Jacket Potatoes

[RyH]

I'm planning to cook jacket potatoes in my WFO this weekend, any recommendations out there on how to get the best results, do you wrap in foil or leave bare?

Thanks
Ryh

[nissanneill]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

Hi Ryh,
over here or should I say here down under, the traditional cooked potato traders cook their potatoes simply on racks in a gas fired oven, usually over sized commercial ovens but displayed characteristically with olde fashioned rustic appearance.
If you start to foil them, then that will add a lot of extra time, cost and burnt hands removing them. The skins would also be soft rather than crispier when left bare.
They are cooked until a knife can be penetrated through the potato and hence is broken apart and then the garlic butter, the diced ham, slices cabbage, mayonaise and sour cream are dolloped on and yum, a quick easy meal.
My wife occasionally does them but in the microwave.
Why not cook a couple in foil as well and try them to find out what you prefer in future.

Neill

[Wlodek]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

Mmmm ... they come out fantastic!

They can be partly-cooked in the microwave, we do it on full power for 10-15min.

They go on a shallow baking tray, lightly massaged with olive oil (they love that) and sprinkled generously with salt. No foil.

They come out of the oven with a delicious crisp skin (very edible, we get organic potatoes for baking), in a nice colour. See my photos in the Cooking forum.

Also, they can be cooked with some smoke in the oven in quite high temperatures (like for pizza).

Try them for donneness with a table fork. Also, make sure you get the baking variety.

:-)
W.

[RyH]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

Wlodek & Nissanneill

I cooked around 35 jacket potatoes at the weekend and used 2 methods, 1 batch as per the instructions from Wlodek on the baking tray and the others wrapped in foil and put on top of the embers.

The ones on the baking tray were excellent, crunchy outer skin with a light fluffy inner. The ones in foil were ok but not as good as the baking tray ones.

That has to be the method for a WFO and Jacket potatoes going forward.

Thanks for your advice.
Ryh

[Wlodek]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

I am pleased the experiment was successful. My statistician colleagues would be pleased with the number of repetitions too.

And thanks for reporting.

W.

[nissanneill]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

OK Rhy,
now that I deem you and Wlodek as the baked potato gurus, can you give us all awaiting baked potato chefs, some indication of temps and approx time lines as they don't always indicate their degree of 'cookedness' by the colour of their salted/oiled jacket colour.
I always prod a skewer through their skin (alright then, their jacket) to check how soft their innerds are and whether they are ready to break apart, dress and droulle upon.
I know it depends on the size, thickness and oven temperature!

Neill

[RyH]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

This is the crazy thing, I did not pay too much attention to the temp or time, I would estimate the temp to be around 300 - 400F and then slowing cooling down and time wise around 2 hours.

I checked them with a knife after about 1 hour and realised it was going to be slow so increased temperature.

The beauty of the jacket potato is you can't really do too much damage to it unlike a pizza.

Give it a try.
Ryh

[Wlodek]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

Neill,

As a newly appointed BPG (Baked Potato Guru that is) I can confirm that your list of the sources of variation is correct, I would add position in the oven to it. Yes, I do prod them as well. And I put the tray very close to the embers or fire, trying to remember to turn it round every so often.

If you put them in fresh from the fridge it will be no less than an hour. If you parboil them or give them a 10min blast in the microwave - it is close to an hour, but can be less.

There is hardly a "too hot" oven for them. Back in Poland we used to make a campfire in the field, bury the freshly dug potatoes in the hot ashes and embers, wait an hour or so (as far as I can remember) making a small fire on top, dig them out with a stick, peel the charred skin off ... The flavour was unforgettable, the ones I made yesterday were not far off ...

W.

[nissanneill]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

Hi Wlodek,
this is exactly what friends of mine do when we are way outback on 4wd tours to remote areas of Australia,
They foil wrap the spuds and put them in the coals but I am more interested in the pot roasts.
The spuds are then used with the roast (usually a large leg of mutton (as lamb has little or no flavor) and usually there is not enough room in my large Bedourie for all the roast eeg an spuds.

Happy roasting.

Neill

[Puy de Dome]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

Interesting idea to do jacket spuds in the wfo. I gotta try it.

Can I just ask, do you use residual heat baking or leave the embers burning in there? Do you bascially cook in the same condtions for the pizzas? Ie, hot hot hot!?

P de D

[nissanneill]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

P de D
I personally don't like to cook spuds (slang down here for potatoes) too hot because you can burn the outsides without cooking their centres. They are not as nice to biter through the tender outer layer to a more raw uncooked centre. OK, you can scrape off the burnt coating, but you then lose the most tasty and wholesome part, the skin from the basic food.
I prefer to cook them a little slower, often without wrapped in foil, but it does take longer and a couple of changes of coals and hot ash around the campfire.

Neill

[RyH]

Re: Jacket Potatoes

I take the oven up to around 400F and keep a small fire burning.

Use the baking tray method, it's the clear winner.
Just keep checking them with a knife.

Worth a try though.