In recent years, I have gotten lazy (or have not planned ahead) and have generally microwaved my “baked” potato. It was ready in 7 minutes, vs. the 1 hour+ that it takes for the oven, and that seemed like a good deal. I recently read an article in www.thekitchn.com extolling the virtues of actually baking the potato and giving a few tips. I tried it last night and it truly was good.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash the potato, cut a cross in the top of the potato about 1/4 inch deep. Bake for an hour. Take the potato out of the oven and deepen the cuts to about an inch. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, and then serve. These cuts release steam and help make the inside of the potato fluffy.