oh and some blue cheese. It was quite tasty. I just mushed it all together and ate it with a fork. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/52 "2019-06-23T15:03:13Z")
> [@Scougs](#): > > The Baked Potato Stall at the Royal Highland Show, near Edinburgh, used to have a sign next to it which proclaimed: > > Every skin has vitamins in > Not to eat it is a sin > But if in doubt > Don’t be a lout > Please put your leavings in the bin Margaret Thatcher once scolded a feller at an open air market who was selling potato peelers. “You don’t take the jackets off, that’s where the vitamins are!” (Thank you Mrs. Know-it-all.) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/53 "2019-06-23T17:41:09Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > More or less the same but I like to add cottage cheese. I thought I was the only one! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/54 "2019-06-23T19:13:09Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Margaret Thatcher once scolded a feller at an open air market who was selling potato peelers. “You don’t take the jackets off, that’s where the vitamins are!” (Thank you Mrs. Know-it-all.) Well, she was a research chemist… 😛 The last time I worked in an office (in Moscow), I’d spend every lunch break at one of these on Pushkin Square: [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/90/d8/b3/90d8b3bb66f8223214bff8643389ef8e.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/90/d8/b3/90d8b3bb66f8223214bff8643389ef8e.jpg) Kroshka Kartoshka (loosely translated as “Potato Bambino”) serves baked potatoes with your choice of fillings. Street food that’s very cheap and very, very good. I wish they’d open at least one in Toronto… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/55 "2019-06-23T19:32:41Z")
> [@Scougs](#): > > The Baked Potato Stall at the Royal Highland Show, near Edinburgh, used to have a sign next to it which proclaimed: > > Every skin has vitamins in > Not to eat it is a sin > But if in doubt > Don’t be a lout > Please put your leavings in the bin Had my first experience with spuds as fast food in Edinburgh way back in 1976, near the top of the High Street, I think. Up to that time, I’d never seen such a thing in the US. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/56 "2019-06-24T00:52:13Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I recently saw someone pick up the whole thing and eat it end-to-end like a hot dog. I had never seen anyone do that before. It never even occurred to me that someone would do it like that. > > How do you do it? I’ve never had a baked potato that wouldn’t scorch the shit out of my fingertips if I tried to eat it that way. I eat the innards (typically just buttered well, with LOTS of black pepper), then the skin. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/57 "2019-06-25T00:28:25Z")
I always eat the inside then the shell. But I note that only one person mashes it up with the toppings and then eats it like a burrito. I would call it a deviled potato and I think I will try it the next time I have a baked potato. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/58 "2019-06-25T00:56:06Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > I thought I was the only one! Cottage cheese seems to be a fairly common tater topper among my extended family. It might be a central U.S. plains state thing. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/59 "2019-06-25T02:35:52Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I eat the inside and then maybe half the skin. Unless it’s a supreme example of potato-goodness, I probably won’t eat the bottom half of the skin. No real reason except that I’m usually potatoed out by that point. Mostly this, except it’s the top half of the skin that I’ll leave behind. The bottom half is usually crunchy and delicious, while the top tends to be less so. This assumes a thick-skinned russet. Most all other kinds of potatoes have a thinner skin the which I’ll entirely eat. The russet skin can sometimes be a little too much fiber for me, so I stifle myself. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749/60 "2019-06-25T02:37:37Z")
Also, the OP should have seen my Grandfather eat an apple. He’d start at the blossom end and work his way up and through, spitting out the seeds as he hit them. Nothing left but a little stem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-a-baked-potato/835749.md?page=4)