The ultimate convenience food – made for one

Popular with just about everyone, is there anything better at this time of year than a steaming hot baked potato with a really crispy crunchy skin and a fluffy, floury inside?  With temperatures dipping already and my pledge not to turn the heating on until November already out of the window, its time for some comfort food.
If you’re looking to treat yourself and want a dinner or supper for one that’s really special and budget friendly, then just follow the super simple guidelines below and cook yourself the biggest potato you can find. Jacket Potatoes are cheap, filling and versatile meal that can be eaten ‘as it comes’ or with all sorts of inviting toppings limited only by your imagination and what you can find lurking at the back of your cupboard or fridge. Absolutely ideal for a lunch or dinner meal for one. Here’s our pick of the expert guidelines for a ‘MasterChef standard’ jacket potato.

HOW TO COOK THE ‘PERFECT’ JACKET POTATO – step by step

Choose the ideal potato

Did you know that there are around 500 different varieties of potato available? Seems that there are only about 80 varieties grown commercially though and thankfully only a few of the more well known ones available in Britain’s supermarkets.

So technically, absolutely yes, you can use any type of spud, but as you might expect, there are as many different views on which type of potatoes give the best results as there are cookery experts.
Some say ‘Floury varieties’ like Maris Piper, King Edward and Desiree are the ideal potatoes to use, other experts suggest Vivaldi, Santé and Melody potatoes are considered the best type of baking potatoes, so keep look out for them in the supermarket veggie section.

Prepare your spud

There’s also sorts of detailed debate across social media about the best way to prep and cook your spud. Here’s what works for us.

Get your fork out!
Yes, the urban myth of potatoes that haven’t been pricked beforehand,  exploding under the pressure of a hot oven and creating a b awful mess that’ll take lots of annoying time to clean up is absolutely true. (The skin of the potato forms a natural seal, trapping the water and steam that builds up in the spud, so with nowhere to escape, literally blows up if you don’t give it an escape route ) So get your fork or something similar and prick the potato two or three times.
PS If you’re not already using a washed potato, wash and dry it beforehand.

Prep It 
Rub the outer layer of your potato with a little oil,  olive or rapeseed oil works best and rub in a pinch of crushed salt. The salt and the olive oil act together to draw out the moisture from the skin for extra crunchiness.
Some experts suggest using foil – but if your cooking your baked potato in your kitchen rather than a barbecue it works without – (and saves you some money). Every little helps! If you do use foil remove it 20-30 mins before its thoroughly cooked to let it get really crispy on the outside.

Cook it

It seems that the secret of a perfect jacket potato is NOT to hurry it, – ideally allow up to 2 hours in the middle shelf of your oven to get a really crunchy skin, pre-setting the oven to start so its almost ready when you come in.
One expert food writer, Felicity Cloake, says that the clue to the perfect jacket potato lies in its name.

‘any old baked potato can have a delectably fluffy interior, but it takes real skill to achieve that wonderfully crunchy skin, – it’s not something that can be rushed’.

Again, unpicking the slightly different recipes and experts views here’s what it narrows down to:

• Standard method is 200° for 1 hour-1 hour 20 mins.
• Super-crispy skin and slow-cooked inside – 180° for 2 hours 20 mins
• or alternatively and mindful of ever increasing energy costs, put your spud in the microwave, ping for 5 minutes to soften it up,  then finish it off in a warm oven for 35-40 mins.

TOP IT OFF – 8 ways to eat yours

• Go Naked! Arguably the supreme way to eat a just cooked steaming hot jacket potato is au naturale, serving straight away with a knob of butter or a vegan butter alternative soaking into the potato and slow sliding down the crispy jacket. Fluff up the floury inside with a fork add a generous amount of butter, season with crushed sea salt and black pepper and watch it melt.
• Load it up! Stuck for ideas, if you’re looking to spice it up and turn it into a meal on its own, here’s some classic ideas and a few mad (experimental) unusual ideas, to get you started.
• Beans & Cheese – or Cheese & Beans?
  This is a bit like the chicken and egg thing, – some say cheese first, some say baked beans, – over to you for your thoughts on this here.
• Tuna & Mayonnaise
  Small tin of tuna (an excellent source of protein by the way) and just enough but not too much mayonnaise to bring it together and if its lurking in your fridge a bit of salad on the side. Healthy, filling and yummy.  (Also works well with a small tin or frozen portion of drained sweet corn)
• Super Cheese Melty – simple but sublime
  Ideally using melty cheeses that grate well like cheddar, red Leicester and double Gloucester.  Add the grated cheese to your cooked potato and finish it off under a hot grill to provide an irresistible satisfying meal for one that’s guaranteed to warm you right through on a chilly night.
• Spicy Mexican Jacket
  make up your own recipe or spice up your jacket potato with the Quick Bean & Chorizo Chilli recipe from our just4one recipe page
• Tuna Melts
  also a budget friendly, with a small tin of tuna,  drained with spring onions, mayonnaise, cheddar and topped with a sprinkle of chopped chives for a great finish.
• Smoked Salmon
  for those days when you’re feeling a bit more decadent, made with extra light cream cheese, a dash of lemon. Use the smoked salmon trimmings you can get in some supermarkets with some snipped up chives.