One of the sides I fixed for Thanksgiving was baked potato. I got the recipe from one of America’s Test Kitchen sites; their recipes and research rarely steer me wrong. In this case, these actually are the best baked potatoes I’ve ever had.
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 (7- to 9-ounce) russet potatoes, unpeeled, each lightly pricked with fork in 6 places
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Dissolve 2 tablespoons salt in 1/2 cup water in large bowl. Place potatoes in bowl and toss so exteriors of potatoes are evenly moistened. Transfer potatoes to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and bake until center of largest potato registers 205 degrees, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove potatoes from oven and brush tops and sides with oil. Return potatoes to oven and continue to bake for 10 minutes.
Remove potatoes from oven and IMMEDIATELY, using paring knife, make 2 slits, forming X, in each potato. Using clean dish towel, hold ends and squeeze slightly to push flesh up and out. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
These were soooo good. The skin crackled as I cut into them and they were the perfect texture. I used a temperature probe in one of the potatoes to track the progress and judge when to start cooking other items. Even my huge potatoes only took an hour or so to cook at that high temperature.
Tuples and Attributes 