Holy Potatoes!

Do you love baked potatoes but not always able to prepare an awesome one? Or you don’t always have time to wait... and wait... Let me offer you some help.

First pick the best, most blemish-free potato. They should be uniform in size, not too large and not too small but just right. Idaho potatoes should be long and thin and russet or white potatoes should be medium sized. Prior to cooking, the potato needs to be cleaned, with eyes and surface blemishes removed and possible basted with olive oil or butter and/or salt. Stabbing the potato with a fork or knife allows steam to escape during the cooking process. Potatoes cooked in a microwave without stabbing the skin might explode due to built up of internal pressure from unvented steam. It takes one and two hours to bake a potato in a oven. Microwaving takes six minutes but does not generally produce a crisp skin.



Wrapping the potato in aluminum foil before cooking in a standard oven will help to retain moisture and leaving it unwrapped will create a crispy skin. When cooking over an open fire or in the coals of a barbecue it may require wrapping in foil to prevent burning of the skin. A potato buried directly in coals of a fire cooks very nicely, with a mostly burned and inedible skin. A baked potato is fully cooked when its internal temperature reaches 99 °C (210 °F).

Salt, pepper and buttering the potato skin before oven baking tastes better but they still will have a steamed texture.

Potatoes may be "baked" in the microwave; I rub mine with salt, pepper and butter or olive oil. Stab the potato all over to prevent them from blowing up. A medium potato takes 4 to 9 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. Keep testing for doneness, as even 30 seconds past the magic point and hard, dry spots will form. These do not really taste like baked potatoes, though, and will not have that delicious chewy skin.

Best way I think to bake your potato is to set your oven at 350°. Scrub, trim and if needed, stab all over the potatoes. Place unwrapped on medium or high rack and back for about 1 1/2 hours (less if smaller ones are used). They should have a fluffy texture and a crisp and chewable skin.

Next best way if you're in a hurry for just a very few potatoes. Set oven to 350°. Scrub, trim and if needed, stab all over the potatoes. Microwave about 5 minutes per medium potato, or until barely tender. Place in oven on the rack for 10 to 15 minutes while you put the finishing touches on the rest of the meal.

Potatoes are starch that are loaded with carbohydrates! They can still be a part of a healthy diet when eaten in moderation in combination with proteins and veggies. They contain vitamins and minerals. But don’t ruin that by loading up on all the fatty toppings! If you are sautéing meat, you can drain off the fat and make an un-thickened pan gravy by adding water. Or when preparing a dish with a low fat or fat free sauce, that can serve as topping too. Low fat or fat free sour cream, perhaps jazzed up ahead of time with some minced or dried dill, minced green onions or dried onion flakes, is great. Even "lite" margarine with no hydrogenated or trans-fats, such as Smart Balance, doesn't add too many calories when used sparingly. You can even drizzle the potato with a little good olive oil.

Still worried about calories?

Enjoy your baked potato and then exercise or take a walk to burn it off.