Let’s discuss baked potatoes: certainly one of our absolute favorite easy dinners. And it’s easy, isn’t it? Simply whack it in the oven for an hour and a bit and find yourself with a fluffy, crispy, luscious baked potato to load with grated cheese and beans. Merely stun.

BUT WAIT. It’s also possible to prepare dinner baked potatoes in the microwave! AND within the air fryer! The oven would possibly *appear* like the plain alternative, however does that basically make it one of the best?

We took to the Delish kitchen to check the three most Googled strategies of baking a potato: the oven, the air fryer, and the microwave. All three have their deserves, from crisp issue to fluffiness to hurry, however in the event you’ve puzzled which is the best way to go for the baked potato to finish all baked potatoes, you’re completely in the best place!

Within the identify of science, we prepped every of our baked potatoes the identical approach (and we advise you do too for max outcomes):

  • You desire a potato that’s excessive in starch and low in moisture. Assume: Russet, King Edward, Maris Piper.
  • Since (we’re assuming) we’re going to be consuming that pores and skin, let’s be sure that it’s SPARKLING clear. In spite of everything, potatoes come from the earth and soil isn’t precisely identified for its scrumptious or nutritious properties. Scrub it with a pleasant bristly brush. No want for cleaning soap, although.
  • Dry it totally. To us, baked potatoes are all about that jacket, and if you’d like crispy pores and skin, you want that potato to be bone dry earlier than it hits the warmth.
  • Prick it throughout, utilizing a fork, in order that it doesn’t explode. Actually. Potatoes are stuffed with water and whenever you prepare dinner them, that water turns into steam. Pricking your potato throughout offers that steam someplace to flee.
  • Lastly, season the potato with oil, salt and pepper. Some folks would possibly argue that this step isn’t needed, however to us, oil makes *such* a distinction in style and texture to the completed potato pores and skin. An unoiled potato pores and skin is dryer, thicker and a chewier, whereas oil provides a crispier, cracklier, and customarily extra appetising casing.

    Potatoes prepped? It’s time to tackle the warmth…

    Bake at 180℃ for 1hr to 1hr half-hour. Full recipe here!

    Professionals…

    Baking a potato within the oven is an excellent hands-off methodology. You get one to 1 and a half hours to get on with different issues, watch a TV present, chillax, no matter you need!

    The oven offers the baked potato tremendous crispy pores and skin with a lot of deep caramelised flavour that you may solely get from prolonged durations of time within the oven.

    Likewise, cooking the potato for a very long time helps to actually evaporate a lot of the water from the center of the potato, leading to an excellent velvety, fluffy inside.

    Cons…

    Time. Baking a potato within the oven takes minimal one hour plus preheating time, which is a fairly very long time for a supposedly straightforward and easy meal.

    In the event you’re not cooking anything on the similar time and also you’ve bought your oven on *simply* for this, the oven isn’t precisely a really vitality environment friendly approach of baking a potato.

    General score…

    7/10. A tasty time is assured, however enormous waste of vitality. ☹️

    baked potato in the oven with butter

    Delish UK

    Air fry at 200℃ for 40 minutes, turning midway. Full recipe here!

    Professionals…

    The air fryer is MUCH quicker than the oven – and way more vitality environment friendly, too. This can be a nice choice for maximising crispiness whereas additionally slicing down on time and vitality prices.

    The air fryer’s potato pores and skin is SUPER crisp. An incredible one for the potato pores and skin fiends.

    The flavour is much less candy and caramelised than an oven baked potato. As an alternative, the air fryer offers it a extra savoury odor and texture akin to crisps. Get in.

    Cons…

    The center isn’t as fluffy and velvety because the oven baked potato, it’s barely firmer and types bigger chunks when damaged up.

    Air fryer baskets range in dimension, however normally, you’ll be able to solely match one or two potatoes in an air fryer basket at any given time, that means in the event you’re cooking baked potatoes for greater than two folks, you’d need to do them in batches.

    General score…

    8/10. An energy-efficient stunner! Albeit a bit extra chunky than easy (however aren’t all of us after two years of a pandemic?)

    air fryer baked potato

    Delish UK

    Microwave on excessive (900W) for 7-8 minutes, turning midway. Full recipe here!

    Professionals…

    You would possibly consider the microwave because the cheat’s choice, however once we tried this methodology within the Delish kitchen, we had been genuinely shocked by what a fluffy and creamy inside texture it gave!

    It’s tremendous speedy, that means you’ve bought a baked potato in lower than one eighth of the time it takes in an oven.

    Cooking within the microwave is among the most energy- and cost-efficient methods to prepare dinner.

    The microwave actually attracts the seasoning on the outside of the potato into the pores and skin, giving it a scrumptious flavour.

    Cons…

    We will we sincere. That is hardly the prettiest of baked potatoes…

    The completed baked potato is wrinkly relatively than crispy, though that is maybe a professional for these individuals who don’t very like the pores and skin of a jacket potato?

    In the event you overlook to show your potato midway, you’ll find yourself with a troublesome spot the place the potato rests towards the plate within the microwave and will get some further cooking.

    General score…

    6/10 She’s a bit delicate across the edges, to not point out wrinkly, however she certain packs a velvety, flavoursome punch.

    microwave baked potato

    Delish UK

    Ultimate ideas?

    All three strategies clearly have their deserves, however with regards to time effectivity, crispy pores and skin and minimal vitality utilization, the air fryer is our clear winner.

    The air fryer provided probably the most shatter-y pores and skin and lovely aroma, even when the fluff issue wasn’t fairly there. However certainly, any potato loaded with salted butter or tuna mayo goes to be outrageously scrumptious with a crispy pores and skin like that, even when its centre is slightly bit on the agency facet.

    Plus, what an awesome excuse to crack out that air fryer you impulsively purchased as soon as upon a time?

    which way to bake a potato oven, microwave or air fryer

    Delish UK



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