Posts Tagged ‘baked’

Poking Baked Potatoes

Tuesday, May 28th, 2013

Q. Can I poke my baked potatoes the night before and store them at room temperature overnight?

A. I wouldn’t recommend doing that. Your pokes will expose the potatoes to oxygen and the potatoes will turn black wherever the fork tines pierced the skins. It is very infrequent that a potato will burst from baking if you put it in the oven when you first turn it on so that it has a chance to come to temperature. The potato will take about one hour at 400 degrees F and is considered done when its internal temperature reaches 210 degrees. You can usually smell the potato when it is nearly finished baking.

Tags: baked, preparation
Posted in Consumer, Foodservice, Q & A

Ideal temperature for a baked potato

Friday, May 10th, 2013

Q. I run a barbecue website where I teach my readers to use thermometers to measure doneness. However, I can’t find the ideal temperature for a baked potato. At what temperature is a baked potato done?

A. 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. For a fully baked Idaho Russet Burbank, the internal temperature should be right at 210 degrees F. In foodservice, where the baked potato will be kept warm after it comes out of the oven, we recommend the internal temp to be 185 degrees F as the potato will continue to cook.

Tags: baked, baking, cooking, temperature
Posted in Consumer, Foodservice, Q & A

Baking Multiple Potatoes

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Q. I want to bake 50 medium-sized Idaho potatoes in roaster ovens. The temperature of the roaster goes up to 400 degrees. With 25 baker potatoes jammed into each roaster, how long will they take to bake?

A. It’s hard to calculate how long it will take to roast them without knowing the size of the roaster and how the potatoes will be arranged. If you are able to arrange the potatoes in one layer in the roaster, they should finish baking between an hour and an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes. The potatoes should not be chilled and should instead be stored at room temperature so they don’t have to get warm before they start to bake. Bake them without wrapping them in foil—wrapping them slows down the baking process. Once the internal temperature of the potato reaches 210 degrees F, they’re done baking.

Update: I tested the roaster out with a 10-pound bag of No. 1 spuds. There were 29 in the bag and I cooked them in the roaster for around an hour and 45 minutes. They turned out perfectly!

Ten pounds in the roaster oven.

Tags: baked, baked potato bar, temperature
Posted in Consumer, Q & A

Can I bake potatoes and meat loaf together?

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Q. Can I bake potatoes and meat loaf in the same oven at the same time?

A. It’s hard to guess without knowing what temperature and how long the meatloaf recipe needs. Baked potatoes bake for one hour at 400 degrees F. When the temperature reaches 210 degrees F, they’re considered done. You could use a meat thermometer to check on them.

Tags: baked, baking, cooking, meatloaf
Posted in Consumer, Foodservice, Q & A

Baked Potato Bar for 150 People

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013

Q. I will be feeding 150 people a baked potato bar. I live 3 hours from the event. Can I pre-cook the potatoes, store them in a cooler (was thinking about using a heating pad to keep it hot)
And transport them to the feeding location?

Also…

How long will baked potatoes last – when the heat is retained?
Should I wrap them in foil individually – before or after cooking?
Or, should I find a location closer to the event that can cook 150 potatoes for me?

Three hours to hold a fully baked potato while traveling without a warming heat cabinet or other source of heat is really pushing it. You could certainly test it with a single potato by putting into a plastic Tupperware container for that long and then checking the final temperature, but I think it is a stretch. In restaurants they can hold the potatoes on a steam table line covered for that long, but the quality of the potato suffers, it will be wet and have a very wrinkled skin. The addition of a heating pad may help the top layer, but not 150 spuds.
If you try, bake the potatoes to 210°F and then using one hand in a hot mitt, grab the potatoes and wrap in individual foil sheets, then place into a warmed cooler. To warm the cooler ahead of time add boiling water and seal the container for 5-6 minutes, then drain off the water and add the potatoes. You could also use an old clean blanket and cover up all the foil wrapped potatoes inside it to gain a little more time.
Can you find a local church near the event or even a school that could let you use their ovens?

For long time periods, I have had better luck doing some sort of boil in the bag set up for mashed potatoes (or even boil water and add the convenient dry mashed potatoes at the last minute), fold in warm oil or dairy and serve in scoops or pipe out of pastry bags and have guests top with different fixings. Potatoes in a sauce can also hold up better for longer periods of time, such as a scalloped or AuGratin.

Just remember the food safety guidelines, hot food hot and cold food cold. In between can be right in the danger zone.

Tags: baked, baked potato bar, holding, preparation, service
Posted in Consumer, Foodservice

Suggestions for Takeout Baked Idaho Potatoes

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

Q. BAKE AND TAKE, any suggestions for takeout baked Idaho Potatoes?

A. Interesting question, but why limit yourself to baked potatoes? Here are some potato topping suggestions sure to be popular… Cheese, ham and broccoli or roasted vegetables or chili with cheese or tomato salsa.

Here are a couple of photo examples:

But also think about adding ethnic potato toppings from this link:
Regional Flavors: Mexican, Pacific, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Indian

Tags: baked, ethnic
Posted in Consumer, Foodservice, Q & A

Poking Potatoes

Friday, January 4th, 2013

Q. What is the optimal depth to poke a potato before baking? And how far apart should the pokes be?

A. Poke the potatoes with a fork just enough to pierce the skin so the potato won’t burst when baking, especially in the microwave. Four or five times should be plenty. A potato is composed mainly of water, so poking them helps release steam as it cooks.

Tags: baked, microwave, poking potatoes
Posted in Consumer, Foodservice, Q & A

Keeping a Large Number of Idaho® Potatoes Hot for 8 Hours

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012

Q. I need to keep at least 500 to 1000 large Idaho baked potatoes hot for about 8 hours and still be able to serve them up. I know from past experience that I was able to keep them relatively fresh by using an ice chest. But that was only for 150 large bakers. All I have for heat are two large BBQ’s. Please let me know if this is possible.

A. I really don’t know how you will be able to do this without compromising the appearance of the potatoes (the skin will wrinkle after 2 hours, never seen them after a full meal period of 3 hours) or the food safety issues (hot food hot, cold food cold and the danger zone is in between). The only thing coming close in advance preparation of the potatoes would be warming or holding cabinets, as used by catering companies, hotels or hospitals for delivery of food from commissaries. These still need to be plugged in. They can keep product warm or even slow cook things. Here is a link with some examples:
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/14087/holding-cabinets.html?gclid=COTmm8Gkn7ICFShxQgodtSgAhg

Unfortunately, I think you may be out of luck…

Tags: baked, preparation
Posted in Consumer, Food Safety, Foodservice, Q & A

Baking Potatoes for a Large Group

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

Q. We are having an event where we will be serving baked potatoes. I will be cooking 30-40 medium to large Idaho potatoes in our oven. We have two ovens – one with two racks, the other with one. I typically wash the potatoes, poke them a few times, and place them right on the rack at about 400°F for 60 minutes. Considering the number of potatoes and their size I have a few questions below: (Answers are in red)

What temperature do you suggest I use to cook them? 400°F (potatoes are done when internal temp reaches 210°F).
Will it help cooking times to use both ovens – 3 racks? Spacing of potatoes? Yes, use both ovens. Poke the potatoes a few times and then place them directly on the rack.
What should I expect as far as cooking time? 1 hour for the larger sizes, I would plan on 1 hour 15 minutes max.
We will be in the mountains. Will the higher altitude affect the cooking time? The altitude should not affect the baking time of potatoes.

Here are a few additional links that may be helpful in baking a large amount of potatoes at once:

Tags: baked, preparation
Posted in Consumer, Cooking Potatoes, Q & A

Fixing a Healthy Potato

Friday, October 5th, 2012

Q. I’m on a diet, but I don’t want to cut out carbs. How should I fix a potato that’s healthy for me to eat?

A. We have all kinds of suggestions and resources to help you if you check out our web site page on nutrition: http://www.idahopotato.com/nutrition_education

A 5.3 ounce baked potato is only 110 calories. So, why not combine it with something spicy, like your favorite salsa?

Also, check out our recipe section of baked potatoes and twice baked for some terrific topping ideas.

Tags: baked, healthy potatoes, nutrition, twice baked
Posted in Consumer, Q & A