4 tips to help you cook a perfect baked potato every time

Baked potatoes are one of the ultimate comfort foods. Crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, there’s no better side to a great steak. In addition, they’re a great vehicle for other foods such as chili and those delicious toppings (such as bacon!) you can pile on top of them. They are also very nutritious, packing just 300 calories for the largest of baked potatoes and being chock-full of fiber.

But achieving a perfect baked potato isn’t as easy as it sounds. Although it seems like all you have to do is place a potato in the oven and wait for it to bake to perfection, there’s a little more to it than that. When you want a potato that’s been baked to perfection, follow these tips and you’ll get one every single time.

All potatoes, no matter what kind you’re cooking, start with a good scrub. Potatoes grow in the ground, so when they’re pulled they still have a lot of dirt on them – dirt that no one wants to eat.

Some baking potatoes come prewashed, but don’t trust this job to a factory or store. Scrub them very well, using a vegetable brush if you have one.

But the job doesn’t end there. To get that super-crispy skin, rub the potatoes all over with oil.

Olive oil or vegetable oil can be used, but either type needs to be rubbed generously all over. Once the potato has been oiled, season it generously with salt.

Potatoes are bland by nature, and even if you plan to pile on toppings such as sour cream and butter, you should still try to inject some flavor before they’re baked.