How to Cook Baked Potatoes - 3 Techniques, 5 Steps By Ahmad Ranson

Today, the potato is one of the most important of all foods. So it's surprising to think that this vegetable wasn't widely used until the last half of the eighteenth century. The potato is a tuber, which is an enlarged underground stem with buds (or eyes) that become new shoots. Potatoes are classified as either starchy, low-moisture varieties or as waxy, high moisture varieties.

How To Cook Baked Potatoes In A Conventional Oven (Regular Oven)

1. When you are baking potatoes, try to use russets (these are the best kind for baking) or other regularly shaped starchy potatoes.
2. Scrub well and pierce the ends with a fork or skewer so steam can escape.
3. For crisp skins, rub lightly with oil. For more tender skins, leave dry.
4. Place on sheet pans or on sheet pan racks in a preheated 400 degrees F oven and bake until done. This should be about a hour. To test doneness, squeeze gently. Done potatoes will give in to gentle pressure. (using sheet pan racks eliminates the hard spot that forms where the potato is in contact with the sheet pan)
5. Remove from oven.

To hold for service, keep warm and uncovered so the potatoes will not be made soggy by trapped steam. Hold no more than 1 hour, if possible.

It is important to note there was nothing said about wrapping potatoes in foil. Foil wrapped potatoes do not bake, they steam in their own moisture. The texture of a steamed potato is entirely different from a baked potato. So save yourself the trouble, work, and expense of wrapping the potatoes in foil paper and make better baked potatoes.

How To Cook Baked Potatoes In A Microwave

1. Wash the potatoes, and pierce with a knife once or twice all the way through.
2. Place in the microwave on a paper towel or plate. Plates do not stick to the potato.
3. Try to cook about 4 at a time.
4. 4 small potatoes = 7 minutes, 4 large potatoes = 10 to 11 minutes (microwave oven times vary)
5. If only one potato is being put in the microwave, when using a 1200 watt microwave, set the timer to 3:00 for a very small potato, set it to 4:30 for a medium-sized potato, and set it to 6:00 for a large potato. Huge potatoes will require 7 to 8 minutes.

Let the potato stand for five minutes. This will allow the inside of the potato to finish cooking with hot steam that is trapped inside.After waiting, cut open the potato and garnish with your choice of toppings.

Some microwaves have a baked potato button.

How To Cook Baked Potatoes On A Grill

1. Wash and scrub the potatoes well.
2. Pierce the potatoes with a fork or skewer so steam can escape.
3. Baste the potatoes with oil or butter.
4. Place the potatoes on a hot grill and sear them on all sides.
5. When the potatoes give in to pressure easily when touched, there ready to eat.

Baking the potato on a grill is probably the fastest way to achieve baked potatoes (next to baking them in or on an open fire. Another way to grill a potato is to par-coook the potatoes first. This method cuts down on the coooking time on the grill.

You can see some tasty baked potato recipes and grilled potato recipes.

Chilis Fajita Recipe - Cooking Great Fajitas at Home By Robbie Becklund

When is the last time you ate at Chili's? It's good isn't it. Wouldn't it be great if you could cook food at home like they do at Chili's? How about making Chilis fajita recipe. Think how impresses your friends and family would be when you dish out this classic Tex-Mex dish.

It is possible to make great restaurant style food at home. You don't have to just settle for "homemade" type food. You know, casseroles, burgers and the like. Or worse, frozen food. Or the new thing like we have at our grocery store. Pre-prepped food in a bag--like chicken wings, hamburgers, fajitas. All you have to do it pop it in the oven or microwave. It's closer to home cooked but not from scratch.

To really cook at home, you have to make things from scratch, not pour it out of a can. To do that, we need to start with a really good recipe. Good ingredients are real important, but not essential. For example, the gumbo I make should have home made chicken stock, but I don't have the time (gumbo takes about 2 hours the way it is). So I used bullion cubes and not expensive ones either. It gets the job done.

Okay, so you need to get a great recipe. Where do you find this great recipe? The internet? A book store? Amazon.com? Sure they all have great recipes, but how do you know which is a good one?

What I do to find a quality recipe is to look for ones with reviews by people who have used the recipe, that way I know at least a couple of people have successfully used the recipe and it turned out well. Also in the reviews, people will write comments about how they changed the recipe and made it work better.

For more information about the Chilis fajita recipe stop by http://www.squidoo.com/secretrestaurantrecipe if you get the chance.