Baking potatoes in the oven?

I don't know about ""twice baked potatoes"" -- but I usually bake plain potatoes for about an hour at 375 - 400 degrees. I just scrub the potatoes before baking and stick a few little holes in them with the tip of a sharp knife to release steam as they bake. I put them directly on the oven rack.

On 11/26/2014 GoodStuff said:

I don't know about ""twice baked potatoes"" -- but I usually bake plain potatoes for about an hour at 375 - 400 degrees. I just scrub the potatoes before baking and stick a few little holes in them with the tip of a sharp knife to release steam as they bake. I put them directly on the oven rack.

that's exactly how I bake them too.

For me, the temperature depends on how much time I have....they will bake at 325, 350, 375,and also at 400. If I have other things in the oven at 350, I put them in. Obviously at 400 they will bake faster.

I always wrap mine in foil. Or I put them in the oven on a sheet of foil. Pierce them or take a sharp knife and split them down the middle.

You need a crispy skin if you're making twice backed potatoes so don't wrap in foil. 400 degrees will probably be best.

I'll be making the same thing and I generally allow an hour and a half for my potatoes in a four hundred degree mini-oven. I use Biggins russet potatoes which are about double the size of conventional potatoes and I like the skins very crispy. I just wash them, poke them a few times and then toss them onto the oven rack. If they're not getting done fast enough I'll move the heat up a notch to four fifty, but generally they're done perfectly in that time. Then I split them, scoop out the insides, put the now empty shells back into the oven (to get even crispier. The empty shells will warp a bit but once you stuff the potatoes back in they plump back out pretty well. I then rice the potatoes and add melted butter, a bit of salt and pepper, then hot heavy cream give it all a light stir to combine and stuff the potato shells with the mix. It's a bit decadent but I only do it a few times a year and they taste really good.

I bake them at 400. Do not wrap the potatoes in foil. This steams them instead of baking.

On 11/26/2014 gardenman said:

I'll be making the same thing and I generally allow an hour and a half for my potatoes in a four hundred degree mini-oven. I use Biggins russet potatoes which are about double the size of conventional potatoes and I like the skins very crispy. I just wash them, poke them a few times and then toss them onto the oven rack. If they're not getting done fast enough I'll move the heat up a notch to four fifty, but generally they're done perfectly in that time. Then I split them, scoop out the insides, put the now empty shells back into the oven (to get even crispier. The empty shells will warp a bit but once you stuff the potatoes back in they plump back out pretty well. I then rice the potatoes and add melted butter, a bit of salt and pepper, then hot heavy cream give it all a light stir to combine and stuff the potato shells with the mix. It's a bit decadent but I only do it a few times a year and they taste really good.

I think ricing the potatoes is a good idea when stuffing them back in the shell. Call me when they are ready and I'll be over.

On 11/27/2014 AuntG said:

On 11/26/2014 gardenman said:

I'll be making the same thing and I generally allow an hour and a half for my potatoes in a four hundred degree mini-oven. I use Biggins russet potatoes which are about double the size of conventional potatoes and I like the skins very crispy. I just wash them, poke them a few times and then toss them onto the oven rack. If they're not getting done fast enough I'll move the heat up a notch to four fifty, but generally they're done perfectly in that time. Then I split them, scoop out the insides, put the now empty shells back into the oven (to get even crispier. The empty shells will warp a bit but once you stuff the potatoes back in they plump back out pretty well. I then rice the potatoes and add melted butter, a bit of salt and pepper, then hot heavy cream give it all a light stir to combine and stuff the potato shells with the mix. It's a bit decadent but I only do it a few times a year and they taste really good.

I think ricing the potatoes is a good idea when stuffing them back in the shell. Call me when they are ready and I'll be over.

The ricing makes them absolutely lump free and with large quantities of melted butter and heavy cream added they're about as decadent a vegetable as you can eat. I learned to do them this way by watching Nathalie Dupree. She used to say (I hope joke) that she used equal parts heavy cream, butter and potato. I'm not quite that bad, but I'm close. I used about three pounds of potatoes and only a quarter pound of butter and a half pint of heavy cream. (Nathalie would be very disappointed.) They're very, very good any way.

Thanks for all the tips and tricks! My potatoes came out great!