Conference turris::cooks

	ALWAYS REMEMBER:

	Cooking IS experimentation.

	Recipes are only guidelines.

In the summer, I make baked potatoes that get rave reviews.  I see no reason 
why a very similar technique wouldn't do for you.

	Wash potato and pluck out its eyes.
	Cut it in half lengthwise.
	On one of the halves place:
		1 pat butter
		dash of salt
		a couple grinds of pepper
		1/8 tsp garlic powder
		1/8 tsp caraway seeds
	Reassemble potato.
	Wrap in foil.
		(Center potato on foil square.  Bring the two edges
			closest to the long side of the potato together.
			Crimp at top and roll down to potato.  Do a sort 
			of karate chop at the other ends of the potato
			to get the spud surrounded by foil.  Roll up 
			the ends.)
	Place directly on hot coals, turning every 5 minutes for 20 minutes
	or
	Place on rack of gas grill as close to the burner as possible, 
		turning twice in 20 minutes.
	or
	Bake @450 in your mini-oven for 30-45 minutes.

	When you squeeze them and they give, they're done.


good luck,
-joet

If you want to cut down on baking time in your toaster/regular oven,
try using the special aluminum "nails" that you can insert in the
potatoes.  They conduct heat into the potato so it cooks faster on 
the inside too.

You can usually find these in the kitchen gadget department of your
favorite grocery or department store.  

Paula

P.S.  Be careful removing the nails when the potatoes come out of the
oven, they are HOT!

I'm a purist when it comes to baked potatoes, and it's one of the few
things that really cooks well in a microwave defroster (some call it
an oven, but that's presumptuous).  In a toaster oven, I'd try:

Wash the potato, etc.; punch holes around it with a fork on all sides;
DO NOT wrap in foil (barbaric custom a sure sign of a lousy restaurant);
place in oven and bake at 350 for about an hour and a half, or until
done (based upon size of potato).  It's done when the fork goes to the
center and doesn't encounter resistance.

Getting the center done without microwaves takes patience.  More often
I gave up,  cut the potato into chunks, and boiled it.  But the best
part is the crispy skin, and foil wrecks that.

Fred

One method that works for me is to wash the potato as best
you can, dry it, and rub a little cooking oil (any type)
over the entire spud. Bake at 350 for 1 hr or so. No Foil.
This will result in a crusty outer skin and a tender inside.
If you start with a refrigerated potato, the cooking time
will be 15 min longer. 

	Bob.

buy a microwave.  it saves on money and it's a hell of a lot easier than
a toster oven.

In re .10:

You pay 14 cents per kilowatt-hour, not per kilowatt.\  The
latter is a unit of power; the former is a unit of energy.

Assuming you cook one baked potato in a 700 watt microwave oven for 5
minutes, the electricity cost is about 1 cent.  The same potato cooked for
1 hour in a 1500 watt resistive-heating toaster-oven will cost 21 cents.
Thus you will make up the $200 cost of the microwave in about 1000 potatoes,
assuming that you only use the microwave for cooking potatoes -- a doubtful
assumption.

Suppose instead that you cook one potato per week for each member of a
family of four.  This will take (somewhat less than) 20 minutes in the
microwave, and the same hour in the toaster-oven (assuming they all fit).
The energy cost in the microwave is 3 cents; in the toaster oven it's still
21 cents.  You'll make up the cost of the oven in about 1100 potatoes, or a
little more than 5 years.  (This again assumes that you only use the
microwave for the once-a-week potato-bake.)

If you make more realistic assumptions about how often the microwave is used
(and you'd be amazed how many applications you can find!), the microwave
comes out looking like quite a good deal.

Putting down the calculator and picking up a fork....

					-- Roger

    A diet of potatoes and dairy products will supply all the basic
    nutrition needs for human.  The Irish lived on nothing else for
    centuries.  This recipe, however, is not Irish, but Swedish.
    
    Put a good size baking potatoe in boiling water for 5 or 10 minutes
    then take it out, let it cool off a bit and set it on a plate or
    something.  Take a sharp pointed knife and slice just barely into
    the skin all the way around (at the equator).  Peel off the skin
    from the top half.  Then take the knife and make a series of slices
    about 1/8" apart down through the peeled part, stopping at the equator.
    Rub some butter into these cuts and put it in a toaster oven at
    about 400.  After about ten minutes take it out and use a pastry
    brush or something to keep adding butter to the top.  Also add some
    fine bread crumbs.  These start working there way down into the
    cracks and hold them open to receive more butter.  The whole thing
    takes a little less time than for a baked potatoe but gives you
    a really nice tender tuber.

    Try this.  Peel your potatoes (I hate peelings), cut into 
    steak fry size, dip in melted butter, then roll in bread
    crumbs (could use dry stuffing type bread crumbs), bake
    at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  You might need to adjust 
    time as I haven't done this in years.  But potatoes are
    really good this way.  Crunchy on the outside, soft in the
    middle.
    
    

    Eric,
       For your everyday, run of the mill, baked potatoe wash it, poke
    holes in it with fork all around, in my toasterover in calls for
    450 dgr for approximately 1 hr.  For best results, don't cut down
    the time.  
    The purist with no aluminum foil must have a messy oven when making
    baked potatoes that have been sliced partially through and stuffed
    with lots of butter and slices of onion, salt and pepper to taste.
    

Brown some hamburger.
Bake some potatos and then slice them in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the
potato and mix it with the hamburger.  Fill the skins with the mixture,
put a slice of cheese on top, put them in oven to melt the cheese.
Good stuff...

Allen

    Heres a few of my standbys
    
    Bake some potatoes.....cut off the tops and carefully scoop out
    almost all of the insides....to this add longhorn cheese and some
    chopped, lightly fried onions....hand mash the potatoes....spoon
    mixture back into the shells.....paprika on top...reheat....
    
    Another similar one is bake...cut off tops...carefully scoop out
    pulp....add margerine....and about 1/4 tsp to 4 potatoes of nutmeg.
    hand mash and spoon back into shells....put bread crumbs on top
    and a pat of butter on top of that...reheat and when done..pace
    under broiler to singe bread crumbs.....
    
    And yet another simple one is cut a raw potatoe in half....place
    a bay leaf between halfs and tie together....then bake....this can
    also be done with parsley...
    
    Then there is this one....cut up raw potatoes like you were going
    to make thin french fries....cook up a few slices of bacon....crumble
    bacon into bits....remove most of the bacon fat....put "french fries"
    in fry pan...lower heat....in between handfuls throw in bacon bits...
    with tin foil, press mixture down....when tender, add handfuls of
    your favorite cheese...a mild chedder goes well...when cheese melts
    its done.....
    
    Happy eating
    
    Rick
    

    o.k. o.k. you got me.  i'll put in my secret recipe for baked stuffed
    seafood potatoes.  here goes.
    
    everything in .13 for twice baked potatoes except i don't use much
    chedder cheese.  i find milk is fine, (calorie concious i guess)
    and grated cheese, garlic and pepper is fine too) but are you ready?
    
    just get some imitation seafood flakes and mix it in.  they go crazy.
    sometimes i even grate a hardboiled egg on top of the potato for
    some extra color and flavor but basically, the seafood does wonders.
    and imitation is fine, try it, you'll like it!
    

    Re .13
    
    When I make twice-baked potatoes, I mix in any leftover dip that
    I may have in the fridge.  I especially like the Good Season's Italian
    and sour cream mixture.  When I use this, I don't put any milk or
    cream in the potatoes as the sour cream provides enough liquid for
    the mixture.  Then just add grated cheese and stuff.   Sometimes
    I put a little extra cheese on top of the potatoes before I sprinkle
    with paprika. These are a favorite at my house.
    
    Cathy

    I never realized how much effort could be wasted on just plain old
    baking a potato in a toaster oven.  I beleive the question was how
    to bake a potato correctly in a toaster oven.  It takes all of 1
    minute to actually prepare the potato and about 1 hour tops to bake
    it.  Very easy, nothing complicated about it, when you master baking
    a plain potato correctly, the you can do whatever else you like
    to it.  My guess is, that if your'e having problems getting a good
    baked potato it might not be the cook! Consider this:  
    
    #1  As someone said before, maybe the temperature is off in the
        oven,  there is a cure for that, very simple...is the oven clean..if
        so...is it about to retire?  A dirty oven alters the heat and quality
        of cooking and a very old one could cook in the same way.  
    
    #2  The potato.....Old soft potatoes make for the worst, they are
        terrible mashed never mind baked.  Really a good firm healthy potato
        makes a world of difference, just like anything else you would
        consider cooking.  Someone mentioned pulling out the eyes
        of the potato.  If you have potatoes that have been sitting around
        long enough to have eyes all over, consider doing other things to
        the potato, don't bake it.
    
    #3  You might be cooking it for too long and at too low a temperature,
        (I couldn't remember if you had stated this or not).
    
    
    Try this on for size... Get a potato, a fresh one or comparible,
    wash, and then you can do a few things if you would like...rub
    a bit of oil on it and bake at 400 degrees for an hour at most.
     Or wrap in foil and bake at 400 for an hour.  You can put aluminum
    nails in it, this cuts down the cooking time to about 3/4 hour and
    ensures the inside is evenly cooked. (I prefer this way) or poke
    it a bit with a fork.  It doesn't matter what you cover it with
    the only difference to bear in mind is.  If it's covered and has
    a nail in it , the cooking time is shorter.  Alway cook at 400 and
    1 hour max.
    
    Good luck  
    I'll assume the problem wil getting woorse if you start doing other
    things to it before