Martha Stewart's Trick For Fluffy Baked Potatoes Is Genius
There are countless ways to cook a potato, but a baked potato is one of the best when it comes to effort expended versus deliciousness on the plate. Legendary celebrity chef, Martha Stewart, has a simple two-step trick for airy, fluffy baked potatoes. First, cook them low and slow, then smash them.
Martha Stewart recommends baking your potato in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for around one and a half hours. Some baked potato recipes are done in 60 or even 40 minutes at higher temperatures, but the longer bake time and lower heat will result in a softer interior that's ripe for Stewart's second tip.
When your potato is done, pick it up and drop it firmly onto the kitchen counter. If it's too hot to use your hands, lift it with a clean oven mitt instead. The goal is to essentially mash the interior with one strike. Some skin will break but it should remain mostly intact. If it falls to bits, you're throwing it down too hard.
How to load Martha Stewart's fluffy baked spuds
Martha Stewart's trick for fluffy baked potatoes is a convenient hack for making restaurant-quality side dishes at home. No matter which way you bake your potato, this method should give you an appropriately silky interior and save you from any awkward attempts to mash the insides with a fork.
Stewart recommends opening the potato with your hands to add toppings, though if you're afraid of the steam, you can perforate the skin with a fork and use a pair of tongs to squeeze the potato open from either end. If you bake your potato directly on the oven rack a la Dolly Parton, tongs are also useful for taking it out of the oven.
The reason restaurant baked potatoes always taste better than homemade ones depends on many factors, including potato type, storage, seasoning, and cooking time. Use this method to get the smooth, almost mashed consistency that baked spuds from nicer restaurants have. And, as Martha Stewart suggests, add your toppings after smashing to better distribute all that butter, cream, and bacony-bit goodness throughout your spud.