"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> I've been making baked potatoes for years, sometimes excellent, other
> times less so. Last Saturday I watched an episode of America's Test
> Kitchen and they showed what they found to be best.
>
> Make a simple brine of salt and water. Poke the russet potato with a fork
> about three times on a side. Roll the potatoes in the brind for a short
> time, a minutes or less is ok.
>
> In a 450 degree oven, bake the potatoes to about 205 internal, about 45 to
> 60 minutes depending on size. Brush the spuds with cooking oul and return
> them to the oven until they reach about 215. Remove from oven, cut the
> top, add butter.
>
> They were fluffy inside and the skin was nice and crispy. One of the best
> I ever made. I never thought about going by temperature.

There's a restaurant here that cooks their baked potatoes in rock salt. It's
a chain place. I think their food is overpriced and mediocre. I can make
better potatoes at home. I just pierce mine with a fork a few times, then
bake until fork tender. Only time they didn't come out right was when they
overbaked. Can't remember the specifics there but some emergency or
something to where I couldn't get to the stove when I needed to.

My mom always baked hers in foil. I much prefer them without the foil as
they foil makes the skin soggy. Neither of my parents ate the skin so it
likely didn't matter to them,