How To Bake A Potato
A Few Tips On How To Bake A Potato
If you need to know how to bake a potato in a conventional oven, there are several methods which are commonly used, and each is as easy as pie. Speaking of pie, potato pie is a mighty tasty way of enjoying baked potatoes. The first tip is that timing is everything. You want to know how to bake a potato which is still steaming hot and flaky when the rest of your meal has finished cooking. On average, a potato needs one half hour at 350 degrees per one inch of thickness. Being as the average baking potato, usually the long, deeply colored, and dense Idaho variety, is approximately 2 inches at its thickest point, one hour of cooking time should suffice. You may adjust accordingly, adding fifteen minutes per ¼ inch, or subtracting using the same method, in order to ensure an even and thorough bake.
If you wish for a more tender and soft skin to your finished potato, you can wrap it tightly in tin foil prior to placing it in the oven. You will need to deeply penetrate the potato, including the foil, with a fork or knife. When potatoes are baking, the moisture within them begins to move and expand, causing pressure. Giving the potato holes for that pressure to escape will prevent the skin from breaking and cracking open. Make these pressure release holes at the thickest point of the potato, and place it holes up directly on the center rack of your preheated oven. Your directions on how to bake a potato without foil will be exactly the same. The skin will be much more crisp and dry when cooking this way, but is still rather tasty and completely acceptable.
The instructions for how to bake a potato in a microwave oven are slightly more complicated. You can not wrap these potatoes in aluminum foil, unless yours is a convection style. You will need to see the instruction manual on your specific appliance in order to determine what types of elements will are considered safe for your microwave. Another variable when baking in these little electrical ovens is the wattage of that particular one. We will stay with a standard of 1200 watts, and you will need to adjust according for lower of higher watt ovens. You will need to stab these potatoes as well, in the thickest portion, and place the potato holes up in the center. You may cook as many as five smaller potatoes at once. Begin by setting your microwave at ten minutes on full power. Check them after this amount of time for resistance when squeezed. These potatoes will be much soften and a bit tougher at the skin, but very convenient to make.