A warning about foil baked potatoes

[rodentraiser]

Now I've never baked potatoes in foil before, so maybe I did something wrong.

I found a recipe for Potatoes Romanov which involves wrapping the potatoes in foil and then poking them with a knife or fork so they don't explode in the oven (normally I just poke the potato with a fork and bake it in the oven without foil.

Now these potatoes were cooled off and then sat in the fridge overnight, then unwrapped and shredded as per the recipe. Supposedly i wasn't supposed to have to peel them but because I got my potatoes from Safeway, which doesn't have very good potatoes and I always get a lot of dark spots on them, I did peel them. And I'm glad I did.

When I poked the potatoes with a knife, the knife poked foil into the potato. I would never have seen that if I hadn't peeled them, but I pulled a lot of little pieces of foil out of the cuts in the potatoes. I never would have known that I was eating pieces of metal and I'm just as glad that I didn't.

So my question is, did I do something wrong and if so, what? If I bake potatoes in foil, is there another way to let the steam out without poking the foil? I could poke the potatoes before I wrap them but somehow I don't think that's going to work all that well if the foil isn't poked.

 

[Jusa]

Sorry I can't shed light on that. I've never cooked them that way. Maybe if the skin is on it's too tough for the foil to go through? Not sure.

 

[Andy M.]

Stab the potatoes and the foil separately then wrap the potato in the foil with the holes in it.

. . . or you could just bake the potatoes like you always do, without the foil.

 

[dragnlaw]

I have poked potatoes and other things thru foil. I've never had that happen. I can suggest two reasons it may have. One, your foil is the super thin stuff and Two, your knife or fork was/is very thick, not sharp or pointy.
Actually in the opposite way, if your foil is super thick and you knife is dull the same could probably happen.

In both cases, I think your utensil is not pointy enough to pierce cleanly. I have a very pointy kitchen fork I use for things like that or I also have a metal skewer for trussing fowl.

But when all is said and done - ditto Andy, just go back and do it the way you've always done - with out the foil!

 

[jennyema]

It’s not a good idea to leave to foil on a baked potato.

it’s a botulism risk.

http://www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Educational%20Materials/EH/FPS/Food/BakedPotatoesandFoodborneBotulismJan2014.pdf

Ive used foil but never bother with it anymore. If you need softer skin, cook in the microwave.

 

[dragnlaw]

Other than on a grill, to protect from excessive heat below, I've never understood the purpose of foil wrapping potatoes.
Why is it done?
Our grocery stores often have potatoes for sale that are wrapped in foil, ready for the oven. Why?

 

[medtran49]

We quit using foil a long time ago. Even when we did, we didn't poke the foil.

I have to agree on the poking tool being too big and/or dull though.

Our grocery doesn't sell them in foil, but they do sell them wrapped in some kind of plastic that goes directly into the microwave. Looked at that 1 time when I first noticed them a long time ago. The wrapped, supposedly washed and ready to go potato was considerably more $ than a loose baking potato.

 

[jennyema]

Other than on a grill, to protect from excessive heat below, I've never understood the purpose of foil wrapping potatoes.
Why is it done?
Our grocery stores often have potatoes for sale that are wrapped in foil, ready for the oven. Why?

Sometimes people wrap baked potatoes in foil to avoid getting tough skin.

 

[Kathleen]

Momma used to scrub potatoes, then slather them with bacon grease and sprinkle coarse salt, and wrapped them tightly. She did not poke them and I never remember one exploding. The skin was supple and yummy.

 

[dragnlaw]

I've seen potatoes split open sometimes when baking but never exploding. That, I think, is something that happens/ed with the start of microwave cooking?

Kathleen that sound really yummy! Very similar to Jaques Pepin's salted smashed potatoes that he does. Wonderful!!!

 

[dcSaute]

been doing oven cooked whole potatoes for 50 years.
there is a (valid) debate - foil wrapped potatoes are steamed, not baked.....

regardless, never ever had anything even remotely resembling an 'exploded' potato. frankly, methinks it quite impossible to so tightly wrap a potato in aluminum foil that it would 'explode'

and on a similar note, "piercing the potato" to prevent x, y, z . . . is another myth.

 

[taxlady]

I was told that potatoes cook to a fluffier interior if the skin has holes poked in it. I have always done that, because my mom did. I have never cooked foil wrapped potatoes in the oven. We used to cook foil wrapped potatoes in the coals of a charcoal grill, while other food was cooking. The foil served two purposes according to my mum: 1) To help keep the potato skin from getting burnt 2) To keep ash and bits of charcoal off the potato. I know people who just shove a nekkid potato in the coals of a fire and then, when it's ready to eat, they break it open and scoop out the cooked inside. At that point, the skin is blackened and hard and may have bits of charcoal stuck to it, not to mention all the ash.

 

[dragnlaw]

taxy, you've done gone and jogged my memory - YES, that is absolutely why we wrapped potatoes in foil - to shove directly into the coals!

 

[medtran49]

Craig tells me when he was in the Boy Scouts, that was a  long time ago, they used to throw nekked potatoes and steaks directly in/on the coals!

 

[jennyema]

Caveman steaks are a thing with some of the Big green Egg men….

 

[medtran49]

Caveman steaks are a thing with some of the Big green Egg men….

Well Craig is one of those too, but if he tried to throw a steak I was going to eat directly into coals there would be a problem...

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Don't poke anything with anything. If the potatoes explode, so what? The aluminium foil will keep it contained, and you're going to shred them anyway.

 

[rodentraiser]

Well, I'll just continue to make the potatoes the way I always used to with no foil. I've always stabbed the heck out of my potatoes with a fork before baking though and I still had one explode on me. So I still stab 'em. Trust me, you'll only want to clean that mess up once.

Anyway, I don't think I'll be making Potatoes Romanov again. It just wasn't that good compared to some potato recipes I've got. It looked good but tasted meh.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I have never had a potato explode on me, but I put a sweet potato in the microwave one time and when I turned around, the sweet potato was on fire!

 

[dragnlaw]

LOL - lots of sugar in them thar sweeties!
I once tried to make potato and sweet potato chips in the micro at the same time. Had beautiful potato chips and some little black discs that no one would ever be able to identify!