You’ve made a delicious steak or the perfect roasted chicken. Now, it’s time to get those side dishes in order, but you unwrap your potato from its aluminum foil only to realize it’s not as fluffy and light as you’d like.
As it turns out, your aluminum foil might be what’s giving you a soggy baked potato.
Why do some people wrap their potatoes when they bake them? The idea is to prevent them from drying out in all that heat and to keep moisture locked inside. The problem is that the foil does its job a little too well. You’ll actually end up steaming your potato, not baking it.
Others believe that wrapping the potato can help it bake faster. According to the Idaho Potato Commission, this isn’t true either. Foil has no impact on how quickly a potato bakes. In fact, it could increase the cooking time as the foil itself has to warm first.
So how should you bake a potato? The Idaho Potato Commission says to do so unwrapped in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 55-60 minutes. The internal temperature of the potato should be 210 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’ve noticed your baked potato getting soggy, you should probably ditch the foil. Once you’ve perfected your bake, it’s time for a baked potato charcuterie board.
