I can’t for the life of me make my baked potatoes come out soft the way that they come out in restaurants. I have poked holes in each end to allow more heat. I have wrapped them in foil. I have left them unwrapped. I have coated the skin with butter. I have tried I without butter. It doesn’t matter how hot I get my stove (even though I usually heat it to 400 degrees), or how long I leave the potato in. I have even tried to microwave it first, and them place it in the stove. Does anyone have suggestions? How can I bake the perfect, fluffy potato?

Any suggestions :mad:

I wash mine and then spray them with Mazola butter, wrap them in foil, bake at 400 for 60 min or until done

Hi diakonos

I steam my un peel potatoes.
First Poke holes in them with a fork
Then
When it is done
It is soft and fluffy
Just like the ones in the restaurants.

They key to a good potato is the washing and scrubing that you do to them before you start to cook them.

What kind of potatoes are you using. The best spuds for bake potatoes are Russet Potatoes. They usually are the bigger brown skinned potatoes without as many eyes. It's also a possibility that you are over cooking the potato. I run a slit lengthwise along the top of the potato. Always wrap your potato in foil. It is not necessary to poke holes in the potato unless you are microwaving them. What makes the potato flaky and soft is the moisture cooking inside the potato. When that moisture escapes all that is left is a potato rock. Depending on your oven cook your potato at 400 degrees for 45 mins to 1 hour. You should be able to mush your potato with tongs or a fork or a spatula. Once out of the oven using a pot holder or oven mitt roll the potato on a heat resistant surface to make it more mushy. There you have it. You can also bake sweet potatoes the same way.

Bon Appetite.....

Thanks for all of your responses. My baked potatoes are nice and fluffy now. :slobber:

To answer your question, I was using russet potatoes. Now I mix it up a bit, baking sweet potatoes. I heard they were better for you. ;)

also try washing them, poke holes in them with a fork then coat them with a good amount of oil (veggie, canola or olive oil works best) before wrapping them in foil. bake @ 375 for 1 hour or until soft.... never fails

also try washing them, poke holes in them with a fork then coat them with a good amount of oil (veggie, canola or olive oil works best) before wrapping them in foil. bake @ 375 for 1 hour or until soft.... never fails

That is exactly what I do as well -- but diakonos, you know that sweet potatos are naturally softer anyways