Iron Skillet Baked Potato


 

Dean Torges

R.I.P. 11/4/2016
Need some last-minute taters to go with the meat? Here's a delicious, simple and quick variation on baked potatoes employing an iron skillet. My wife has been doing this since I can remember.

Slice potatoes in half lengthwise, exposing maximum surface area. Dab a tiny bit of butter to the cut surface and settle it into the skillet bottom, cut side down. (Sometimes she adds a small amount of canola as well.) Bake at around 375 for half an hour. Cut surface browns nicely and is quite flavorful. You will come to prefer this to a straight baked potato first time out, I bet, and it requires nothing more than a bit of salt and pepper for the palate--no sour cream or additional butter.

If you are in a real hurry, heat iron skillet on stove top while oven preheats. If you are in an even greater hurry, run the oven up to 425 or so. We don't have a microwave, and we use this method often.

If you want a larger portion for guests, you can accomplish this on a cookie sheet, but don't try it on a thin one. Must be a restaurant grade thick one.
 
Dean....

This sounds great! Never thought about doing it this way. Usually just wrap and throw into the fire or the taters with the meat in the DO.

I suppose you could also do in the DO when camping and no oven available.

This is a "must try" for me!

Thanks!
 
That's a "must try" for me too. Curious though if anyone has tried this prep on grill grates? Probably won't get all that brown from the skillet but might be able to sear it brown - Just curious.
 
Dean,

Just wanted you to know that I am a convert. Tried your iron skillet baked potatoes on Saturday night with a couple of grilled ribeye steaks. GREAT! Best "baked" potato I've ever had. Crispy cut surface and skin, flaky and flavorful inside. THANKS BUDDY!!!!!
 
Hi,

I tried these yesterday with so-so results. I had 4 large russet potatoes cut lengthwise into halves and used a 12" cast iron skillet. I preheated the skillet to 425*F, dropped the oven temp to 375*F, put just a little canola oil in the bottom of the pan, and added the butter-dabbed potato halves face down.

After 30 minutes, the potatoes still had a bit of resistance when pierced with a knife through the skins, so they stayed in the oven for another 10 minutes. When they came out, most were tender, but a couple were still kind of crunchy inside. Also, the surfaces were lightly browned, but I was expecting a darker golden brown color.

Maybe the potatoes were too big, and maybe 8 halves were too many? In any event, I'll try it again with a few mods.

Regards,
Chris
 
Hmmmm. I'll consult with the expert later to see what she sez, but I think you shouldn't preheat the skillet that much. Dang, Chris. I thought these were tamper proof. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
Chris & Dean,

A couple of thoughts...I didn't pre-heat my skillet (12" Lodge Cast Iron), perhaps not everyones oven is exactly the same temp. I did not preheat my skillet and it took me 1 hour for the potatoes to be finished. I only used two potatoes (4 halves). Just a couple of thoughts.
 
Mary suggests several problem areas, none of which has to do with preheating the skillet, as I suggested. If you put too much oil or butter in skillet, potatoes will not brown. Yes, they do turn a golden brown when things work properly. She uses less than a restaurant-sized patty of butter for the whole skillet, and sometimes just rubs the butter stick on the skillet bottom until it creates a thin film. Sufficient. Skillet needs a good cure, or they will stick. In which case, use a stiff spatula to work them loose.

She also thinks that if your potatoes were really large that they just needed cooked longer, and thinks that may be the case here. She uses a pot holder or oven mit and squeezes them to test for doneness.

We both wondered how you could have positioned 8 large halves face down in a 12 inch skillet. Did you maybe stack them atop one another? Cut face needs to maintain contact with skillet bottom throughout baking. That's why she uses a cookie sheet when doing larger amounts.

Seriously, Chris, try again. They are worth it if you get them right. Right, Bruce?
 
Had no difficulty getting all 8 halves to sit face down in the 12" skillet. It was tight, but they all fit.

Sounds like my problem was the amount of oil/butter used. You wrote "dab of butter", but my "dab" was about a teaspoon of butter on each face, plus a splash of canola oil in the bottom of the pan. They were swimming in fat by the time they were done! Next time I'll try just a tablespoon or so for the whole pan. /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

Thanks Dean,
Chris
 
I tried them tonight and thought they were very good. I melted some butter, added a little garlic powder, and brushed the potatoes. Put cut side down and it took about an hour. I was using a 14" cast iron skillet so it took a longer to heat up. I believe they would also be real good if turned over after cooking and dusted with some cheese and placed under a broiler for a couple of minutes.
 
Mary tells me I was too conservative on the cooking temp. for fast results. Sometimes she will boost the oven up to as much as 500 if she's hurried. The 375 temp is used when she's not in any haste, and that takes about an hour. You can do these in half an hour at higher temps. Regardless, the cut faces are deeply browned and flavorful. Sometimes she drizzles just a bit of canola on the skins.
 
I did these as well this weekend!

Used the 12" iron inside the grill. Poured some oil in pan, heated inside grill for about 15 minutes and put taters in. Sparked and fizzled when placed in hot oil...turned heat down to around 450? and cooked for about 30 minutes. I used some smaller red taters for this.

They came out great! I cooked at pretty high heat and the bottoms were a little overdone...beyond crispy, but still very good! LOL Next time I will slow the temps down.

This is a great way to make these and I will be doing it again. It takes about half the time and the product is much better than oven baked.

Thanks, Dean! Ooops, scratch that! Thanks, MARY!! LOL
 
How do you measure the temp of an empty iron skillet?

I have a 12" Lodge and would like to try this but I'm unsure as to how I would know when the skillet is at 375 or 425 or whatever. All I have on my stove dials is the standard HI, MED, & LOW settings (actually it's a little bit more detailed than that but you get the idea)
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Mark WAR EAGLE!!
 
Ooops....I think I understand now. You put the skillet in the oven at 375, right?

Sometimes it helps if you take a little time and read things a little closer. /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

Skillet needs a good cure, or they will stick. In which case, use a stiff spatula to work them loose.

If the skillet doesn't have a good cure, could you use some no-stick cooking spray to keep the taters from sticking?
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Mark WAR EAGLE!!
 
I don't think it's imperative to preheat the skiilet on the cooktop to an exact temp. Once in the oven, whether it (the skillet) is higher or lower, it will stabilize relatively quickly to the oven temp. You're just getting to that point quicker by getting the skillet to within, say 50* either side, rather than raising it 300* from room temp.
 
Turned into a hilarious thread. To think that something this simple could get this confusing and require this many posts for clarification. Suggests that men should be trusted with nothing beyond fetching the kindling and lighting it.
 
Hey Dean,

I was at Gander Mountain this past weekend and I saw a cooking apron that fits your last comment perfectly. It was a black apron with a big yellow square in the chest area with the words...

DANGER....MEN COOKING
 
Dean,

I tried this last night with my professional grade cookie sheet covered with the new reynold no stick foil...came out great! Thanks Mary!
 
E X C E L L E N T ! !
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