How to Bake a Potato in the Microwave

How to Bake a Potato in the Microwave

Although it is generally agreed that it is better to cook a baked or Jacket potato in the oven, sometimes we simply do not have the time! To cut a few corners, why not blitz it in the microwave?!

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1- Prepare your spud! Poke many holes in it from all sides using a fork. Alternatively you can cut a deep X in the top, however I find this often dries out the potato a little too much. Wrap the potato in a wet paper towel in order to retain moisture and then place on a plate in the microwave.

2- On a modern microwave, you want to use roughly ¾ power (this may need to be adjusted once you have cooked your first potato- if it is not cooked on the inside but dry on the outside, decrease the power and increase the cooking time). A large potato should take around 8 minutes, whereas a small potato should take only 3. Should you be cooking more than 1 potato at once, multiply cooking times accordingly i.e. 2 large potatoes would take 16 minutes.

3- Towards the end of cooking, you may wish to check on your dinner. The potato should be removed from the microwave before it is soft enough for eating and still slightly firm to the touch as the potato will continue cooking once it has been removed.

4- Wrap the potato in tin/aluminium foil and leave to stand for 5 minutes. This will allow the centre to continue to cook and to fluff up.

5- The potato should now be ready for eating.

Tips

If it is already soft enough to eat after having taken it out of the microwave, cut it open immediately and adjust cooking times for the next time you use the microwave to bake a potato.

Most microwaves have an inbuilt rotator to ensure even cooking. If one is not present, turn the potato three times during cooking, splitting the cooking into 4 equal units of time.