jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
Well, I opened it so if you dont hear from me for awhile, you'll know why
Yes. The risk is cooking the potato in the foil and storing it in the foil. Which I know a lot of people do.
How to oil a potato without oiling my hands?
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Well, I opened it so if you dont hear from me for awhile, you'll know why
Yes. The risk is cooking the potato in the foil and storing it in the foil. Which I know a lot of people do.
I was just thinking, even though I suggested using a plastic bag to apply the oil. What difference does it make that one gets oil on their hands? There's always good old soap and water to remove the oil and make our hands better.
blissful
Master Chef
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- Mar 25, 2008
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I either bake or microwave whole potatoes, usually 3-6 lbs at a time. If you do that make sure to refrigerate soon after. Refrigeration creates a bit of resistant starch in the potatoes, which is good for you. I don't use oil because I don't use refined oils to cook with at all.
A baked potato skin is crunchy at first, but then it does get uncrunchy within an hour. I like them freshly baked, so fluffy at first with a crispy skin. The rest are usually cut in wedges or diced, baked, for snacking (like fries), or for a vegetable hash breakfast.
A baked potato skin is crunchy at first, but then it does get uncrunchy within an hour. I like them freshly baked, so fluffy at first with a crispy skin. The rest are usually cut in wedges or diced, baked, for snacking (like fries), or for a vegetable hash breakfast.
karadekoolaid
Head Chef
Be careful about wrapping your potatoes in foil.... it creates a botulism risk
To be brutally honest, the article you quoted spoke about the LAST big outbreak of botulism in Texas, when 30 people suffered from botulism.
That was in 1994,so between 1994 and 2022, that´s an average of just over 1 case per year.
11 people were struck by lightning in 2021; 36 people were killed falling off a building in 2021 in the UK;7-8,000 people in the US are bitten by snakes every year - and about 5 die; an average of 31 people die from being attacked by pitbulls.
Please don´t think I´m criticising your post, jennyema - absolutely not.
What really bothers me is that so-called experts seem to think it´s necessary to scare the living daylights out of consumers just in case they have to cover themselves.- Potatoes, cooked rice, garlic and who knows what else, don´t eat raw shrimp, cook your burger until it´s grey in the middle, etc.
Take precautions and observe correct food handling norms when cooking, by all means.
To be brutally honest, the article you quoted spoke about the LAST big outbreak of botulism in Texas, when 30 people suffered from botulism.
That was in 1994,so between 1994 and 2022, that´s an average of just over 1 case per year.
11 people were struck by lightning in 2021; 36 people were killed falling off a building in 2021 in the UK;7-8,000 people in the US are bitten by snakes every year - and about 5 die; an average of 31 people die from being attacked by pitbulls.
Please don´t think I´m criticising your post, jennyema - absolutely not.
What really bothers me is that so-called experts seem to think it´s necessary to scare the living daylights out of consumers just in case they have to cover themselves.- Potatoes, cooked rice, garlic and who knows what else, don´t eat raw shrimp, cook your burger until it´s grey in the middle, etc.
Take precautions and observe correct food handling norms when cooking, by all means.
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
I was just saying that storing cooked potatoes in foil is a botulism risk. It was in 1950, 1994, 2008 and today.
Its just science. Dont store potatoes in foil or garlic in oil
Its just science. Dont store potatoes in foil or garlic in oil
So potatoes, cooked in foil, stored in the refrigerator in foil, are a concern for botulism?
Is it just potatoes that cannot be stored in the fridge in foil?
What else cannot be stored in the fridge wrapped in foil?
Is it just potatoes that cannot be stored in the fridge in foil?
What else cannot be stored in the fridge wrapped in foil?
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
The critter that causes botulism is anerobic, and lives in most soils.it remains in spore form until the correct environment is presented, i.e. low acid, moist, oxygen free. The spores are also founf in raw honey, and can grow in the immature gut of babies. Potatoes left in open air can not grow the microbe. Any food not sufficeintly heated, and sealed agaist the air can allow the critter to flourish. That's why canning practices have such stringent rules. Cooking in foil is not an issue. Storing improperly can be.
Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
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Thanks Chief, as always, you give great insight.
But the point I was trying to put out there was it is misleading to state "storing in foil is dangerous". That, as written, is simply not true.
Storing in foil and leaving it on the counter is dangerous. Wrapping in foil and storing it in the refrigerator is not.
Storing in plastic wrap and leaving it on the counter is dangerous. Wrapping in plastice wrap and storing it in the refregerator is not.
etc... etc...
People leave out important information. They themselves know the rest and perhaps the individual they are talking to also does - but a third party coming across such a statement may not. All they are taking away from the conversation is Potato-Foil-Wrapping-Dangerous!
My MIL became upset once when she discovered her daughter had made my kids some Microwave Popcorn. Remember the paper bags that expanded along with the popcorn in the micro?
She said it was dangerous to feed young children the micro'd popcorn as it could cause blindness. Wha???
So I looked it up and sure enough there was an article about a young child having his eyes burnt by the product. What she did not read in the whole article was the child had pulled open the bag and had his faced positioned directly over it. The escaping steam burnt his face and eyes. (I don't know if it was a temperary blindness or not, never did hear, papers rarely do follow-ups in front page news)
So having only read the title "Boy Blinded by Microwave Popcorn" she assumed that eating the popcorn is what caused the blindness.
But the point I was trying to put out there was it is misleading to state "storing in foil is dangerous". That, as written, is simply not true.
Storing in foil and leaving it on the counter is dangerous. Wrapping in foil and storing it in the refrigerator is not.
Storing in plastic wrap and leaving it on the counter is dangerous. Wrapping in plastice wrap and storing it in the refregerator is not.
etc... etc...
People leave out important information. They themselves know the rest and perhaps the individual they are talking to also does - but a third party coming across such a statement may not. All they are taking away from the conversation is Potato-Foil-Wrapping-Dangerous!
My MIL became upset once when she discovered her daughter had made my kids some Microwave Popcorn. Remember the paper bags that expanded along with the popcorn in the micro?
She said it was dangerous to feed young children the micro'd popcorn as it could cause blindness. Wha???
So I looked it up and sure enough there was an article about a young child having his eyes burnt by the product. What she did not read in the whole article was the child had pulled open the bag and had his faced positioned directly over it. The escaping steam burnt his face and eyes. (I don't know if it was a temperary blindness or not, never did hear, papers rarely do follow-ups in front page news)
So having only read the title "Boy Blinded by Microwave Popcorn" she assumed that eating the popcorn is what caused the blindness.
and now... back to Oiled Potatoes.
I keep a hand towel in my kitchen - differentiating from a dish towel. I use it to dry my hands but while cooking I will often grab it to wipe my hands so at the end of the day it can be a bit grungy. Into the laundry it goes.
Now the quantity of oil left on your hands might be a much for the hand towel, there is always paper towels handy too. Maybe just keep one sheet of paper towel handy for after the job and when all your kitchen work is done then... scrub-a-dub with your soap and water.
I also use the seat of my pants alot or my shirt-tails 
especially when I forget to put on one of my 5 aprons hanging on the peg.
I keep a hand towel in my kitchen - differentiating from a dish towel. I use it to dry my hands but while cooking I will often grab it to wipe my hands so at the end of the day it can be a bit grungy. Into the laundry it goes.
Now the quantity of oil left on your hands might be a much for the hand towel, there is always paper towels handy too. Maybe just keep one sheet of paper towel handy for after the job and when all your kitchen work is done then... scrub-a-dub with your soap and water.
I also use the seat of my pants alot
or my shirt-tails especially when I forget to put on one of my 5 aprons hanging on the peg.karadekoolaid
Head Chef
"People leave out important information. "
Thanks for that, Dragn - and thanks for your input too, Chief.
I find it very frustrating that there´s so much information whizzing around on the internet, and that , many times, folks tend to take this as gospel.
(Once more, I beg to point out that I´m NOT, repeat NOT criticising anyone on this forum. we´re all entitled to post what we think is right)
A few years back, someone said that peanuts could cause cancer.
That cassava, a staple vegetable used in the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil, contained cyanide.
That too much fried food was carcinogenic.
That eating green potatoes could cause severe food poisoning.
That rice left out for too long develops bacillus cereus, and therefore, food poisoning.
Yes, there´s some truth in all of these statements, of course, but it doesn´t mean the dire consequences will ALWAYS happen. In fact, it´s unlikely there will be consequences, but on SOME occasions, there may be.Unfortunately, wide-ranging generalisations tend to cause panic amongst a large swathe of the population, and it´s the panic that causes me frustration.
Any advice on the internet can be supported or countered by thousands and thousands of other posts, so it´s important to be objective. Secondly, any doctor will tell you not to drink, smoke, eat too much fat, avoid red meat, get plenty of sleep, avoid stress, avoid fried foods and sugar... wow, what a miserable life!!
So what´s the point here? Yes, take notice of food warnings, be prudent, but don´t take them to the extremes of NEVER leaving garlic in oil and throwing out EVERYTHING on its sell-by date, and telling other folks they´re going to die a painful death if they leave their rice out for more than 5 minutes.
You are more likely to die from a lightning bolt than from food poisoning.
Thanks for that, Dragn - and thanks for your input too, Chief.
I find it very frustrating that there´s so much information whizzing around on the internet, and that , many times, folks tend to take this as gospel.
(Once more, I beg to point out that I´m NOT, repeat NOT criticising anyone on this forum. we´re all entitled to post what we think is right)
A few years back, someone said that peanuts could cause cancer.
That cassava, a staple vegetable used in the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil, contained cyanide.
That too much fried food was carcinogenic.
That eating green potatoes could cause severe food poisoning.
That rice left out for too long develops bacillus cereus, and therefore, food poisoning.
Yes, there´s some truth in all of these statements, of course, but it doesn´t mean the dire consequences will ALWAYS happen. In fact, it´s unlikely there will be consequences, but on SOME occasions, there may be.Unfortunately, wide-ranging generalisations tend to cause panic amongst a large swathe of the population, and it´s the panic that causes me frustration.
Any advice on the internet can be supported or countered by thousands and thousands of other posts, so it´s important to be objective. Secondly, any doctor will tell you not to drink, smoke, eat too much fat, avoid red meat, get plenty of sleep, avoid stress, avoid fried foods and sugar... wow, what a miserable life!!
So what´s the point here? Yes, take notice of food warnings, be prudent, but don´t take them to the extremes of NEVER leaving garlic in oil and throwing out EVERYTHING on its sell-by date, and telling other folks they´re going to die a painful death if they leave their rice out for more than 5 minutes.
You are more likely to die from a lightning bolt than from food poisoning.
Just Cooking
Master Chef
Well stated, karadekoolaid.
My life guide is moderation, in all things.
Ross
My life guide is moderation, in all things.
Ross
LOL... remember Dragnet? "The facts, ma'am, just the facts." should be change to "ALL the facts, if you please."
Just reread this thread - and suddenly remembered,
My mom always used butter to rub on baking potatoes. I do not remember if she wrapped them or not... so there you go... another option for bakin'em.
My mom always used butter to rub on baking potatoes. I do not remember if she wrapped them or not... so there you go... another option for bakin'em.
Linda0818
Head Chef
My mom always used butter as well. Sometimes I use butter, sometimes I use oil. As for how I get the butter or oil onto the potato, I simply smear the butter/oil and the potato around in my hands, the way mom always did it. Then I just wash my hands. It's never even occurred to me to try and find a way to avoid that.
JohnDB
Cook
If you like the olive oil....
I suggest one of these:
Works like a charm. Fill the bottle halfway with olive oil, pump it up, and spray them taters.
But I also advocate washing your hands often too when cooking. But I do understand about the oily mess on your hands....been there, done that more than I care to think about.
I suggest one of these:
Works like a charm. Fill the bottle halfway with olive oil, pump it up, and spray them taters.
But I also advocate washing your hands often too when cooking. But I do understand about the oily mess on your hands....been there, done that more than I care to think about.
Kathleen
Cupcake
I rub my potatoes with bacon grease. If I want to keep my hands clean, I scoop or drizzle a bit of grease on the potato and use a clean paper towel to rub it all around the washed skin. I then salt the potatoes with some kosher salt before setting them on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Then, I poke a few holes in the skin and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-60 minutes until the potatoes are done.
Using bacon grease totally justifies a need for regularly making bacon.
Using bacon grease totally justifies a need for regularly making bacon.
Sir_Loin_of_Beef
Chef Extraordinaire
Then use non-disposable rubber gloves and throw them in the dishwater/dishwasher when you're done oiling your potatoes.
Seeing I created, or made up, that saying several years ago, you must have gotten it from me. Another of my original sayings: With age comes wisdom, if you were paying attention.
cookiecrafter
Senior Cook
Why not just spray your potatoes with oil. I believe it will speed up the process and keep you clean in the process. There are many flavors to choose.
That's what I've done many a time as well.
