sf wrote:

> OK, I've read about rolling in salt and someone mentioned recently
> about inserting slivers of garlic. All sounds delicious!
>
> I tried it tonight. Gah! How do I make the salt stick? Water didn't
> make sense because the salt would "melt". Then I tried inserting
> garlic slivers.... which was like trying to insert garlic into rock.
> How do you make those holes? Use a meat cleaver? I ended up coating
> the potato in evoo and sprinkling it with kosher salt, garlic granules
> and coarse pepper (why not... I'd grind pepper on the skin anyway).
> My final problem was what to do with it when it's in the oven... do I
> just put it on the oven rack the way I usually do - or put something
> under it because the skin will dry and things tend to fall off? I put
> something under it. It's baking now. More news later (no news means
> bad news).
>
> In the mean time, I'd like to hear some clarifications from those who
> have salted potato skins before baking or inserted slivers of garlic
> into raw potato.

I cheat. I nuke the potatoes until soft (maybe 10 minutes) while
pre-heating the oven to 425. Then I rub the taters with some of the
leftover marinade from the steaks (olive oil, crushed garlic, kosher
salt, fresh ground pepper). Then I pop them into the oven while the
steaks are on the grill.

Makes a nice, tasty crusty skin with a soft, fluffy interior just right
for sopping up butter and/or sour cream.