13 Baked Potato Tips That Will Have Your Spuds Tasting Restaurant-Worthy

Available all year round, the oblong, starchy Russets have a wonderful texture, a hearty shape, a non-overpowering flavor, and the ideal consistency for baking.

Opt for similarly-sized potatoes to ensure even cooking, avoiding spuds with bruising, damaged skin, greenish hue, and eyes. The potatoes should feel dense and smooth to the touch.

Before baking, clean your spuds under cold water using a scrubber. For extra clean and tender spuds, quickly soak them in a white vinegar bath and pat them dry.

When oven-baking the spuds, add an ample sprinkle of kosher salt to the vinegar and water solution. The salt will bring out the flavors of the potato skin and yield crispy results.

If you’re skipping the foil to achieve a nice oven-baked finish, coat the spuds’ exterior with some olive oil to further crisp up the skin of your baked potatoes.

You can substitute the olive oil with just about any oil or melted butter. However, coating the outside of your potatoes before cooking is still very much a personal preference.

Depending on whether you're using a microwave, slow cooker, crockpot, or grill, ensure to clean, season, and prep the potatoes according to the cooking method.

For instance, when using the microwave, you can cover the spuds or leave them as is. For grilling or slow cooking, you must wrap them in aluminum foil for most of the cooking time.

Ideally, you should preheat your oven to 425° Fahrenheit, but you can go as high as 450° Fahrenheit. Then, place your spuds on the rack or a thin baking sheet.

Next, bake your potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour — though larger ones may require up to 75 minutes. Remember to flip them at least once halfway through for even cooking.