How to Bake a Potato

Method is the most important part of any recipe, even how to boil an egg, for which there is no good way: in-shell eggs must be steamed to cook. My method for baking potatoes results in crisp, toothsome skin and a molten, crumbly center.

Any given potato must be washed and scrubbed, then dried thoroughly before coating with salted oil and placing in the oven, which must be very hot. A large (10-12 oz.) white potato will take an hour in a 400F oven. Potatoes can be pierced and microwaved to start, but should be finished in the oven; likewise, waxy potatoes should be parboiled. Wrapping them in foil before baking ensures a steamed potato, which is wonderful and nostalgic, but lesser fare than baked.