1. While you’re prepping the potatoes, place a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 425°F.
2. Under running water, scrub the potatoes thoroughly and pat them dry. You don’t have to remove the eyes, but you can use a paring knife to remove any blemishes.
3. Rub some olive oil all over the potatoes. The best method is to use your hands, but a pastry brush will suffice.
4. Season the potatoes generously with salt and pepper on all sides.
5. With the tines of a fork, prick the potatoes in a few places. This permits the steam from the baked potato to escape.
6. You can either choose to bake the potatoes on the oven rack directly, or place them on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet a few inches apart from each other. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the potatoes for 50 to 60 minutes. Turn the potatoes over after 20 minutes has passed, then pierce them with a fork to see if they’re done. When the skins are dry and the insides are entirely soft when poked, the potatoes are done.

There are some important things to note when following this recipe:

• Cook the potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes in the microwave before baking to shorten the baking time.
• Wrap the potatoes in foil before baking for softer skins.
• Brine the potatoes for extra-crispy skins. Put 2 tablespoons of kosher salt in 1/2 cup of water and whisk until dissolved.  Dip  each potato into the brine. As directed above, drain and bake immediately on the rack. During the last 10 minutes of baking, brush with oil.

This baked potato recipe produces well-baked and great tasting results, as expected. The entire cooking time for this recipe is 50 minutes to 1 hour, with a prep time of 5 minutes. If you’d like to explore more ideas on how to make baked potatoes, then take a look at this video recipe.