Baked: Baked Potatoes with/in Salt?????

Subject: Baked Potatoes with/in Salt?????
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: peach_rx at earthlink.net (CJC)
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 05:22:53 GMT
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I had dinner at two different restaurants, and the baked potatoes were quite good. I could see salt crystals on the outside in one restaurant. When I queried the waitress, she said that they boiled them in salted water first and then baked them. I would think that would "wash" the salt off the potato.

The second restaurant was not quite as good, and the waitress said that they sprayed the potato with water, and then rolled it in salt before baking. There was no discernable salt on the outside.

Anyway, I was hoping that someone could advise me the right way of baking potatoes with salt. I was thinking of just burying the potatoes in salt, and baking them in the oven, but I don't know if this is the right approach.

Any ideas?
From: Sharon Ödmann (sharon at paonline.com)
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 09:30:55 -0500
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That's how we used to do it when I was a Banquet Chef. Wash the potatoes and when wet, bury them in Kosher Salt. Bake as ususal.

Sharon.......love them, but can't take the salt anymore. Fingers swell up.
From: Laurie (points at idirect.com)
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 15:11:53 -0500
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I tried coating them in salt, but found they came out far too salty to eat the skins (our favourite part), so have found that a dab of olive oil in the palm, with a teaspoon of salt added, rubbed all over the potato does it just about right.
From: christin at vms.cis.pitt.edu (Christine Berliner)
Date: 16 Feb 1998 22:22:37 GMT
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The salt is in the water, not on the potato, so it couldn't be "washed off". The wet (and therefore salty) potato would go in the oven, the water would evaporate, and the salt would remain behind, forming crytals as it dehydrates. Pretty much the same as the road salt you put down when it snows, that dissolves in slush and leaves a white coating everywhere on the next dry, sunny day!

I'd try that technique over wiping, burying or rolling.
From: lt-lu at students.uiuc.edu (lawrence ta-wei lu)
Date: 16 Feb 1998 16:08:42 GMT
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I just had a silly question, what does the do for the potatoe? Is it just the taste of salt or is it more mysterious than that?
From: Laura (laura at netnospam.net)
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 19:07:41 -0500
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I've been doing just what the second described - I wash potatos in water and while still moist roll in salt. I use Kosher salt. Then I bake or microwave (depending on how much time I have). Bake the same time you usually bake them.