A baked potato, also known as a jacket potato, is the edible result of baking a potato. When well cooked a baked potato has a fluffy interior, but a crispy skin.

Description

Potatoes can be baked in a conventional oven convection oven, a microwave oven, on a grill, or on/in an open fire. Some restaurants use specialist ovens designed specifically to cook large numbers of potatoes, and keep them warm ready for service.

Prior to cooking the potato is cleaned, and possibly basted with oil or butter, and/or salt. Pricking the potato with a fork or knife allows air to escape during the cooking process. They have also been claimed to explode and should be eaten/cooked with caution.

It takes between one and two hours to bake a potato in a conventional oven. Microwaving takes about six minutes but does not generally produce a crisp skin.

Some varieties of potato are more suitable for baking than others, due to both their size and consistency. Popular varieties used for baking include Russet and the King Edward potato.

Wrapping the potato in aluminium foil before cooking in a standard oven will help to retain moisture, while leaving it unwrapped will create a crispy skin. When cooking over an open fire or in the coals of a grill requires wrapping the potato in a jacket of foil to prevent burning. A baked potato is fully cooked when its internal temperature reaches 99 °C (210 °F).

Once a potato has been baked, some people remove the skin and eat only the softer and moister interior, while others enjoy the taste and texture of the crispy skin. From a nutrition standpoint, a large percent of the vitamins, minerals, and trace elements in a potato are found within or immediately below the skin. However, any remnants of pesticides, fungicides or chemical coatings left over from cultivation are likely to be found there as well. Potatoes baked in their skins may lose between 20 to 40% of their Vitamin C content because heating in air is slow and vitamin inactivation can continue for a long time. Small potatoes bake more quickly than large ones and therefore retain more of their Vitamin C. Despite the popular misconception that potatoes are fattening, baked potatoes can be used as part of a healthy diet.

Variations

Some people bake their potatoes and then scoop out the interior, leaving the skin as a shell. The white interior flesh is then mixed with various other food items such as cheese, butter, cream and bacon bits. This mixture is then spooned back into the skin shells and they are replaced in the oven to warm through. These are known variously as loaded potato skins, filled potatoes and twice baked potatoes.