How to oil a potato without oiling my hands?

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Jennifer Murphy

Senior Cook
Joined
May 18, 2014
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146
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
I have been experimenting with baking potatoes so I can eat the skins. My current procedure is to scrub them vigorously then rub them with oil. I've tried olive oil and canola oil. I think I like the results with olive oil better.

Is there a way to get them oiled without using my hands? Then I have to wash them before I can do anything else.

I've been meaning to try butter instead of oil. Is there anything else I should try on the skins?

Thanks
 
I have been experimenting with baking potatoes so I can eat the skins. My current procedure is to scrub them vigorously then rub them with oil. I've tried olive oil and canola oil. I think I like the results with olive oil better.

Is there a way to get them oiled without using my hands? Then I have to wash them before I can do anything else.

I've been meaning to try butter instead of oil. Is there anything else I should try on the skins?

Thanks

Funny you should ask Jennifer.
I made Baked Potatoes for dinner this evening and didn't want to get Olive Oil all over my hands, so I use tongs and a pastry brush.
I've never used anything other than Olive Oil, so can't speak to that.
 
Beef tallow, or duck fat, softened, are superior flavors for cookin potatoes. Simply place softened fat into a bowl, and like was posted above, hang onto the spuds with tongs, and use a pastry brush to coat the skins. Place onto a foil lined baking sheet, and roast at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, depending on the potato size. Season skins with salt, pepper, and other herbs to your taste. If you take an apple core removal tool, the kind that drills a tubbe through the fruit, and use it to make a tunnel lengthwise through the middle of your spud, you can cut the potato plug in half, and fill the tunnel with ham, cheese, or whatever filling you desire. Then place the plug halves into either end, and bake, or cook over charcoal. Another great baked potato option is Hasselback potatoes.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Funny you should ask Jennifer.
I made Baked Potatoes for dinner this evening and didn't want to get Olive Oil all over my hands, so I use tongs and a pastry brush.
I've never used anything other than Olive Oil, so can't speak to that.

Tongs. Duh. ? Now why didn't I think of that? ???

I use a temperature probe so that they are always cooked just right. I could use that. Instead of trying to insert the probe after the potato is oiled, I could insert it first and then use it instead of the tongs.

Thanks
 
Beef tallow, or duck fat, softened, are superior flavors for cookin potatoes.

Really? Is that something I can buy at the store? We eat very little red meat and have never had duck (at home).

Place onto a foil lined baking sheet, and roast at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, depending on the potato size.

Is the baking sheet important? I usually just lay the potato on the oven rack.

I read a couple of cooking sites that said to cook at 300° for best results. I use a temprature probe. It usually takes about 90 minutes.

Season skins with salt, pepper, and other herbs to your taste.

When is this done? I tried a little salt once added before baking, but couldn't tell the difference. Do I need to rub the spices into the skin? And now we are back to oily hands.

If you take an apple core removal tool, the kind that drills a tubbe through the fruit, and use it to make a tunnel lengthwise through the middle of your spud, you can cut the potato plug in half, and fill the tunnel with ham, cheese, or whatever filling you desire. Then place the plug halves into either end, and bake, or cook over charcoal.

Now that's an interesting idea. I was going to buy an apple slicer -- one that cores and slices in one swipe. But for this, I'll need one that just cuts a tunnel. I've got to try this. Thanks

Another great baked potato option is Hasselback potatoes.

Hasselback? I don't recall seeing that variety at any of our grocery stores. We have russets and those little red potatoes, but no Hasselbacks. Is that something only sold up north?


. . . Oh, wait! ? It's not a variety. It's a way of cooking them. ? I see a couple of recipes online. Do you have any favorites?

Thanks
 
I suggest a silicone pastry brush. That can go in the dishwasher. Otherwise, washing a pastry brush is more effort than getting the oil off your hands.
 
Really? Is that something I can buy at the store? We eat very little red meat and have never had duck (at home).



Is the baking sheet important? I usually just lay the potato on the oven rack.

The baking sheet will prevent oil from dripping onto the oven, or sticking to the grates. The foil makes clean up a breeze.

I read a couple of cooking sites that said to cook at 300° for best results. I use a temperature probe. It usually takes about 90 minutes.

I've cooked many a potato in hot coals directly. The skin gets crispier with hotter baking temps. I never wrap the potato in foil as this causes the potato to steam, and created a soft skin. Another baked potato trick:
When the potato is cooked through. cut it in half perpendicular to the length. Use a hot pad, or clean towel to hold the hot potato with the exposed potato meat on top.. Place a tsp. or so of butter onto the potato meat, and work it into the potato with a fork until it is well mixed in. Add a small splash of milk, and stir in the skin. You have a very tasty mashed potato in the skin. add sour cream, bacon, bits, or chicken skin cracklings for added flavor if you like.




When is this done? I tried a little salt once added before baking, but couldn't tell the difference. Do I need to rub the spices into the skin? And now we are back to oily hands.

Add seasoning to the butter, tallow, or oil that you brush the skin with, before baking.



Now that's an interesting idea. I was going to buy an apple slicer -- one that cores and slices in one swipe. But for this, I'll need one that just cuts a tunnel. I've got to try this. Thanks



Hasselback? I don't recall seeing that variety at any of our grocery stores. We have russets and those little red potatoes, but no Hasselbacks. Is that something only sold up north?


. . . Oh, wait! It's not a variety. It's a way of cooking them. I see a couple of recipes online. Do you have any favorites?

Hassleback potatoes are generally seasoned with a compound butter. The butter can be mixed with various herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, basil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic, paprika, and so on. The butter is then worked between the thin slices before baking.

Thanks

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
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A baked potato is not difficult to make, and I get the feeling you´re coimplicating your life a little! Instead of asking yourself "how do I dig a hole with a shovel?" you´re asking yourself " Which of the many available methods of excavating a cavity in the earth would I select if provided with a flat metal blade attached to a handle?"
Once you´ve scrubbed your potato, you just need to poke a few holes in it so that it doesn´t explode in the oven.
IF you want it crispy on the outside, don´t wrap it in foil: just put it in the oven at 375º - 400º. if youwant the skin softer, then wrap your spud in foil and put it in the oven.
Baking potatoes vary all over the world, so if there are any cooking suggestions on the wrapper, follow them. If there aren´t, or you bought your potatoes singly, then (depending on the size) you might need between 50 - 90 minutes to cook them through. Just poke them with a skewer or toothpick to see if they´re ready. If the skewer comes out easily, they´re ready.
I´ve never heard of rubbing them with oil, either - but that might just be custom.
If you decide to use foil, you can put your "dressings" on the potatoes and let them sweat in the oven. Otherwise, I´d just leave the "dressings" until you cut open the baked potato, slather it with butter/olive oil, sprinkle with herbs, garlic, spring onions, and cover it in cheese.
Don´t forget the salt.
 
...IF you want it crispy on the outside, don´t wrap it in foil: just put it in the oven at 375º - 400º...


This is what I do. Wash, stab, bake. When the internal temperature reaches 210ºF, it's done.

If you want to speed things up a bit, put the washed and stabbed potatoes in the microwave and nuke them at 3 min. per potato (or more depending on your microwave) then into the oven to finish and crisp up.
 
A baked potato is not difficult to make, and I get the feeling you´re coimplicating your life a little! Instead of asking yourself "how do I dig a hole with a shovel?" you´re asking yourself " Which of the many available methods of excavating a cavity in the earth would I select if provided with a flat metal blade attached to a handle?"
Once you´ve scrubbed your potato, you just need to poke a few holes in it so that it doesn´t explode in the oven.
IF you want it crispy on the outside, don´t wrap it in foil: just put it in the oven at 375º - 400º. if youwant the skin softer, then wrap your spud in foil and put it in the oven.
Baking potatoes vary all over the world, so if there are any cooking suggestions on the wrapper, follow them. If there aren´t, or you bought your potatoes singly, then (depending on the size) you might need between 50 - 90 minutes to cook them through. Just poke them with a skewer or toothpick to see if they´re ready. If the skewer comes out easily, they´re ready.
I´ve never heard of rubbing them with oil, either - but that might just be custom.
If you decide to use foil, you can put your "dressings" on the potatoes and let them sweat in the oven. Otherwise, I´d just leave the "dressings" until you cut open the baked potato, slather it with butter/olive oil, sprinkle with herbs, garlic, spring onions, and cover it in cheese.
Don´t forget the salt.

This is what I do. Wash, stab, bake. When the internal temperature reaches 210ºF, it's done.

If you want to speed things up a bit, put the washed and stabbed potatoes in the microwave and nuke them at 3 min. per potato (or more depending on your microwave) then into the oven to finish and crisp up.


+3. I have never oiled a baked potato.
 
If you don't have to watch your sodium intake, a salt baked potato is tasty. Just rub the clean, very dry potato with butter or vegetable oil (I read somewhere once that olive oil will give a bitter flavor to baked potatoes) and pat all over with coarse salt. You can also put a generous layer of salt on a baking sheet and bury the potatoes in it, but that seems to waste a lot of salt.

...If you want to speed things up a bit, put the washed and stabbed potatoes in the microwave and nuke them at 3 min. per potato (or more depending on your microwave) then into the oven to finish and crisp up.
We'll often finish off a par-nuked potato on the grill if we've got other food cooking that way.
 
I never put oil on my baked potatoes. I just toss them into the oven on the baking rack.

And I eat the skin. I like it better without oil.
 
Anyone use one of these for baking potatoes? The potatoes bake a bit faster. You can also stick a large, clean nail into the potato to make the inside of the potato bake faster.


4-Pronged-Potato-Baking-Stand-Corn-Stand-Holder-Food-Baked-Rack-Bakes-Foods-And-Vegetables-Evenly.jpg
 

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