On 10/3/2018 9:36 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> I've been making baked potatoes for years, sometimes excellent, other
> times less so.Â* 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.Â* Poke the russet potato with a
> fork about three times on a side.Â* 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.Â* Brush the spuds with cooking oul and
> return them to the oven until they reach about 215.Â* Remove from oven,
> cut the top, add butter.
>
> They were fluffy inside and the skin was nice and crispy.Â* One of the
> best I ever made.Â* I never thought about going by temperature.

It never would have occurred to me. I have always just poked the raw
potatoes with a fork, brushed the skins with butter (you could use oil)
and sprinkled with salt. They're done in an hour when the skin is
crispy and a little more poking with a fork indicates they're soft inside.

Did they use some sort of instant read thermometer? I cannot imagine
worrying about the internal temp of a baked potato. Why must everything
be so complicated?

Jill