3 Steps to the perfect baked potato – follow these steps and it makes all the difference!
I love a good baker (that’s restaurant talk for baked potatoes… “86 bakers!” :)). There are three crucial steps needed for the perfect baked potato:
How to make the best Baked Potatoes:
- Step #1 – SALT THE SKINS. After you have washed and poked holes in your potato, rub kosher salt all over the potato skins while they are still wet from getting washed. Do not wrap in tinfoil. If you like to eat the potato skins, which are so good for you (Hey FIBER), by rubbing salt all over the skins it will help the potato skins crisp up!
- Step #2 – FLUFF IT UP. After you have baked the potatoes at 400 F for an hour. Take each potato while it’s still hot (with your hand in an oven mitt), and smash it down on a flat surface, not too hard, but hard enough to break up the fibers of the potato inside. This will fluff it up, making it all soft inside.
- Step #3 – LOAD IT UP. Rather than a big cold chunk of butter that never melts, try grating frozen butter over the hot potato. This might seem a bit strange, but the small pieces of butter will fall all over the potato and melt quick. Lots of crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, sour cream and chives.
Nothing better than a loaded baker!
There you have it…the perfect baked potato!
Now what will you top it with?
How to Bake a Potato:
- To start preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Poke holes all over the potatoes with a knife.
- Bake for 1 hour at 400*.
- Out of the oven, slice in half, fluff it with a fork, season with salt, pepper and butter.
What’s on a loaded baked potato?
A loaded baked potato has these things on it:
- salted butter
- sour cream
- grated cheddar cheese
- crispy bacon crumbles
- finely diced green onion or chives
- salt and pepper
Baked Potato Bar Topping Ideas:
- chili
- guacamole
- cheese sauce (like velveeta
- steamed broccoli florets
More Recipes like this that we love:
- Spanish Omelette
- Oven Bacon (for all the crispy bacon you will need, plus easy cleanup!)
- Loaded Baked Potato Soup (if you love baked potatoes!)
- Poor Boy Steak (serve your baked potatoes with Poor Boy!)
