A recipe developer has suggested that home cooks skip the oven when making jacket potatoes, and use a grill instead, for a sweeter, smokier flavour and crispier skin.
Food writer and recipe developer Nancy Mock wrote for Simply Recipes that she decided to throw baked potatoes on the grill for dinner late last summer and was blown away by the flavour.
Grilled potatoes beat oven-baked
Mock explained that the grilled baked potatoes had the fluffy insides and crispy skin of oven-baked spuds, but with a sweet, smoky flavour from hickory wood chips. She said the simple method turns baked potatoes into a side she is genuinely excited about.
Grilling the potatoes does not require a total overhaul of the preparation, as it is incredibly similar to the oven method.
How to grill jacket potatoes
First, poke holes in the potato to help release the steam while cooking. Cover the potato in oil, then season with salt and pepper.
Instead of putting the potatoes directly onto the grill, wrap them in tin foil. This helps the seasonings cling to the potatoes while grilling.
To help crisp up the potato's skin, remove the tin foil near the end of the cooking time. Similar to the oven method, the jacket potatoes take around one hour to cook on the grill.
Adding smoky flavour
To help add more flavour to the spuds, Mock recommends adding a few pieces of wood chips to the grill after the foil is removed.
She said: "Now that's something an oven-baked potato is definitely missing! I topped my grilled baked potato with butter and tried a bite, and I was hooked."
Mock added: "The skin was crisp and the insides light and fluffy, and that smoky flavour really set it apart. It would be even better with toppings like melted cheese and caramelised onions."
When the spuds are ready, top with your choice of toppings and fillings, or simply serve on the side of your meal.
