Bloomin' Baked Potato Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you know if a potato is baked enough? ›

Simply slide the tip of a knife or skewer into the thickest part of the potato. If it pierces the center easily and meets no resistance, your baked beauties are ready to serve. You can also use an instant-read thermometer; inserted into the center of the potato, the temperature should read 208-211˚F.

If you oil them up early, the skins may not turn crispy. The salt, too, can run off the potatoes in the heat. Instead, do a quick oil baste after the potatoes reach 205°F: Remove the pan from the oven. Brush with olive oil (or bacon grease if you have it) and a hefty sprinkle of kosher salt.

Using Foil -

Foil traps the moisture in the potato causing the skin to be wet and the inside flavorless or gummy. Potatoes are made up of about 80% water, so sealing it up in foil does not allow enough water to escape, making it soggy.

The potatoes are done when tender.

The potatoes are done when they are tender all the way through. You can test this by poking the potato with a fork, paring knife, or skewer. If the utensil slides easily all the way to the center, the potatoes are done.

If the potato is hard, bake it a little longer. Don't exceed the recommended cooking time because potatoes will continue to cook after they're removed from the oven and the skin will get dry. "Another common mistake is letting the potato rest or cool before cutting.

Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a fork to poke a few holes into the potatoes. Place on the baking sheet, rub with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with sea salt all over. Bake 45 to 60 minutes, or until the potato is fork-tender and the skin is crisp.

In the examples above you nearly double the cost of the potato for the 50 sheets, and for the 500 sheets add nearly 36% to the cost. NEVER BAKE POTATOES IN FOIL. Foil wraps will not decrease baking time, but will result in a soggy potato interior with wet skin.

Adding oil to potatoes before baking is perfectly fine, just a personal preference. Without oil the Idaho russet skin bakes up crispy, with oil the skin will carry a lot of the flavor of the oil so some people have a preference for using olive oil or peanut oil.

The ideal potato for baking is low in moisture with a high starch content. These qualities allow a potato to bake up with a delightfully fluffy center and crispy skin. Because it has all of these features, Russet potatoes are the ideal potato for baking and the most commonly used choice.

Should I poke holes in potatoes before baking? ›

Rumor has it that an un-pricked spud will explode in the oven—but in all actuality, that's unlikely. Conventional wisdom says that when you bake a potato, you have to prick it with a fork all over a few times, piercing the skin to allow steam to release.

Why is it common to salt the exterior of a baked potato? A: Chefs started doing this years ago to allow the salt to absorb or draw out the moisture of the potato while baking, which results in a dry, fluffy potato. They used to do something similar with prime rib, sometimes baking it over rock salt.

Baking at 450 degrees F is way too high and the potato will have a wrinkled skin. Baking for an hour and a half is too long, the potato will be overcooked. Of course it can take that long if potatoes are stacked on top of each other.

Pierce test: You can pierce a baked, boiled, or fried potato to check if it's cooked. “The potato should be pierced with a fork or knife, and it should slide in and out easily with no resistance when it's fully cooked,” says Gaffen.

Using a meat thermometer, placed into the thickest part of the potato in the center, it is fully cooked at 210 degrees F.

Don't exceed the recommended cooking time because potatoes will continue to cook after they're removed from the oven and the skin will get dry. "Another common mistake is letting the potato rest or cool before cutting. This is not meat and the potato doesn't get better with resting.

Cooking the potatoes just right is key. If they're undercooked, you'll have pockets of crispy potato chunks-—a big no-no for classic fluffy mashed potatoes. If you overcook them they disintegrate and your potatoes will be soupy.