# I am baking a potato in the microwave. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2002, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185 "2002-06-15T05:56:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/1 "2002-06-15T05:56:12Z")
How do you feel about that? Please answer in no less than 50 words. ---
**Author:** ![Raini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@Raini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raini)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/2 "2002-06-15T06:09:21Z")
Then technically you are ‘nuking’ the potato…not baking it! ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/3 "2002-06-15T06:13:14Z")
The microwave works in a pinch, but there’s nothing like a potato baked in foil at 400 degrees for an hour. - s.e. ---
**Author:** ![JessEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@JessEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessEnigma)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/4 "2002-06-15T06:39:16Z")
Make sure you cook it long enough. I can never manage to completely cook a potato in the microwave. jessica ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/5 "2002-06-15T07:07:46Z")
I feel that your action of baking a potato in a microwave is symbolic of provoking a person to anger; that is, taking their internal states and overheating such to a point where the heat, or anger, seeps through the entire organism and in so doing, heats the whole person. I also feel that baked potatoes are better in an oven if you have the time to bake them that way and that I have at least 50 words. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/6 "2002-06-15T07:36:24Z")
lel follows instructions. A+. The rest of you get D-. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/7 "2002-06-15T08:00:04Z")
If you slather enough sour cream and cheese on, you’ll never tell the difference. Mmm, cholesterol… Of course, the sociological ramifications of your choice to specifically mention your potato-irradiating actions lead me to believe that you seek some sense of approval - as if you feel that baking a potato beyond the tried-and-true oven method is somehow abnormal and therefore inferior. In such a state, you have come here to ask those of us who know ourselves to be abnormal to share our thoughts, and being abnormal, they may well parallel your own, leading you to think that “nuking potatoes” ( **Raini** , “re: I am baking a potato in the microwave”, 2002) is in and of itself a viable course of action to partake when one wishes warm starchy goodness without warming up the oven; a classic enactment of the destruction of the nuclear family following the introduction og the microwave to the average household. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/8 "2002-06-15T08:02:34Z")
Dang it. Even on preview I missed that - “of the microwave,” naturally. :smack: OG like microwave! OG excite water molecules! OG eat popcorn! ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/9 "2002-06-15T10:04:08Z")
With sour cream, chopped onion and tarragon, a nuked potato is delicious. Next time you’re making mashed potatoes, try nuking the potatoes instead of boiling them (make sure you do them until they’re good and cooked). The potato mash will taste incredibly potatoey. If you use a potato ricer to squish them, you don’t even have to bother peeling them, just remove the potato skin from the ricer in between each squish. ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/10 "2002-06-15T10:24:27Z")
DONT DO IT !!! last time I cooked a tatter in the microwave I set it on fire. Whilst flames spouting out the airvent are kinda cool its also a very wiggy experience. Disclaimer: The fact I seem to reguarly set the kitchen on fire has no relevance to my advice whatsoever. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![white-tigeress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f475e1/32.png) [@white-tigeress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/white-tigeress)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/11 "2002-06-15T12:18:09Z")
I am so hungry now ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/12 "2002-06-15T12:24:26Z")
The idea of cooking a potato in a microwave fills me with a dreadful sense of hesitation because of past microwave potato experiences. Yet, it also draws me in with the promise of starchy goodness, with cheese, butter and sour cream mixing together to create a delicate flavor combination that could only be enhanced by the addition of finely chopped green onion. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/13 "2002-06-15T13:37:02Z")
I always nuke potatoes/yams in the microwave! It’s one of the best things about having one. The secret is to puncture the potato a few times, put it on some paper towels, and make SURE you turn it over midway. I like to finish my potatoes off in the oven for the last 10 minutes of cooking for that oven-baked taste! ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/14 "2002-06-15T16:08:05Z")
Mr. Cynical, I find that to be a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very interesting idea. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/15 "2002-06-15T16:53:49Z")
I especially like yams this way. YUM, YUM! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/16 "2002-06-15T16:59:48Z")
> [@](#): > > The microwave works in a pinch, but there’s nothing like a potato baked in foil at 400 degrees for an hour. That’s a steamed potato, not a baked one. Ditch the foil and prepare yourself for a real treat. ---
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/17 "2002-06-15T17:39:51Z")
they are **sweet potatoes** , not **yams**!!! just a colloquial difference between Straight Dope and Oklahoma. . . ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/18 "2002-06-15T18:46:33Z")
I feel anger towards the people who refer to it as “nuking”. My grandma “nuked” everything, and quite frankly, it drove me insane. I also feel nostalgia, because when I was growing up, we _baked_ all our potatoes in the microwave (don’t forget to stab it with a fork first!) and until I was 12, I didn’t realize normal people used the oven. ---
**Author:** ![sward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@sward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sward)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/19 "2002-06-15T18:55:58Z")
Ever hear of a microwave antenna? You should get much better results i you install one. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185/20 "2002-06-15T18:57:22Z")
I hate baked potatoes. That being said, make sure you punch it a few times with a fork. Otherwise-BOOM! SPLAT! You’re going to be spending your afternoon cleaning your microwave. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-baking-a-potato-in-the-microwave/114185.md?page=2)