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.

TIA



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

Mae West

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?

Butter the outside of the potato, then sprinkle with coarse salt. Oil will
work too, but I like butter better.

Bob

"sf" <.> wrote in message ...
>
> 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?

Slather in evoo roll in whatever spice your heart desires, then wrap in foil
to bake.

> 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?

Cut a slit with a knife slightly thinner than the garlic sliver and poke it
in. Takes a little pressure to get it in, but it'll stay in place.

KW

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.

On Jul 2, 6:48*pm, 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

Never done the garlic but...

the old fashioned way to prepare a baking potato is to rub in Crisco
and then do an s&p. Just a little bit will do!

Kar4en

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.


--
Joseph Littleshoes

"The two main political parties ruled alternately as if by tacit
agreement. Politically they were practically indistinguishable (one
perhaps a shade more liberal) but in both camps supporters were more
swayed by personalities than by issues. Both parties were heavily
dependent on the large industrial conglomerates. Corruption was
widespread, the conglomerates dictated economic policy, and with few
outstanding exceptions, politicians' reputations were low."

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 Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:47:25 -0700 (PDT), Karen >
wrote:

>the old fashioned way to prepare a baking potato is to rub in Crisco
>and then do an s&p. Just a little bit will do!

I didn't use Crisco, but I didn't hold back on the s&p.... oh, man
you're right. Just a little bit will do!


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

Mae West

On Wed 02 Jul 2008 09:13:32p, sf told us...

> On Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:47:25 -0700 (PDT), Karen >
> wrote:
>
>>the old fashioned way to prepare a baking potato is to rub in Crisco
>>and then do an s&p. Just a little bit will do!
>
> I didn't use Crisco, but I didn't hold back on the s&p.... oh, man
> you're right. Just a little bit will do!
>
>

Solid shortening or butter will hold salt or other coatings on the potato
much better than oil.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 07(VII)/02(II)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
All my life I wanted to be someone. I
guess I should have been more specific.
-------------------------------------------

On Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:11:04 -0700, Joseph Littleshoes
> wrote:

>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.

EVOO actually worked, but I guess butter is the consensus. I'll try
that next time and lighten up on the salt.

Frankly, the skin wasn't any better than baked naked with s&p added
later, IMO. It was a real disappointment. I thought it was going to
be dramatically different.


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

Mae West

On Wed 02 Jul 2008 09:49:16p, sf told us...

> On Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:11:04 -0700, Joseph Littleshoes
> > wrote:
>
>>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.
>
> EVOO actually worked, but I guess butter is the consensus. I'll try
> that next time and lighten up on the salt.
>
> Frankly, the skin wasn't any better than baked naked with s&p added
> later, IMO. It was a real disappointment. I thought it was going to
> be dramatically different.

Did you use coarse salt or regular table salt? Coarse kosher or sea salt
makes a "dramatic" difference. As to your oversalting them, table salt
would definitely tend to give an oversalted result.

I typically rub the potatoes generously with Crisco, then coat with a
mixture of coarse salt, cracked black peppercorns, and granulated garlic.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 07(VII)/02(II)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
The symbol is not the same as the reality.
-------------------------------------------

On Jul 2, 9:56*pm, Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
> Did you use coarse salt or regular table salt? *Coarse kosher or sea salt
> makes a "dramatic" difference. *As to your oversalting them, table salt
> would definitely tend to give an oversalted result.
>
> I typically rub the potatoes generously with Crisco, then coat with a
> mixture of coarse salt, cracked black peppercorns, and granulated garlic.

Do you think a high temperature makes the skin the crispiest, too?
400F is a good temp for crispy skins.

Karen

On Wed 02 Jul 2008 10:08:20p, Karen told us...

> On Jul 2, 9:56*pm, Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>> Did you use coarse salt or regular table salt? *Coarse kosher or sea sal
>> t makes a "dramatic" difference. *As to your oversalting them, table
salt
>> would definitely tend to give an oversalted result.
>>
>> I typically rub the potatoes generously with Crisco, then coat with a
>> mixture of coarse salt, cracked black peppercorns, and granulated
garlic.
>
> Do you think a high temperature makes the skin the crispiest, too?
> 400F is a good temp for crispy skins.
>
> Karen
>

Yes, absolutely. In fact, I usually bake them at 425°F.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 07(VII)/02(II)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
I don't see you, so don't pretend to
be there.
-------------------------------------------

On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:56:38 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>Did you use coarse salt or regular table salt? Coarse kosher or sea salt
>makes a "dramatic" difference. As to your oversalting them, table salt
>would definitely tend to give an oversalted result.

The salt was "kosher".... so I guess you could call it coarse.
>
>I typically rub the potatoes generously with Crisco, then coat with a
>mixture of coarse salt, cracked black peppercorns, and granulated garlic.

Basically, that's what I did but used EVOO instead of Crisco. I
wasn't impressed. I won't do it again.



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

Mae West

On Wed 02 Jul 2008 10:45:33p, sf told us...

> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:56:38 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>>Did you use coarse salt or regular table salt? Coarse kosher or sea salt
>>makes a "dramatic" difference. As to your oversalting them, table salt
>>would definitely tend to give an oversalted result.
>
> The salt was "kosher".... so I guess you could call it coarse.
>>
>>I typically rub the potatoes generously with Crisco, then coat with a
>>mixture of coarse salt, cracked black peppercorns, and granulated garlic.
>
> Basically, that's what I did but used EVOO instead of Crisco. I
> wasn't impressed. I won't do it again.

Maybe I just like salty potatoes. :-) I almost always make them this way.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 07(VII)/02(II)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
bleakness ... desolation ... plastic
forks ...
-------------------------------------------

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?

No clue about garlic slivers in baked potatoes. I've heard of roasted
garlic *mashed* potatoes...

As for salt, rub the potatoes with butter or some say olive oil. I suspect
this is a more "modern" thing now that EVOO (heh) has become the big Food
Network idea. I rub the scrubbed baking potatoes with butter because that's
what Mom always did, dating way back before Food TV was a gleam in anyone's
eye. Then poke a few holes in it with a fork and sprinkle with salt. They
did them that way at Red Lobster circa 1978. No foil on those potatoes
[back then]. Makes for a nice crispy potato skin which you can eat. Yum!

Jill

"sf" <.> ha scritto nel messaggio
...
>
> 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).

I've never done either and don't plan to, but I do a traditional pugliese
antipasto that is similar and which I find miraculously good.

I keep the salt from one cooking to the next, so it isn't wasteful.
Buy as many tiny new baking potatoes (this can be done with other tiny
potatoes, but they will be marginally less good) as you need. Wash them
very well, and dry them. Rub some olive oil on them with your hands. N a
deep baking dish, lay a layer of very coarse salt, (almost rock salt but I
can't think of what the US equiv would be) then a layer of potatoes, then
salt, then, etc. until you end up with salt. I happen to use a soufflé dish
which seems ideal for its depth.

Pop that into a very hot oven, 225°C or 450°F and cook for about an hour.
Brush the salt off and serve. I can handle these right off by wearing
surgical gloves, but have sort of iron hands by now. Some might want to
wear a nice new pair of gardening gloves.

When serving a more elaborate dinner, I serve fresh, soft goats cheese with
these. Otherwise they are eaten plain.

On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 02:15:09 -0400, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>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?
>
>No clue about garlic slivers in baked potatoes. I've heard of roasted
>garlic *mashed* potatoes...
>
>As for salt, rub the potatoes with butter or some say olive oil. I suspect
>this is a more "modern" thing now that EVOO (heh) has become the big Food
>Network idea. I rub the scrubbed baking potatoes with butter because that's
>what Mom always did, dating way back before Food TV was a gleam in anyone's
>eye. Then poke a few holes in it with a fork and sprinkle with salt. They
>did them that way at Red Lobster circa 1978. No foil on those potatoes
>[back then]. Makes for a nice crispy potato skin which you can eat. Yum!
>

Thanks, Jill. I guess my mom was a cretin (kidding). She baked her
potatoes absolutely naked at 400° and I never thought about doing it
any other way until I read about it here in rfc. I didn't slather
them with butter tonight. I used EVOO (thank you Rachael Ray for the
acronym) - which I get by the jug at CostCo.... but never wrapped in
foil - EVER.

When you coat them with butter... do you put them directly on the oven
rack with no drip pan or any kind?


--
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 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

In article >,
"Giusi" > wrote:

> I've never done either and don't plan to, but I do a traditional pugliese
> antipasto that is similar and which I find miraculously good.
>
> I keep the salt from one cooking to the next, so it isn't wasteful.
> Buy as many tiny new baking potatoes (this can be done with other tiny
> potatoes, but they will be marginally less good) as you need. Wash them
> very well, and dry them. Rub some olive oil on them with your hands. N a
> deep baking dish, lay a layer of very coarse salt, (almost rock salt but I
> can't think of what the US equiv would be) then a layer of potatoes, then
> salt, then, etc. until you end up with salt. I happen to use a soufflé dish
> which seems ideal for its depth.
>
> Pop that into a very hot oven, 225°C or 450°F and cook for about an hour.
> Brush the salt off and serve. I can handle these right off by wearing
> surgical gloves, but have sort of iron hands by now. Some might want to
> wear a nice new pair of gardening gloves.
>
> When serving a more elaborate dinner, I serve fresh, soft goats cheese with
> these. Otherwise they are eaten plain.

Oh, man, Giusi -- that sounds SO good! I'll give it a go the next time
I have new potatoes!

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

"sf" <.> wrote in message ...
>
> 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.


Oil.

Use 5w/30 in the winter, 15w/40 in the summer.

Or do like most folks and use olive oil.


TFM®

"KW" > wrote in message
...
>
> "sf" <.> wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> 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?
>
> Slather in evoo roll in whatever spice your heart desires, then wrap in
> foil to bake.


Don't you mean, "wrap in foil to 'steam'"?

TFM®

"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®

"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
6.120...
> On Wed 02 Jul 2008 10:45:33p, sf told us...
>
>> On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:56:38 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>Did you use coarse salt or regular table salt? Coarse kosher or sea salt
>>>makes a "dramatic" difference. As to your oversalting them, table salt
>>>would definitely tend to give an oversalted result.
>>
>> The salt was "kosher".... so I guess you could call it coarse.
>>>
>>>I typically rub the potatoes generously with Crisco, then coat with a
>>>mixture of coarse salt, cracked black peppercorns, and granulated garlic.
>>
>> Basically, that's what I did but used EVOO instead of Crisco. I
>> wasn't impressed. I won't do it again.
>
> Maybe I just like salty potatoes. :-) I almost always make them this way.


A potato without salt is like a fish without a bicycle.

I'd rather eat a beet than a potato without salt.


TFM®

"sf" <.> wrote in message ...
> On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 02:15:09 -0400, "jmcquown" >
> wrote:
>
>>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?
>>
>>No clue about garlic slivers in baked potatoes. I've heard of roasted
>>garlic *mashed* potatoes...
>>
>>As for salt, rub the potatoes with butter or some say olive oil. I
>>suspect
>>this is a more "modern" thing now that EVOO (heh) has become the big Food
>>Network idea. I rub the scrubbed baking potatoes with butter because
>>that's
>>what Mom always did, dating way back before Food TV was a gleam in
>>anyone's
>>eye. Then poke a few holes in it with a fork and sprinkle with salt.
>>They
>>did them that way at Red Lobster circa 1978. No foil on those potatoes
>>[back then]. Makes for a nice crispy potato skin which you can eat. Yum!
>>
>
> Thanks, Jill. I guess my mom was a cretin (kidding). She baked her
> potatoes absolutely naked at 400° and I never thought about doing it
> any other way until I read about it here in rfc. I didn't slather
> them with butter tonight. I used EVOO (thank you Rachael Ray for the
> acronym) - which I get by the jug at CostCo.... but never wrapped in
> foil - EVER.


IIRC, Cuchulain Libby coined the phrase (EVOO) long before Rachel Ray.

TFM®

sf <.> wrote:
> On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 02:15:09 -0400, "jmcquown" >
> wrote:
>
> > 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?
> >
> > No clue about garlic slivers in baked potatoes. I've heard of
> > roasted garlic *mashed* potatoes...
> >
> > As for salt, rub the potatoes with butter or some say olive oil. I
> > suspect this is a more "modern" thing now that EVOO (heh) has
> > become the big Food Network idea. I rub the scrubbed baking
> > potatoes with butter because that's what Mom always did, dating way
> > back before Food TV was a gleam in anyone's eye. Then poke a few
> > holes in it with a fork and sprinkle with salt. They did them that
> > way at Red Lobster circa 1978. No foil on those potatoes [back
> > then]. Makes for a nice crispy potato skin which you can eat.
> > Yum!
> >
>
> Thanks, Jill. I guess my mom was a cretin (kidding). She baked her
> potatoes absolutely naked at 400° and I never thought about doing it
> any other way until I read about it here in rfc. I didn't slather
> them with butter tonight. I used EVOO (thank you Rachael Ray for the
> acronym) - which I get by the jug at CostCo.... but never wrapped in
> foil - EVER.
>
> When you coat them with butter... do you put them directly on the oven
> rack with no drip pan or any kind?

No rack. Put 'em on a baking sheet. They don't drip

Jill

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 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.
-------------------------------------------

TFM® > wrote in news:486ca6f0$0$20704
:

>
>
> "KW" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "sf" <.> wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> 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?
>>
>> Slather in evoo roll in whatever spice your heart desires, then wrap
in
>> foil to bake.
>
>
> Don't you mean, "wrap in foil to 'steam'"?
>
> TFM®
>
>

Never ever wrap a baking potato in foil. This foil idea is a cheap
restaurant trick..so they can bake hundreds of potatoes ln the morning
and serve then at supper in the evening. If you insist in wrapping your
potato in foil you would be better off nuking it. There have been many
threads on this in the past and wrapping a potato in foil and calling it
baked is just wrong.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

"TFM®" > wrote in message
. com...
>
>
> "KW" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "sf" <.> wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> 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?
>>
>> Slather in evoo roll in whatever spice your heart desires, then wrap in
>> foil to bake.
>
>
> Don't you mean, "wrap in foil to 'steam'"?
>
> TFM®

I've seen "potato nails" for sale to stick in a potato to help it cook
the inside. I have some metal kebab skewers that I'm going to try instead
of buying the nails. No foil wrapping, just rubbed with butter and
sprinkled with seasoning of my choice....Sharon

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

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 06:00:03a, 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 06:08:21a, hahabogus told us...

> TFM® > wrote in news:486ca6f0$0$20704
> :
>
>>
>>
>> "KW" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> "sf" <.> wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>>
>>>> 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?
>>>
>>> Slather in evoo roll in whatever spice your heart desires, then wrap
>>> in foil to bake.
>>
>>
>> Don't you mean, "wrap in foil to 'steam'"?
>>
>> TFM®
>>
>>
>
> Never ever wrap a baking potato in foil. This foil idea is a cheap
> restaurant trick..so they can bake hundreds of potatoes ln the morning
> and serve then at supper in the evening. If you insist in wrapping your
> potato in foil you would be better off nuking it. There have been many
> threads on this in the past and wrapping a potato in foil and calling it
> baked is just wrong.
>

On that point we totally agree. They drown in their own steam and end up
sodden and heavy with a moist skin. Foil wrapped will never give you a
baked potato with a crisp skin and fluffy interior.

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

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 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...
-------------------------------------------

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
. ..
> 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?
>
> No clue about garlic slivers in baked potatoes. I've heard of roasted
> garlic *mashed* potatoes...
>
> As for salt, rub the potatoes with butter or some say olive oil. I
suspect
> this is a more "modern" thing now that EVOO (heh) has become the big Food
> Network idea. I rub the scrubbed baking potatoes with butter because
that's
> what Mom always did, dating way back before Food TV was a gleam in
anyone's
> eye. Then poke a few holes in it with a fork and sprinkle with salt.
They
> did them that way at Red Lobster circa 1978. No foil on those potatoes
> [back then]. Makes for a nice crispy potato skin which you can eat. Yum!
>
> Jill

You "bake" a cake -- you "roast" a potato.

Weren't you people ever kids? Didn't you ever build a campfire and simply
toss in a few big baking potatoes, cover them with coals and let them roast?
No evoo, foil, fois gras, truffle oil -- just a stick of butter and a salt
shaker at hand. How do you think the game of "hot potato" was invented --
it's how you could tell when they were cool enough to peel and eat.

The skins char crisp, leaving just enough on the potato after you peel the
steaming top half to give it that campfire flavor. Then you rub on the
butter, holding the stick with the paper, salt and eat the potato out of
hand. Try it --it will be more unforgetable than many fancy institutional
dinners you are used to.

pflu

On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 06:25:17 -0400, TFM® >
wrote:

>A potato without salt is like a fish without a bicycle.
>
>I'd rather eat a beet than a potato without salt.
>
I didn't say I don't eat potatoes without salt, it's just that the
pre-salting thing didn't live up to its reputation. I'm going back to
bare naked baking and applying salt to the skin *after* I eat the
insides. Nothing ventured, nothing gained... and this was a myth
buster for me.


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

Mae West

On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 06:27:40 -0400, TFM® >
wrote:

>
>
>"sf" <.> wrote in message ...
>> On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 02:15:09 -0400, "jmcquown" >
>> wrote:
>>
>>>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?
>>>
>>>No clue about garlic slivers in baked potatoes. I've heard of roasted
>>>garlic *mashed* potatoes...
>>>
>>>As for salt, rub the potatoes with butter or some say olive oil. I
>>>suspect
>>>this is a more "modern" thing now that EVOO (heh) has become the big Food
>>>Network idea. I rub the scrubbed baking potatoes with butter because
>>>that's
>>>what Mom always did, dating way back before Food TV was a gleam in
>>>anyone's
>>>eye. Then poke a few holes in it with a fork and sprinkle with salt.
>>>They
>>>did them that way at Red Lobster circa 1978. No foil on those potatoes
>>>[back then]. Makes for a nice crispy potato skin which you can eat. Yum!
>>>
>>
>> Thanks, Jill. I guess my mom was a cretin (kidding). She baked her
>> potatoes absolutely naked at 400° and I never thought about doing it
>> any other way until I read about it here in rfc. I didn't slather
>> them with butter tonight. I used EVOO (thank you Rachael Ray for the
>> acronym) - which I get by the jug at CostCo.... but never wrapped in
>> foil - EVER.
>
>
>IIRC, Cuchulain Libby coined the phrase (EVOO) long before Rachel Ray.
>
>TFM®

OK, I learned it somewhere.... didn't remember Hound until you
mentioned him. Well, he lives on in RR.


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

Mae West

"jmcquown" > wrote in
:

> sf <.> wrote:
>> On Thu, 3 Jul 2008 02:15:09 -0400, "jmcquown" >
>> wrote:
>>
>> > 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?
>> >
>> > No clue about garlic slivers in baked potatoes. I've heard of
>> > roasted garlic *mashed* potatoes...
>> >
>> > As for salt, rub the potatoes with butter or some say olive oil. I
>> > suspect this is a more "modern" thing now that EVOO (heh) has
>> > become the big Food Network idea. I rub the scrubbed baking
>> > potatoes with butter because that's what Mom always did, dating way
>> > back before Food TV was a gleam in anyone's eye. Then poke a few
>> > holes in it with a fork and sprinkle with salt. They did them that
>> > way at Red Lobster circa 1978. No foil on those potatoes [back
>> > then]. Makes for a nice crispy potato skin which you can eat.
>> > Yum!
>> >
>>
>> Thanks, Jill. I guess my mom was a cretin (kidding). She baked her
>> potatoes absolutely naked at 400° and I never thought about doing it
>> any other way until I read about it here in rfc. I didn't slather
>> them with butter tonight. I used EVOO (thank you Rachael Ray for the
>> acronym) - which I get by the jug at CostCo.... but never wrapped in
>> foil - EVER.
>>
>> When you coat them with butter... do you put them directly on the oven
>> rack with no drip pan or any kind?
>
> No rack. Put 'em on a baking sheet. They don't drip
>
> Jill
>
>

Just enough oil/butter to make the skin shiney not a 1/4 inch layer...not
enough oil to drip is used.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan