Loaded Baked Potato Rounds Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why should you poke holes in a potato before baking it? ›

Pricking the potatoes with a fork creates tiny holes that allows steam to escape. This prevents your potato from bursting open in the oven (and making a mess!).

Sides are usually optional and customers can order as many or as few as they wish. Baked potatoes that are served with a number of these sides are commonly referred to as loaded potatoes or loaded baked potatoes. These potatoes can themselves be a side item to a steak dinner, or a similar entree.

"I see a lot of people using foil to wrap their potatoes in but this is a big no-no and causes soggy skins!" he says. Foil holds in moisture and steams the potatoes, resulting in a "boiled" taste and texture. Plus, without the use of foil, the skin will get extra crispy and flavorful.

Using a fork, pierce holes into each potato- about 3 pokes on each side. Brush coconut oil on each potato, making sure to cover them entirely. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a fork can pierce the potato easily.

Wrapping potatoes in foil does not hasten baking. On the contrary, since the foil itself has to be heated before the potato begins to bake, cooking times increase slightly. Not only do you get better baked potatoes when you bake them unwrapped, you also save money.

Some say wrapping baked potatoes in aluminum foil helps them cook faster (aluminum conducts heat, then traps it), and it does keep them hot for longer once they come out of the oven, which is why we think restaurants use this method. Wrapping potatoes will also give you a softer, steamed skin, if that's what you like.

Baked potatoes always taste better at restaurants because chefs have learned how to produce a potato that's soft, fluffy, and flavorful on the inside while remaining delightfully crisp on the outside. But it's hard to replicate those results at home.

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Our famous mashed potatoes topped with melted cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream and green onions.

We recommend baking potatoes at 400 degrees F for about an hour. Smaller spuds might take a little less time, while larger baking potatoes over 1 pound might take a little more. For a fully baked Idaho Russet Burbank, the internal temperature should be right at 210 degrees F.

What temperature should a baked potato be cooked at? ›

We recommend 400° F. In previous studies with Kitchen Consultants, out of Los Angeles, we raised our baking time suggestions from 45 or 55 minutes to one full hour or when the internal temperature of the Idaho® baked potato reaches 210° F.

The interior of a foil-wrapped baked potato is wetter and less fluffy, and the skin isn't crispy. Wrapping adds an extra step and results in inferior baked potatoes, especially if you enjoy eating the crispy skin, so don't do it!

Q: Why is it common to salt the exterior of a baked potato? A: Chefs started doing this years ago to allow the salt to absorb or draw out the moisture of the potato while baking, which results in a dry, fluffy potato.

Wendy's baked potatoes are wrapped in foil and baked in a convection oven for one hour. These logistics present challenges that other chains, besides the occasional Arby's, have opted out of. Wendy's is the only fast food restaurant to offer a baked potato nationwide.

I would just skip poking the potato all together. It is very rare that a baked potato will burst if the steam can't escape.

A: I would just skip poking the potato all together. It is very rare that a baked potato will burst if the steam can't escape.

It is a totally myth. I have been baking potatoes for about 50 years and I have never pricked holes in them. I have also never heard of nor seen a potato explode in the oven. It just doesn't happen.

It's important to note that not every baked potato will bust open if it is not pierced beforehand, but since you (and we) are unable to predict if a potato is liable to explode, it's a good idea to pierce the surface as a precaution. Extra Tip: we do not recommend wrapping a potato in aluminum foil when you bake it.

When preparing potatoes for baking, the common advice is to poke holes in them with a fork in order to prevent the potatoes from exploding.