Baking Multiple Baked potato's Time?

I've never done that quantity before - capped off here at about 5-6...

I've been using Alton Brown's 350 for an hour (lately, that's turned into about 75 minutes) with the spuds coated in oil (of some sort) and then coated in salt or (my recent absolute favorite) Cavender's Greek Seasoning. I give 'em a gentle squeeze to make sure all is well before I pull / slice / serve.

I'd expect that if you're in a typical oven, you shouldn't have to tweak the time much... maybe 15-20 minutes, especially if it's running on gas.

Take that with a grain of salt, especially if you've been getting the really farkin' big ones. I shoot for middle of the road.

The quantity should not matter nearly as much as the size.

We have done around 100 baked potatoes for a catering gig before.
We put them on a smoker early and get them done then just put them in a large cooler to hold them until serving time.
Just remember with that many jumbo potatoes you have you will have some carry over cooking with all the residual heat generated off of them.
I advise get them done early and hold them in a cooler.

I have never made baked taters without putting them in the micro. 5 to 6 taters for 4 minutes. It gets the insides all jazzed up resulting in less oven time.
So maybe throw 10 in the micro for 8 - 10 minutes, tear up 10 sheets of foil, remove, wrap, repeat.
Just a thought.
Ed

ModelMaker said:

I have never made baked taters without putting them in the micro. 5 to 6 taters for 4 minutes. It gets the insides all jazzed up resulting in less oven time.
So maybe throw 10 in the micro for 8 - 10 minutes, tear up 10 sheets of foil, remove, wrap, repeat.
Just a thought.
Ed

Click to expand...

Well, no micro here, BUT.....I do boil them now till soft. I know how we feel about boiling!!! :twisted: Started doing it cause I had to start them too early in the grill just to get done. Boil till soft, wrap in foil, I no longer coat or treat the skin. Family doesn't eat it, but I do. Wrap in foil and then I put em on the hot end near or on top of coals so the skin and surface get a bit toasted and sets up better. Kids like them super soft. They add lots of sour cream, cheese, and butter. I have tried the micro, but with larger baker taters, it was tough to find the right amount of time and I noticed that they would sometimes be either still not fully cooked internally or the inside would be grainy and kids didn't like em much that way. Steaming is great too, but the steamer I have can only handle smaller ones and I usually make 4-5 taters at once.

Bob

But agree that if you get them started early in the grill, etc. they will get done.

Yeah .... boil .... throw them into the pot with the ribs :-D sorry

Back as a youngster in High School I worked at a Bonanza Steak House.

We cooked multiple full sheet pans of potatoes at a time. As I recall we cooked at 425-450° for an hour. As someone else said before me. Numbers don't matter as much as size here. BTW we also probed the taters for doneness. Dare I say it? When they probed like butter they were done.

I always like to eat the skin on a baked potato or use it when making a "Twice Baked Potato" casserole. I put olive oil on the skins and wrap in foil and roast at 325-350 til soft to the squeeze, probe, however you want to test for doneness. Skins are always done and not hard. I don't pay attention to time, only the feel.

If you are transporting these or even just putting out to serve, you might want to consider wrapping in foil given all the current concerns about touching food, etc. etc. You know where I'm going with that.

I have never done 20, but we always nuke them to get them going. Sometimes I like no foil, the Missus likes foiled. Either way, almost always oiled and large flake salt. Finish on the grill or oven. I agree with the above post about foiling. Good idea in these times probably, and will keep them warmer longer. There will be carry over cooking, but can you really over cook a potato? I dunno.

Instapot baker taters are the best. Very moist. Of course I haven’t found one big enough for your quantity.

I seem to recall reading on Cooks Illustrated (or a similar site) about how you should break them open right away so the steam can escape. Is that not an issue with baking and holding?

I still can't dial in the potatoes the way I want. It seems when I get the skin nice and crispy, it's usually over cooked by the skin and it's now inedible.

Back to the Bonanza days. We held potatoes but I don't remember what temp we used. We dumped them into a warming drawer in or next to the oven. Held that way they didn't hold forever but would go at least an hour or two at good quality. The big problems we usually had were keeping up with demand during the rush and gauging when to start preparing for the evening rush and when to stop.