Potato Skins: The Topic

[Chris Amirault]

I'm cooking everything for a big (30-40 people) party soon, and I'm putting potato skins on the menu. Shockingly, there's no eG Forums topic devoted to this item, and I need your help!

Here are my constraints:

-- I can deep fry well ahead of time, but the skins have to be finished in the oven before buffet-style service. No a la minute deep-frying.

-- In a perfect world, the potato skins would be two bites each, not massive russet canoes.

-- They must include copious amounts of bacon and cheese.

I've got some time to do test runs, so throw me your best options so I can get cracking.

[JAZ]

Chris, are you firmly locked into skins? I make "twice baked" appetizer potatoes from small red or Yukon gold potatoes -- one or two bites depending on the size of the potatoes. They can have the same flavor profile you're looking for (bacon and cheese) or you can make a variety of flavors. They'll need to be heated before serving, but they can be made the day before, so there's really no last minute work.

[Chris Amirault]

If they're crispy/crunchy, I'm eager to hear more.

[JAZ]

Not inherently crispy, but you could make them so pretty easily. I make them by boiling small- to medium-sized potatoes, then cooling. Cut them in half, scoop out the flesh and mix with whatever you like. At this point, I usually just pipe the filling back into the shells and bake them, but you could certainly deep fry the shells first, which would give you your crispy crunchy element.

[maggiethecat]

After you've split and emptied the cooked potatoes, rub a sheet pan with olive oil, place skins on it, drizzle them with a little more oil , bake until crisp. Remove from oven and stuff in the ordinary way. The skins should stay crisp through reheating.

[JAZ]

Maggie, this is brilliant. I usually just stuff the shells and then bake at 400F. The outsides of the potatoes get a bit crisp, but your way sounds as if the crispness factor is markedly increased. Do you rebake after filling?

[maggiethecat]

Maggie, this is brilliant. I usually just stuff the shells and then bake at 400F. The outsides of the potatoes get a bit crisp, but your way sounds as if the crispness factor is markedly increased. Do you rebake after filling?

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Thanks, Janet. Yes, you can achieve an almost shatteringly crisp skin in the oven that stands up well to stuffing and a five minute reheat.

[Chris Amirault]

Maggie, do you boil or bake for the initial cooking?

[maggiethecat]

Maggie, do you boil or bake for the initial cooking?

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Either, depending on the potato; in general I've had better luck with baking.

[Chris Amirault]

And you bake with which tater? Aiming for lime-sized spuds?

[ChefSlade]

Bake, scoop out, cool, fill, bake. No microwaves in this one. I kid, I kid.

[snowangel]

Chris, I have great luck with starting the potatoes in the nuker and then moving them to the oven (or toaster oven).

[ChefSlade]

Microwaving kills the skin. Sure it cooks it but, the skin is the thing we really need to look after when making potato skins.

Edited July 1, 2009 by ChefSlade (log)

[snowangel]

Microwaving kills the skin. Sure it cooks it but, the skin is the thing we really need to look after when making potato skins.

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I think if you are going for skins, russets (bakers) are the key. Their skins are much more fibrous and take to crisping much nicer, although getting reds/yukons sort of hot in the nuker before setting them into a really hot oven does not wreck the skins. I think the reds/yukons skins need more oil to get them really crisp than do the russets.

[Chris Amirault]

Does anyone bake, scoop, fry, fill, then bake to reheat? Or is that insane?

[MSRadell]

I've ever tried frying them after scooping them out but I don't see why it wouldn't work and it could certainly help make them very crisp. You probably have to be careful to get most of the meat out of them and make sure they're pretty uniform in thickness for to work well though. I would think you would want a pretty hot fryer, probably around 375°or so.

[Chris Amirault]

I was wondering about a spice/herb dusting just after the frying, too....

[JAZ]

I was wondering about a spice/herb dusting just after the frying, too....

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Old Bay?

[Chris Amirault]

Not sure yet. I'm trying to figure out the base flavors, thinking I'll do two: cheddar, bacon, & chive and gorgonzola, sage, & pancetta. Figgerin'...

[Chris Amirault]

Found some excellent organic russets at Trader Joe's, of all places, that are about 4-6" long. I did a trial run today, baking them at 350F until done, scooping out the flesh, using Maggie's great method to recrisp the skin (oil, salt, 450F for 7-8 min), and filling them up with 10 oz potato, 6 oz homemade bacon (uncooked; about 2 oz cooked), and 3 oz Cabot sharp cheddar cheese. Sprinkled a little more cheese on them and then finished in the 450F oven. They were great.

I think that the 10:6:4 ratio is pretty good, and I'm planning to use it for the gorgonzola/pancetta version as well.