Jacket potatoes can take upwards of an hour to cook in the oven and somewhat close to that in the air fryer.
However, Kathryn Doherty, a cookbook author and owner of Family Food On The Table blog has shared her recipe for baked potatoes, claiming that they come out “perfect every time” in just a few minutes.
Rather than using the oven or even an air fryer to cook jacket potatoes, Kathryn uses the microwave.
To see if the microwave can really do a good job of a baked potato, I decided to test it out for lunch.
Using what I already had in the house, I tested the hack out on a baking potato. However, if you’re seeking out a specific type of potato to use then Maris Piper or Kind Edwards are good choices.
I started by thoroughly washing the potato, poking each side of it six times with a fork and placing it on a microwaveable plate.
The next step was to cook the potato in the microwave. The exact timing will depend on your microwave power, potato size and the number of potatoes.
For two medium-sized potatoes it is recommended to start with 10 minutes, for four medium-sized potatoes start with 15 to 16 minutes and for a single potato, start with six minutes.
As I was using a single potato that was relatively small, I put it in the microwave for six minutes.
With the chosen potato being on the smaller side, it wasn’t necessary to turn it over during the cooking time, but it can help cook larger potatoes.
Once the six minutes were up, I used a clean kitchen towel and gently squeezed the sides of the potato to see if it was ready.
As the potato felt soft and there was no resistance when I squeezed it I could tell it was ready. However, for those who find that it still seems a bit firm, they can microwave it for another minute at a time until tender.
The final step was just to cut open the potato and add my toppings toppings. I opted to keep things simple and went for a bit of butter and a generous helping of grated mozzarella cheese.
As I like my cheese melting on jacket potatoes, I put the potato into the microwave for just a few seconds after topping it.
Still piping hot, I went in for the taste test and it was incredible. The inside was super fluffy and cooked all the way through.
The only downside to this hack is that the potato skin doesn’t really come out crispy like one would if it was cooked in the oven or air fry.
However, with it being ready in just six minutes, it more than makes up for it. Think I’ve just found my new way to cook a jacket potato.
