This article needs additional citations for baked potato in foil. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Some varieties of potato, such as Russet and King Edward, are more suitable for baking than others, owing to their size and consistency.
Despite the popular misconception that potatoes are fattening, baked potatoes can be part of a healthy diet. Some restaurants use special ovens designed specifically to cook large numbers of potatoes, then keep them warm and ready for service. Pricking the potato with a fork or knife allows steam to escape during the cooking process. Potatoes cooked in a microwave oven without pricking the skin might split open due to built up internal pressure from unvented steam. Wrapping the potato in aluminium foil before cooking in a standard oven will help to retain moisture, while leaving it unwrapped will result in a crisp skin. When cooking over an open fire or in the coals of a barbecue, it may require wrapping in foil to prevent burning of the skin.
A potato buried directly in coals of a fire cooks very nicely, with a mostly burned and inedible skin. Once a potato has been baked, some people discard the skin and eat only the softer and moister interior, while others enjoy the taste and texture of the crisp skin, which is rich in dietary fiber. C content because heating in air is slow and vitamin inactivation can continue for a long time. Some people bake their potatoes and then scoop out the interior, leaving the skin as a shell. The white interior flesh can then be mixed with various other food items such as cheese, butter, or bacon bits. This mixture is then spooned back into the skin shells and they are replaced in the oven to warm through.
A variation is Hasselback potatoes, where the potato is cut into very thin slices almost down the bottom, so that the potato still holds together, and is then baked in the oven, occasionally scalloped with cheese. Many restaurants serve baked potatoes with sides such as butter, sour cream, chives, shredded cheese, and bacon bits. These potatoes can be a side item to a steak dinner, or some similar entree. Large, stuffed baked potatoes may be served as an entree, usually filled with meat in addition to any of the ingredients mentioned above. Barbecued or smoked meat or chili is substituted. Vegetables such as broccoli may also be added. Idaho is the major producing state of potatoes.
The Idaho baked potato was heavily promoted by the Northern Pacific Railroad in the early 20th century, often using Hollywood movie stars. Hazen Titus was appointed as the Northern Pacific Railway’s dining car superintendent in 1908. He talked to Yakima Valley farmers who complained that they were unable to sell their potato crops because their potatoes were simply too large. Titus and his staff discovered the “inedible” potatoes were delicious after baking in a slow oven. He contracted to purchase as many potatoes as the farmers could produce that were more than two pounds in weight.
Soon after the first delivery of “Netted Gem Bakers”, they were offered to diners on the North Coast Limited beginning in 1909. Hollywood star Lillian Russell shows off the Northern Pacific Railway’s potatoes in this promotional postcard. A comic postcard circa 1910 to 1920 promoting “The Great Big Baked Potato”. A baked potato is sometimes called a jacket potato in the United Kingdom.
The baked potato has been popular in the UK for many years. In the mid-19th century, jacket potatoes were sold on the streets by hawkers during the autumn and winter months. In London, it was estimated that some 10 tons of baked potatoes were sold each day by this method. A baked potato is called “pomme de terre au four” in French. It may be served as an accompaniment to a meat dish, or, in a fast-food restaurant called a “pataterie”, be the centre of a meal. Dried cow dung is stacked and used as fuel to slowly bake unseasoned potatoes which are placed in the center. Kumpir, a baked potato with various fillings, is a popular fast food in Turkey.