My Favorite Way to Make a Baked Potato ( in the Oven)

So I really like baked potatoes. I like them plain, with butter and/or sour cream, "loaded", "deluxe", whatever.

It's a simple and easy thing to make, and cheap. I mean you can get a 5 lb bag of potatoes for maybe 3 bucks or a very nice loose Russet for less than a buck.

You can even microwave these biotches. But sometimes the potato doesn't come out right. You might cook it for an hour and it's still raw. Then a few minutes later it's overcooked.

In future posts we will discuss all the great toppings ( broccoli and cheddar, chives/sour cream/bacon/cheddar/butter, creamed chipped beef, you know, whatever).

BUT right Now I'm talking the basic baked potato. I will talk about Microwaves ( remember, times vary!) but this is how I cook my perfect baked potato in the fuckin oven.

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Rinse the potato and rub coarse salt all over the skin
3. When the oven is ready just sit the potato right on the rack. It should take about 45 minutes for a medium potato. The skin should be crisp and the inside should be soft. You will be able to push through it.

Very Important Step: THE DROP
When you take the potato out.. Well I worked in a restaurant for many years and I am used to sticking my bare hands in ovens and broilers. So I will just grab it. You may need an oven mitt or some tongs or other utensil. If you have sensitive hands, playing "hot potato" may also accomplish this, especially if your floor is very clean. But, the way IIII do it is: I take the potato out and wrap it in foil or securely in a paper towel ( for reasons that will soon become obvious the potato should be covered).

Then from a height of about 5-6 feet I drop the potato directly on the floor ( I guesss you could put some wax paper there or something). This step is crucial to making an awesome potato because this smashes it and makes it very fluffy. It breaks the skin and the spuds splatter out.

ALTERNATE: If you don't want to drop it or have dirty floors or prefer hitting things, you can do this another way. Take it out and sit it on a plate/counter/cutting board. Put a couple paper towels on top and start "chopping" or beating it. I would say 2-3 swift blows are sufficient. I can best describe the proper strike as a "karate chop" but with fingers bent/half-closed. This will create the same effect as the floor drop.

Season and Eat: For the basic potato I will stick to salt, pepper and butter. After dropping it the potato skin may open on its own. Or you may need to tear/cut it down the middle. It should be fluffy enough. If not, flake it some with your fork. You know how Thomas's English Muffins have nooks and crannies for the butter to seep in? A good potato is kinda like that. It will have lots of little cracks and fissures where toppings will sink. if not, you want to make some wth your fork. Then I sprinkle salt. Then pepper. Then butter. I find this order of condiment application to be crucial.

Then you eat it. I won't tell you how to enjoy your potato, but I eat the skin( usually first just like I do with Birthday cake) and then scoop out and mix up the insides. I like to save the most buttery pices for last and rub them around in any salt and pepper residue.

Enjoy!

Update: Random Villian from Bunch Of Jerks has his "lazy cooking" take on the dropped baked potato: Random Baked Potato Recipe Video.