Joseph Littleshoes > wrote in
:

> 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.
>
> Rub the potato with butter and then salt and garlic granules or first
> rub the whole potato with crushed garlic, then with butter, then
> gently again with more crushed garlic then salt & a little freshly
> ground pepper.
>
>

I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub them
with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so does
butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will stick. The
oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is the whole point
of baking potatoes.

You may laugh at the idea of sticking the potato with a fork...but when a
potato explodes in the oven as the rare ones do; you won't think it is
too funny. Cleaning a 400F oven of burning potato shrapnel isn't fun with
all the burn yourself possibilities plus it stinks up the house. Very few
things stink as bad as burning potato.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus > wrote:

>I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub them
>with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so does
>butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will stick. The
>oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is the whole point
>of baking potatoes.

Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That oil
thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

sf <.> wrote in :

> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus > wrote:
>
>>I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub them
>>with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so does
>>butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will stick. The
>>oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is the whole point
>>of baking potatoes.
>
> Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
> on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That oil
> thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.
>
>

Oh yea of little faith....you musta used crisco..and we all know crisco
ain't oil.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

On Thu 03 Jul 2008 06:00:03a, hahabogus told us...

> sf <.> wrote in :
>
>> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus > wrote:
>>
>>>I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub them
>>>with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so does
>>>butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will stick. The
>>>oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is the whole point
>>>of baking potatoes.
>>
>> Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
>> on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That oil
>> thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.
>>
>>
>
> Oh yea of little faith....you musta used crisco..and we all know crisco
> ain't oil.
>

We often seem to be at odds, Alan. :-) I have always had better luck with
Crisco or butter. What seems to be equally important to me is baking at a
high temperature, ~425°. Baking at lower temperatures, say 350°, does not
yield a nicely crisped skin.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Thursday, 07(VII)/03(III)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
'If you will jest with me, know my
taglines.' -- Tagspeare
-------------------------------------------

On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:24:18 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>On Thu 03 Jul 2008 06:00:03a, hahabogus told us...
>
>> sf <.> wrote in :
>>
>>> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus > wrote:
>>>
>>>>I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub them
>>>>with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so does
>>>>butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will stick. The
>>>>oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is the whole point
>>>>of baking potatoes.
>>>
>>> Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
>>> on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That oil
>>> thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Oh yea of little faith....you musta used crisco..and we all know crisco
>> ain't oil.
>>
>
>We often seem to be at odds, Alan. :-)

LOL

> I have always had better luck with Crisco or butter.

I use butter too.

>What seems to be equally important to me is baking at a high temperature, ~425°.
>Baking at lower temperatures, say 350°, does not yield a nicely crisped skin.

I'm going to put myself out there for flames but I occasionally do
something a bit different. I'll wash and prick the spuds. I'll wrap
them in a small piece of foil rolled in about a tablespoon of butter.
Then I'll coat liberally with Bridgeport seasoning from the Spice
House.

http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/...port-seasoning

Seal the foil and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes open
the foil carefully and pour the spiced butter into a container with
more butter, (depending on how many and the size of the potatoes
you're making) and reserve at room temp. Return the spuds to the oven,
directly on the rack. (I usually do this whole thing on a gas grill)
Increase heat a bit if you want. Continue baking until the spuds are
done and the skins are to your desired crispness. You'll get very
crisp and spicy skins with flavored butter to top them with.
Sometimes I'll just do them neeked if I'm lazy, but when I go through
the effort to do this I'm always glad I did.

BTW, The Spice House is much better than Penzeys.

I'm shutting down for a few days to go out of town, so I'll deal with
flames Sunday night. <eg> Have a safe and happy holiday to you and
all!!

Lou

Lou Decruss > wrote:
> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:24:18 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
> http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/...port-seasoning
>
> BTW, The Spice House is much better than Penzeys.
>
No flames I thought The Spice House is owned/operated by someone in the
same family as the Penzey's folks? Maybe I misread this someplace...

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
> Lou Decruss > wrote:
>> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:24:18 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
>> > wrote:
>>
>> http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/...port-seasoning
>>
>> BTW, The Spice House is much better than Penzeys.
>>
> No flames I thought The Spice House is owned/operated by someone
> in the same family as the Penzey's folks? Maybe I misread this
> someplace...
> Jill

You're absolutely correct, Jill. It's owned by either an in-law or a
parent; I'm not sure. Both stores originated in the Milwaukee area.

kili

On Thu 03 Jul 2008 12:09:42a, sf told us...

> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus > wrote:
>
>>I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub them
>>with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so does
>>butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will stick. The
>>oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is the whole point
>>of baking potatoes.
>
> Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
> on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That oil
> thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.

Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a high
temperature is far more important than convection. What temperature did
you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.


--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Thursday, 07(VII)/03(III)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Catalyst (n): an alphabetical list of cats.
-------------------------------------------

Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
> On Thu 03 Jul 2008 12:09:42a, sf told us...
>
> > On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then
> > > rub them with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works
> > > too, so does butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating
> > > salt will stick. The oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a
> > > crisp skin is the whole point of baking potatoes.
> >
> > Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
> > on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That
> > oil thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.
>
> Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a
> high temperature is far more important than convection. What
> temperature did you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.

I use butter and bake them at the very least 400F. Nice crispy salty skins,
yum! I'm not sure what sf was expecting, it's not like the taste of the
potato inside will change.

Jill

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
news
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>> On Thu 03 Jul 2008 12:09:42a, sf told us...
>>
>> > On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus >
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > > I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then
>> > > rub them with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works
>> > > too, so does butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating
>> > > salt will stick. The oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a
>> > > crisp skin is the whole point of baking potatoes.
>> >
>> > Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
>> > on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That
>> > oil thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.
>>
>> Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a
>> high temperature is far more important than convection. What
>> temperature did you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.
>
> I use butter and bake them at the very least 400F. Nice crispy salty
> skins, yum! I'm not sure what sf was expecting, it's not like the taste
> of the potato inside will change.
>
> Jill

All this talk about the outside.

To keep the inside fluffy pierce the potato with a fork then with the fork
in the middle of the potato twist the fork. The result is a very fluffy
inside.

http://www.idahopotato.com/faq/index.php#a10

See # 19.

I twist they push.


--
Old Scoundrel

(AKA Dimitri)

"Dimitri" > wrote in
:

>
> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> news
>> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>>> On Thu 03 Jul 2008 12:09:42a, sf told us...
>>>
>>> > On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus >
>>> > wrote:
>>> >
>>> > > I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then
>>> > > rub them with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works
>>> > > too, so does butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating
>>> > > salt will stick. The oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a
>>> > > crisp skin is the whole point of baking potatoes.
>>> >
>>> > Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my
>>> > potatoes on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire
>>> > process. That oil thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is
>>> > crispier.
>>>
>>> Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a
>>> high temperature is far more important than convection. What
>>> temperature did you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.
>>
>> I use butter and bake them at the very least 400F. Nice crispy salty
>> skins, yum! I'm not sure what sf was expecting, it's not like the
>> taste of the potato inside will change.
>>
>> Jill
>
> All this talk about the outside.
>
> To keep the inside fluffy pierce the potato with a fork then with the
> fork in the middle of the potato twist the fork. The result is a very
> fluffy inside.
>
> http://www.idahopotato.com/faq/index.php#a10
>
> See # 19.
>
> I twist they push.
>
>

Or a bent fork.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:07:20 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:


>Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a high
>temperature is far more important than convection. What temperature did
>you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.

The solid fat we always used (cause we were southerners) was bacon
fat. And we baked them at 400.

Christine, up early to do 4th of July prep.

On Thu 03 Jul 2008 06:17:38a, Christine Dabney told us...

> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:07:20 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>
>>Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a high
>>temperature is far more important than convection. What temperature did
>>you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.
>
> The solid fat we always used (cause we were southerners) was bacon
> fat. And we baked them at 400.
>
> Christine, up early to do 4th of July prep.
>

I used to use bacon fat a lot, but I don't keep much around anymore. :-(

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Thursday, 07(VII)/03(III)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
I just walk right through the door...
-------------------------------------------

Wayne Boatwright > wrote in
6.120:

> On Thu 03 Jul 2008 12:09:42a, sf told us...
>
>> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:16 GMT, hahabogus >
>> wrote:
>>
>>>I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub
>>>them with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so
>>>does butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will
>>>stick. The oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is
>>>the whole point of baking potatoes.
>>
>> Gotta say, oil didn't make a big difference and I cooked my potatoes
>> on convect. I was very disappointed in the entire process. That oil
>> thing is theory only. I think a naked skin is crispier.
>
> Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a
> high temperature is far more important than convection. What
> temperature did you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.
>
>

I bake my unfoiled, naked, bare, unclothed, pre-oiled and stabbed
potatoes at 400 F for at least 1 hour...I then do a feelie test, If when
lightly fondled the skin makes a slight russeling noise; it is considered
cooked. Sometimes it takes an additional 15 minutes or so. I never have
used convection on a defensless spud...but I have used my nuker while the
oven came to temp. I have never tried crisco on spuds...I think maybe the
EX bought crisco or any veggie shortening maybe twice. I was married 28
yrs. I've never really used solid veggie shortening in my life. I am
certain though that others have fed me crisco filled goods, while I was
in ignorance of its' presence. And I am certain I've never rubbed it on
anything. BTW my mom was of the wrap in foil school of potato mutilation,
but in most other foods she was a good cook.

I really don't have anything against crisco...it is just I've either used
butter or margerine instead (when baking) or canola when frying. Even
when I followed recipes to a T; I've never used Crisco...maybe it is a
Canadian thing.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

On Jul 3, 6:37�am, hahabogus > wrote:

> I bake my unfoiled, naked, bare, unclothed, pre-oiled and stabbed
> potatoes at 400 F for at least 1 hour...

Sometimes I oil and salt, sometimes I don't. I never thought
it made much difference, but I still do it sometimes - one of those
capricious "just because" things. Most of the bakers I buy run
just shy of one pound. I bake at 400F for at least 90 minutes and
up to 2 hours. I find that less time results in a potato with a
residual hard texture and raw starch flavor. They also develop
a wonderful aroma when baked longer.

On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:07:20 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a high
>temperature is far more important than convection. What temperature did
>you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.

I did 400° (which is just fine for unadulterated potatoes), convect,
for half an hour then regular bake for the last half. Why I did it
that way is anybodies guess. Probably because I've never oiled a
potato before and I was fiddling around.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

On Thu 03 Jul 2008 07:31:06a, sf told us...

> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:07:20 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>>Oil has never worked for me, only a solid fat. Baking potatoes at a high
>>temperature is far more important than convection. What temperature did
>>you use? I never bake them at less than 425°.
>
> I did 400° (which is just fine for unadulterated potatoes), convect,
> for half an hour then regular bake for the last half. Why I did it
> that way is anybodies guess. Probably because I've never oiled a
> potato before and I was fiddling around.

Well, if you're brave enough to try it again, use butter or Crisco instead
of oil. Sprinkle on th coarse salt. Do not coat it heavily. Bake without
convection at 425°. You might be surprised at the difference.



--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Thursday, 07(VII)/03(III)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Cats must drag dirty socks out of the
laundry basket and bury them in the
litter box.
-------------------------------------------

On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:37:42 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>Well, if you're brave enough to try it again, use butter or Crisco instead
>of oil. Sprinkle on th coarse salt. Do not coat it heavily. Bake without
>convection at 425°. You might be surprised at the difference.

There was definitely too much of everything on the skin. Next time
I'll try butter and use a lighter touch with the seasonings. Maybe
I'll even crank it up to 450° - a few more degrees won't matter to
taters.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

sf <.> wrote in :

> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:37:42 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>>Well, if you're brave enough to try it again, use butter or Crisco
>>instead of oil. Sprinkle on th coarse salt. Do not coat it heavily.
>>Bake without convection at 425°. You might be surprised at the
>>difference.
>
> There was definitely too much of everything on the skin. Next time
> I'll try butter and use a lighter touch with the seasonings. Maybe
> I'll even crank it up to 450° - a few more degrees won't matter to
> taters.
>
>

Stick to just salt the first time. And don't go overboard with that. You
don't know what it will do the first time so be conservative. Not that
lots of salt is a bad thing on a tater skin. Just get your feet wet
before you try to swim the Channel as per say.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

"hahabogus" > wrote in message
...
> Joseph Littleshoes > wrote in
> :
>
>> 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.
>>
>> Rub the potato with butter and then salt and garlic granules or first
>> rub the whole potato with crushed garlic, then with butter, then
>> gently again with more crushed garlic then salt & a little freshly
>> ground pepper.
>>
>>
>
> I wash the spud(s), stick them with a fork, dry them off; then rub them
> with oil....canola oil in my case...but olive oil works too, so does
> butter or peanut oil. Now with a slight oil coating salt will stick. The
> oil also helps to crisp up the skin. And a crisp skin is the whole point
> of baking potatoes.
>
> You may laugh at the idea of sticking the potato with a fork...but when a
> potato explodes in the oven as the rare ones do; you won't think it is
> too funny. Cleaning a 400F oven of burning potato shrapnel isn't fun with
> all the burn yourself possibilities plus it stinks up the house. Very few
> things stink as bad as burning potato.


I used to religiously stab all my taters. (I believed the myth)

Then one evening I had 4 victims of multiple stab wounds resting in a 350
degree oven. One of them turned out to be a jihadist. Might near blew the
oven door open.

That was about 15 years ago. I've cooked a lot of taters since then. None
of them have suffered anything harsher than washing, and I've been without
incident.

Odd that a stuck tater would be the only one to pop in my life.


TFM®