THE RELUCTANT GOURMET COOKING COMMUNITY

[Tammi]

OK, how do restaurants do it. That is cook large quantities of baked potatoes, and have them ready when needed, not overcooked. I always just go with the baked potatoe casserole when having guest so I know when it will be done, and not overdone. But I would prefer to do baked potatoes. This may seem basic to some, but I always seem to be waiting on the potatoes to finish cooking while the steaks are getting cold, or they are muchy.

[ninjabut]

Never heard of baked potato casserole. Can you share?
Personally, it's been so long since I actually BAKED a potato, I've forgotten how long I cooked them. For russets, I seem to recall cooking them with meatloaf, so it would have been about 350* for about 1 1/4 hour give or take???????

[Reluctant Gourmet]

Chef David Nelson and I wrote an electronic cookbook called Great Potato Recipes and he describes how he prepared thousands of baked potatoes while working in various restaurants.

A few tips include - make sure they are washed thoroughly, apply a light coating of oil to the skin, season with salt and pepper, bake on center rack with an empty pan on the lower rack to catch any drippings and bake at 325 degrees F.

[kell]

I don't know where I've been that I haven't responded to Tammi's question. Musta been crazy out there. Anyhew, when I bake russets, I will normally make between 6 and 8 for the two of us. We will each have one for dinner, then I just refrigerate the rest. When I am making something else in the oven or on the grill, I just add the taters as needed to warm them up. They go in wrinkly from the fridge and cold, but come out looking like fresh-baked. This trick has saved my b*tt a time or three ... like when unexpected company drops in and you need to feed four or six rather than two!!

[Tammi]

:?
OK, thanks so much for your replies guys. Here is my scenero (sp).
Say you are having guest at 7:00 to eat. And you are cooking 10 baked ptotatos. What time and temp do you put them on in order to have them ready for your 7:00 dinner and not have them overcooked?

I love the tip about making extra. Which I do sometimes. I did not know that if you popped them back in the oven they would come out like fresh baked. We usually use them for cottage fries or just microwave them. But I'm going to try that tip. Does it take about 30 minutes to reheat in the oven?

[kell]

Seems to me that it normally takes about an hour at 350 for an average sized potato to bake. As far as the reheating, 30 minutes is plenty. I usually reheat pre-baked for about 20 minutes at 350 in either the oven or grill.