Jacket potatoes are the ultimate winter convenience food. They're popular with everyone from hearty outdoors types who can knock up a campfire in less time than it takes me to strike a match, to Saturday shoppers — the jacket-potato cart, often mystifyingly Victorian-themed, being a fixture of many British town centres on a Saturday afternoon.
The clue to the perfect jacket potato lies in the name — any old baked potato can have a delectably fluffy interior but it takes real skill to achieve that wonderfully crunchy skin. This is a treat best cooked at home. A note of caution, however, from the wise Nigel Slater: "A good baked spud is as much about luck as good planning," he says. "You can follow all the rules and yet food sometimes does its own thing. Sometimes cooks just have to cross their fingers." True enough — but you can improve your chances by getting the rules right, to start with.
Plain and simple
There is at least no debate about the best kind of potato for baking — that billowing, cloud-like flesh is the exclusive preserve of the floury varieties, such as Maris Piper or King Edward. The potato goes into a 190°C oven for 50 minutes, until it gives slightly, when I press it with my asbestos fingers. It's a bit of a disappointment though; although the inside is fluffy enough, so is the skin — which reminds me of a Russet apple.
Salt and water
Slater suggests washing the potato and dusting them with sea salt while they're still wet, which gives a "crisp and savoury skin". He's right — it is crunchy and, ready seasoned, only requires a knob of butter to become a meal in its own right.
Basting
I try basting a potato with melted butter before and regularly during cooking but it's more time-consuming, as the potato requires attention every quarter of an hour but I'm impressed with the results — a skin so crisp it could fairly be described as a shell, and a perfectly cooked interior.
The perfect jacket potato is as simple as the pleasure of eating it: a floury variety, a crust of salt and longer than you might think in a hot oven — eat it fast though, before it goes soggy.
Jacket potato
- 1 floury potato per person
- 20g sea salt, coarse
Pre-heat your oven to 220°C. When the oven is up to temperature, wash the potatoes well and prick each in a couple of places with a fork. Allow to dry slightly while you tip salt into a shallow bowl. Roll each potato in the salt to give an even coating. Place on the middle shelf of the oven, preferably directly on the rack.
Cook for about 60 minutes and give them a squeeze — the potato should just give and the skin should be distinctly crisp. If not, leave them for ten minutes and check again — if you overcook them, the insides will be dry, so it's important to be vigilant.
Remove from the oven and put on to plates: They shouldn't be opened until you're ready to eat and then preferably by hitting them sharply so they burst, for maximum fluffiness. Do your thing with butter and tuck in immediately.
Try at home
The baked potato is a favourite because you can have it with just about anything. Here are a few easy-to-do options you can try at home:
- When baked, cut it crossways, pour butter and sour cream over it and add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Top with chilli con carne and sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese.
- Top it with tuna, mayonnaise and sweet corn.
- Top the potato with baked beans and garnish with grated Cheddar cheese.
- You can also fill your jacket potato with hummus after mixing with low-fat cheese and seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Make a deep gash crossways on the potato after scrubbing and washing. Place a clove of garlic and a mixture of fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano or thyme in the centre. Add salt and pepper or paprika. Top liberally with olive oil and add a dash of fresh lemon juice. Wrap in aluminium foil and bake.
- Eat it on its own or as a side dish with meat or chicken. Jacket potatoes are an incredibly versatile dining option.
— Shahana Raza is a UAE-based freelance writer
