I’m a chef and you’ve been cooking jacket potatoes wrong – my hack cooks them to perfection in just 20 minutes
WE all think we know how to make the perfect jacket potato, right?
Well, according to This Morning’s chef, Phil Vickery, there’s a very simple and clever way to reduce the cooking time of a jacket potato.
During an episode of the daytime show, the chef spoke about having jacket potatoes for dinner regularly as a child.
He shared his top tips for ensuring crispy skin, plus how to reduce the cooking time – so you’ll need to listen up.
His hack swears by using teaspoons – yes, you read that correctly.
Phil explained: “You can microwave them and finish them in the oven for a crispy skin.
“Now, the thing to say also is – always, always, always use a sharp knife and score the potato around the outside [before you cook it] because they will explode otherwise.
“Sometimes, if you start potatoes in a cooler oven and [the temperature] gets hotter, it bakes the skin so tight they will expand and explode.
“Not all the time, but it does happen, so I always [score] them.
“I also put a teaspoon in the potato – not when cooking in the microwave – but [cooking the potato in] a conventional oven, it cuts the cooking time down by at least about 20 minutes.”
Phillip Schofield, the presenter at the time, then asked: “Is that because the spoon gets so hot the heat goes down the spoon [handle] and into the centre of the potato?”
To this, the food whizz replied: “Yes. You can use ready-made jacket potato spikes and you put them on all four and into the oven, or you can use a skewer, but it certainly makes a difference.”
The chef continued: “I reckon it will take 15-20 minutes off the cooking time, so 35-40 minutes as opposed to an hour.”
If you fancy giving this clever hack a try, before inserting a teaspoon handle into the jacket potato, you can blast the potato in the microwave to reduce cooking time further.
It’s important to remember – no teaspoon in the potato if you are using the microwave as this is a health and safety risk.
So if you want to try cooking your jacket potatoes like this for your next dinner, first place the potato in the microwave on a plate on high for three minutes.
You've been making mashed potatoes wrong too...
IT turns out that we’ve been making mashed potatoes wrong too.
Rosie Gill, director of Milk Street Cooking School, took to social media to share her mashed potatoes recipe – leaving many open-mouthed.
She explained that it’s time to stop boiling your potatoes in water – as you’ll need to use milk instead.
She revealed: “We simmer your mashed potatoes in milk, not water! And here’s why.
“Potatoes are like pasta, they release starches into their cooking liquid.
“That becomes liquid gold – allowing us to get lush, silky, creamy, mashed potatoes.
“When you throw out water that you cook your potatoes in, you throw all that starch down the drain, so you’re wasting it.
“The milk becomes our cooking liquid – and a replacement for heavy cream.”
As she showed off her finished side dish, she added: “We just mash the potatoes directly in the pot – no mixer needed.
“And that is how we get still creamy, but not too heavy, mashed potatoes.”
Following this, turn it over and microwave for another three minutes.
Then transfer the potato to a baking tray, season with salt, pepper and olive oil.
Push a spoon inside the potato to speed up the cooking process in the oven.
The cooking time will depend on the size of the potato as a bigger potato will take much longer to cook – but it should only take around 20 minutes.
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