Q: I have had three potatoes explode in my oven recently. What am I doing wrong?! I have never had this happen before, and yes, I puncture the potatoes. Help!
Sent by RB
Editor: Wow! I've only ever heard of this happening when people forget to poke holes in the potato. I wonder if it's the particular kind of potato you're using? Even if you're using the same brand, maybe it's something in the most recent batch. That's a total wild guess, though!
Readers, do any of you have an idea what might be going on?
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Related: How to Bake a Potato in the Oven
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My guess is that particular type of potato (there are lots!) has more moisture than your basic russet, so it just needs more, and maybe deeper, holes.
I'd be curious to know if when you take them from the oven, are they dry or moist? I've had potatoes crumble when they're either dry, overcooked or just a lousy batch. Too much moisture is a good guess too. Supermarket potatoes tend to be awful quality anyway.
JSM1919 has it right... basically the only reason a baked potato explodes is because the steam inside builds up too much pressure. It's important to make sure that you prick the potato deeply enough and enough times so that you make holes into the potato and not just its skin.
My physicist husband says cooking them slower (aka at a lower temperature for a longer time, or putting the potatoes in a cold oven and then turning the oven on) could help, as could "puncturing them smarter". Whatever that means. :)
my mother always put them in tin foil too, was that just to make them cook faster or did that help too? (and pierced them)
What?!! I've never heard of potatoes popping in the oven! I have no comment-I'm still in shock over this,lol!
Had a potato explode just the other day as I was taking it out of the oven (I had on an oven mitt, thank goodness). I salvaged most of the potato, but had to clean the oven. Ugh.
Bigger punctures. It can't be just a cursory stab with the fork. I use a meat skewer since it's bigger than fork tines. And you need a decent amount of punctures in different spots on the potato.
Think about it like a big bag filled with moisture that's straining to get out.
My mom used to put the potatoes on a long skewer and cook them in the oven on the skewer. Made them easy to remove.
I had this happen for the first time too! I had pricked the potatoes at least 5x each with a fork and cooked as usual. So odd.
The case of the incredible exploding potatoes...
No, not odd.
Pricking the potatoes before you bake them doesn't help much. The holes just seal as the potatoes bake. You need to also prick them a couple times AS they bake.
As for aluminum foil -- Fie! They just hold in the moisture, making the potato sodden. You want a good amount of the moisture baked out so they're fluffy. At lease, that's what I want! 8-)
No, not odd.
Pricking the potatoes before you bake them doesn't help much. The holes just seal as the potatoes bake. You need to also prick them a couple times AS they bake.
As for aluminum foil -- Fie! They just hold in the moisture, making the potato sodden. You want a good amount of the moisture baked out so they're fluffy. At lease, that's what I want! 8-)
You just... plop them straight in the oven?
I slice mine about 2/3rds through in a large crosshatch, coat in olive oil and salt, then wrap in foil. You could wrap them in paper too, or I'm sure someone has created a useable baked potato wrapper so you're not throwing stuff away.
My dad (a chef) used to do something similar. He got some really really large builders nails - new and cleaned of course and would put one right through each potato and bake uncovered. They always turned out deliciously fluffy on the inside.