How To Achieve The Most Perfect Baked Potato

Q:

Every once in a great while I get the most perfect baked potato in a restaurant that I would love to duplicate at home. I prefer a potato that is a little denser rather than fluffy on the inside, with the skin crispy and pulling away from the outside surface of the potato. Any suggestions of how to achieve this type of dense texture?

A:

The russet potato varieties you should seek out usually have a little less solids or starch and more moisture to end up with a dense interior rather than what typically happens when you bake a Russet Burbank variety from Idaho. The closest to what you describe that is available from Idaho is the Russet Norkotah.

We have a poster that is downloadable of some of the more popular varieties available from Idaho®: Idaho® Potato Varieties

In grocery stores, you can often find the Idaho® Russet Norkotah because the bags will have both the "Grown in Idaho" seal and then marked on the bag or enclosure quick lock will be the name of the variety.