How to Make Salty, Crispy Skinned Oven Baked Potatoes
If you are looking for restaurant quality,salty, crispy skinned baked potatoes, here is how to make the BEST baked potato - with a few secret tricks of the trade!
Ingredients
- 4 medium/large russet potatoes scrubbed well
- 4 tablespoons cold pressed canola oil or other neutral flavoured oil
- 4 tablespoons flaked sea salt
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 400 °F.
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Pierce each potato 3-4 times with the tines of a fork.
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Coat each one well in canola oil, then sprinkle heavily with flaked sea salt all over. You need to get a good crust of salt. Place on a wire baking rack in the middle of a baking tray and place the potatoes on top.
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Bake in the oven for 60-75 minutes or until they are fork tender. Remove and cool slightly on the baking sheet.
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To serve, once they are warm cut a slit lengthwise down the top of the potato, not cutting to the very end however. Take your fingers and place on either side of the potato and push the ends in towards each other to "pop" the center open ( it will look like a restaurant potato now!)
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Serve with butter and pepper, or any and all toppings!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
These Baked Potatoes are great loaded with butter and green onions to keep it simple, but can be topped with bacon, cheese and sour cream.
Try them with chili on top, they are fantastic!
Tips & Tricks
- Use canola oil. Yes, I know that everyone uses olive oil but here’s a secret: restaurants know that olive oil can give high-temperature baked goods a slightly (or quite) bitter taste sometimes. More than one of my professional chef friends have sworn up and down this is how you make potatoes that are crispy and not bitter. Too easy, right? It can depend on the quality of the oil, how long it’s in the oven but the best way is to use a neutral flavoured oil for the best taste possible. Buy a nice cold-pressed canola oil and see how amazing it is! Here is a really good, seemingly non-biased article on canola oil, it’s very enlightening.
- Bake these on a wire rack to get the air circulation under the potatoes as well.
- Allow yourself extra time. I laugh at recipes that tell you potatoes are baked in 45 minutes – never, ever have I been able to do it! I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but mine take a solid 60-75 minutes every single time.
- Sea salt is going to rock your world on these potatoes. We demolished the potato skins like a pack of wolves and the skins are where most of the nutrients are!
- While these baked potatoes are really good loaded up with everything like sour cream, bacon and cheese, I do beg you to try these with just some butter and pepper. Not only does it keep the calorie count down if that’s a concern, it really allows you to enjoy the actual flavour of the potato and skin. Plain, simple and delicious.