George wrote:
>
> Pete C. wrote:
>
> >>> You can certainly cook a potato in the microwave and get the same result
> >>> as famous industrial chain food restaurants but it isn't a baked potato.
> >>>
> >> This is the main point - too many people consider any large, whole,
> >> cooked potato to be "baked" when a microwaved potato is in fact steamed.
> >
> > A microwaved potato is no more steamed than a baked one. In both cases
> > the heat introduced produces some internal steam.
>
> I think there is a difference. If you bake a potato by simply putting it
> on the oven rack the skin will develop crispness and there will be some
> browning and the skin will have a slightly nutty flavor. If you prepare
> a restaurant style potato as found in "famous chain places" you would
> wrap it in AL foil which retains the moisture and steams the potato.
> There is no browning or change of skin texture. If you microwave a
> potato you get the same result as wrapping in foil likely because the
> quick cooking doesn't liberate the moisture and lack of infrared for
> crisping.

I didn't claim there was no difference between a baked and microwaved
potato. I indicated that both methods generate some internal steam in
the potato. Neither is actually "steamed".

>
> Of course this assumes that you have enough energy and time left after
> washing the potatoes...

Yea, that extraordinarily difficult step applies in both cases.