Who doesn’t love a baked potato. Well, me if it’s not done right. After years of sub-standard results, and when even Delia Smith couldn’t come to the rescue, I stumbled upon a method that gave me what I wanted: a crispy skin that doesn’t turn chewy after 2 minutes on the plate.
The secret? Beef dripping.
The Recipe
Caution when handling: baked potatoes can get hotter than the sun.
- Melt some beef dripping, it doesn’t need to get hot
- Prick the potatoes all over with a fork
- Microwave each potato for 5 minutes (I know, but it cuts about 45 minutes off the oven time)
- Coat the potato in the beef dripping and then lots of salt and pepper. Much more salt and pepper than you would want to eat; you can easily brush it off when the potato is done
- Cook in a hot oven – I set it to 220°C – for an hour
- Important: when the potatoes are done, leave the one(s) you are not preparing in the hot oven, or the steam inside the potato will make the skin will go soggy straight away
- When the hour is up, take a potato out of the oven, wipe off the excess salt and pepper and immediately cut it in half lengthways, but not all the way down. Scrape away the filling from inside the skin with a couple of forks and mash it up. Add butter and salt to the filling if you wish
Credit where it’s due, I got the clue about beef dripping from Nicky Corbishley’s Kitchen Sanctuary website. I’ve just added a couple of points above to make sure it turns out right.