Now, I am guessing most of us Brits know what a jacket potato is, and have grown to be accustomed to having it in our daily diets at least once a week. It is an easy and quick to make meal, which is something that every student needs when they have a large amount of work to do, to the point that they visualise the food they are about to stuff their faces (please tell me I'm not the only one that does that). Many people all around the UK call jacket potatoes different things, such as "spud" or "baked potato" but it's all the same... However, others may not know what this amazing meal is, so here's a very bad, possibly photoshopped photograph of what jacket potatoes are...
Jacket potatoes are the reason why I am still alive. They've kept me alive through tough nights when the library has been where I was situated for the night. It's like a warm cup of coffee on Monday morning with loads and loads of sugar to make you super hyper and prepared for the day. Going off on another tangent here, yay! Anywayyyyy...
*here ends my appreciation post for jacket potatoes*
Method 1: Microwave
From Raw
Microwaving potatoes can be the easiest and quickest way of making them. You can either microwave potatoes from the ready-made packet (the ones that you just put in the microwave for 5 minutes) or from actual raw potatoes (the ones that you leave in the microwave for around 10-12 minutes). I have tried my very best to find out what the best ways of making a baked potato are, with some of these ways nearly resulting in me setting fire to the accommodation kitchen... :) (sorry to all those who live close to me)
Most of the time when I am in a rush to get to lectures because I have overslept (regular occurence), I just stick a few either raw or half-made potatoes in the microwave whilst I get all my other stuff together. It's quick and easy, as I also said before ("quick and easy" is a pretty common thing I say throughout this post, please don't judge me, but it's just so I get my point across) and it means that you get some amazingly well cooked potato very quickly. Personally I love microwaving my potatoes.
Here are the steps which I follow when making potatoes!
Step 1: Wash the potatoes and make sure all nasty things are taken off!
Step 2: Dry the potatoes
Step 3: Pierce the potatoes with either a fork or a knife
Step 4: Put in the microwave for around 10-12 minutes and Voila! you have yourself a jacket potato!
Here are some better, probably more detailed recipes for this that I found useful!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/85337/microwave-baked-potato/
http://www.wikihow.com/Bake-a-Potato-in-the-Microwave
From a store bought packet of microwavable jacket potatoes
I know for sure that sometimes it is a whole lot easier for you to just throw a half made potato in the microwave and have a perfectly made potato in no more than 5 minutes.
If any of you don't know what I am on about, here's an example
However it baffles me how, they manage to achieve to keep those half-made potatoes fresh? Of course, I know they freeze them and all, but it must be filled with all sorts of preservatives and honestly, I don't want that in my body! So, yes, this is a good alternative if you don't have anything else to eat at all, but I think it's worth the effort of getting actual potatoes from your local campus shop and putting them in the microwave - they may not be as quick to cook, but they are normally better for you and your body.
Method 2: Oven
Putting a potato in the oven can take a day and a half for it to be perfect. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my jacket potatoes and I like them to be perfectly golden, have the cheese put on perfectly and make sure that the butter is nice and melted over the potato. Too much information, but it's true. I am a perfectionist when it comes to my potatoes (enough obsessing over potatoes)...
Making potatoes in the oven is a task and a half, it means that you have to be very patient because making jacket potatoes in the oven normally takes me around 45-60 minutes meaning that you'd have to start making them wayyyyy before you're intending to eat, meaning that you have to plan and as much as I love organising, I am quite bad at planning meals :(
What I do before I put my potato in the oven I wash it, dry it and pierce it with a fork. That's it. However you do have the option of putting the potato in the microwave for 5-10 minutes and then putting it in the oven if you'd like to save yourself some time.
Well, I hope I haven't bored you too much, but this is something which I was looking for when I initially started looking for easy student dinner recipes! Let me know if you'd like me to write more posts similar to this! :)
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