Should you bake a potato in aluminum foil?

When you bake potatoes in the oven, you can bake them with or without foil – the cooking method is essentially the same.  Should you wrap your potatoes in foil before baking them or not?  It depends on what kind of potato you prefer.  Baking potatoes without foil produces crispier skin and dryer inside.  Baking potatoes wrapped in foil makes a potato with soft skin and moister inside.

Another thing you need to consider before deciding whether to wrap potatoes in foil or not is how quickly you will be serving them.  The potatoes without foil cool down really fast, and the potatoes wrapped in foil stay hot for a long time – the foil keeps the potatoes hot for a quite a while after you take them out of the oven.

For the best tasting baked potatoes, use Russet potatoes – their texture is tender and fluffy when baked.  When shopping for potatoes for baking, choose high quality potatoes without blemishes.

Foil Wrapped Oven Baked Potato Recipe

Ingredients

• Potatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt

Instructions How To Make Foil Wrapped Baked Potatoes

• Preheat the oven to 425F.
• Wash the potatoes and dry them with paper towels.
• Prick the potatoes 2 times with the fork to make holes for the steam to escape.
• Rub the potatoes with a little olive oil and with salt.
• Wrap the potatoes in foil and put them on a baking sheet.
• Put the foil wrapped potatoes in the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Serve the foil wrapped baked potato in its foil for an interesting presentation.  Before eating, unwrap the foil, split the potato, sprinkle with salt and top with butter and sour cream.  Yum!

For a shortcut 5-minute baked potato recipe, see how to bake potato in a microwave.  Also, try baking sweet potatoes – they are also really tasty when baked!

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5 replies

1. Bonnie says:

   January 19, 2020 at 2:07 pm

   Instead of using salt and pepper, we rub our potatoes with Montreal Seasoning after piercing and rubbing with butter or olive oil

   Reply

2. Ray says:

   July 14, 2020 at 9:40 am

   Thanks for the recipe! They came out great!!

   Reply

3. Connie says:

   November 5, 2020 at 2:04 pm

   I had to change my diet to low or no sodium, so I’ve had to look for different ways to make things more yummy. Mrs.Dash has become my new Best friend.I cant rub salt over my potato when I bake them. I haven’t baked them in the oven in a long time, usually it’s microwave them ,I couldn’t remember what temperature and for how long. So thanks for information. I’m going to try unsalted butter and some Dash seasoning. They have quite a few. I just needed temp and how long. Thank you again for info, Have a Blessed Day!!?

   Reply

4. Joy Hudson says:

   August 16, 2021 at 1:57 pm

   I like to rub the outside with onion and garlic powder and no salt. Not only is it tasty, but it doesn’t add sodium and they smell so good!

   Reply

5. Mike says:

   December 26, 2021 at 11:58 pm

   I’m 1/4rtering 2 red potatoes and filling them with ham,hot pepper cheeze and onion.i put the foil in a propperly sized bowl.set the 1/4 potatoes in the foil and then bawled the foil around them. I’ll add butter,sour cream and salt after cooking.if desired.well thier cooking.Happy eating! Oh and baking.lol

   Should potatoes be wrapped in foil to bake?

   Prick potatoes with a fork before baking to shorten the baking time and to keep them from bursting. Bake at 400° F for about one hour, or until tender. Do not wrap potatoes in aluminum foil for baking. Foil holds in moisture and steams the potatoes, resulting in a "boiled" taste and texture.

   Why do cooks use Aluminium foil in baking potatoes?

   Some say wrapping baked potatoes in aluminum foil helps them cook faster (aluminum conducts heat, then traps it), and it does keep them hot for longer once they come out of the oven, which is why we think restaurants use this method. Wrapping potatoes will also give you a softer, steamed skin, if that's what you like.

   Do potatoes bake faster in foil?

   Wrapping potatoes in foil does not hasten baking. On the contrary, since the foil itself has to be heated before the potato begins to bake, cooking times increase slightly. Not only do you get better baked potatoes when you bake them unwrapped, you also save money.

   Is it better to bake potatoes on foil or parchment paper?

   TIP: parchment paper is better to prevent sticking, but aluminum foil yields crispier results. If you use foil, you'll want to lightly grease it to prevent the potatoes from sticking. Note that even if you do that, they may still stick.