How to Bake Potatoes for Potato Salad

When baking potatoes for a potato salad, prepare them as you would any other baked potato.

Potato salad is a tasty comfort food normally made with boiled potatoes. Baking the potatoes adds a new twist, providing a fluffy texture. Potatoes can be baked in the oven or in the microwave. Baking potatoes in a microwave is faster, but many of the nutrients are lost. Oven-baked potatoes take 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the temperature you choose. Russet potatoes are the most popular for baking. Does this Spark an idea?

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Stiff-bristled brush
Knife
Fork
Olive oil (optional)
Vegetable oil (optional)
Melted butter (optional)
Pan
Tin foil (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  
  Preheat your oven. Higher temperatures shorten the cooking time and yield crustier skins. For baking times, choosing 325 degrees takes an hour and a half, 350 takes an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, and 400 degrees takes 45 minutes.
- 2
  
  Choose potatoes of uniform sizes so they cook in the same amount of time.
- 3
  
  Scrub the potatoes with a stiff-bristled brush and rinse them under cold water. Remove any bruises, discolored spots and sprouts with a knife.
- 4
  
  Poke each potato deeply with a fork four or five times on each side. Poking the potatoes allows steam to escape while baking. If you do not poke the potatoes, they may explode.
- 5
  
  Brush the potatoes lightly with olive oil, vegetable oil or melted butter. Rolling the potatoes in salt adds flavor to the skin.
- 6
  
  Bake the potatoes on the middle rack of the oven. Place a pan underneath the potatoes to catch any drippings. Halfway through your cooking time, turn the potatoes over.
- 7
  
  Test your potatoes near the end of your cooking time. Fully baked potatoes are soft to the touch and easily pierced with a fork.

Tips & Warnings

If you want your potato salad in a hurry, pierce four potatoes with a fork and bake them in a microwave for 12 minutes.
Some people like to bake their potatoes wrapped in tin foil, which yields a softer skin. Don't wrap the potatoes in foil if you're using a microwave.