Wrapping potatoes in foil holds the moisture in—which means the potatoes will start to steam. If you wrap them in foil you'll be left with soggy potatoes instead of crispy ones. Baking them on a baking sheet (or even directly on the oven rack) spaced apart lets the air circulate around them for more even cooking.
NEVER BAKE POTATOES IN FOIL.
Foil wraps will not decrease baking time, but will result in a soggy potato interior with wet skin. Wrapping a baked potato in foil after it has been baked will allow you to hold up to 45 minutes, but the best method for holding a baked potato is in a bread warming drawer.
Don't wrap your potatoes in foil
"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.
Oven: To make a baked potato in oven wrapped in foil, preheat the oven to 450ºF. Place baked potatoes in foil directly on your oven rack. Let cook for 45-60 minutes rotating after 30 minutes. Use a fork to pierce the potatoes to see how soft they are.
Why? A: Wrapping a potato in foil prior to baking traps the potato's natural moisture, steaming instead of baking it. This results is a soggy baked potato, not the light fluffy Idaho Baker that most people prefer.
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. TIP: parchment paper is better to prevent sticking, but aluminum foil yields crispier results. If you use foil, you'll want to lightly grease it to prevent the potatoes from sticking.
"Yes, it's good to prick them," Smith told Food52. "It pokes holes in the skin, which allows steam to escape. Otherwise, they could explode—it doesn't happen all the time, but it happens every once in a while. The potato is full of water it's trying to turn to steam, or water vapor.
Directions. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Poke holes in potato and wrap in foil. Bake in oven for 45 to 60 minutes until tender.
Heat reflecting off aluminum foil can overcook foods or damage your oven's heating elements. Lining your gas oven with aluminum foil can block heat, air flow, and produce less than optimal cooking results.
Can you bake potatoes without foil? Yes, there's no need to wrap your potatoes in foil while baking. You can just as easily bake potatoes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper without foil wrapped around them. However, we recommend brushing on some olive oil dressing to make the potato skin crispier and tastier.
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.
According to the Idaho Potato Commission, aluminum or metal pans can react with cut potatoes, causing them to brown too quickly. While this isn't always the case, glass baking dishes and mixing bowls are a safer choice.
A: Adding oil to potatoes before baking is perfectly fine, just a personal preference. Without oil the Idaho russet skin bakes up crispy, with oil the skin will carry a lot of the flavor of the oil so some people have a preference for using olive oil or peanut oil.
Over baking the potato -
Visual signs: The potato skin will start to wrinkle when over cooked. The potato, when wrapped in foil or placed on the bottom of a pan will have a dark brown spot on the bottom, a sure sign of over cooking.
Place each potato on its own sheet of foil. Rub the potato with the olive oil mixture making sure to get some of the crushed garlic on the potato. Sprinkle with additional seasoning mix and roll up tightly in aluminum foil. OVEN: Place potatoes in a 350 degree oven for 60 minutes.
A special plastic wrap is used that it breathes out, which allows some of the moisture to escape when baked in the microwave oven. Microwave bags for other vegetables would probably work fine, too. Trapping the moisture in just steams the potatoes, but some people prefer it this way.
According to Restaurant Ninjas, restaurants that serve baked potatoes bake their potatoes in advance and keep them in warming equipment. Moreover, there is a constant cycle of new potatoes going out to ensure the food is fresh. This might sound familiar.
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
Restaurants prepare the potatoes ahead by boiling and mashing just the potato, then just before serving, it is mixed into boiling cream (or milk or even broth or a combination thereof) to reheat it and make it nice and creamy.
The 'shiny' side is the side milled without being in contact with another sheet of metal. The performance of the foil is the same, whichever side you use. The shiny side is face-up on the roll, and the dull side is on its underside. In other words, feel free to use whatever side makes you happy.
The reflective surface will reflect heat and the matte side will absorb heat. If you're baking or defrosting, the matte side will absorb more radiant heat and reflect less infrared heat while the shiny side will reflect more of both, so it makes more sense to bake and defrost with the matte side facing up.
DO NOT place it on aluminum foil or plate of any kind, just let it sit on the rack. After one hour check potato for softness, simple squeeze gently, if it's soft it's ready to be taken out. If the potato is still a little firm leave it in for a few minutes more.
To make crispy roast potatoes, the temperature of the oven needs to be hot 220°C or 425°F - but if the oven is too hot the potatoes will burn before they crisp up. If the oven temperature is too cold your potatoes will not be crispy.