Jacket Potatoes way Back

[banjo48 928]

Ok silly question but years ago when we were kids, how did mum cook jacket spuds in the coals ?  I'm sure we didn't use foil to wrap them in but can't remember.

Did they just put them in the coals and dust off the ash when done ?

 

I know we used to do them at bonfire night but for the life of me cannot remember how.

 

When done in foil they always seem to be soft and steamed and not crispy crunchy skins.

 

 

[nonnaB 4,900]

Can't remember, think we always did them in the oven. Here whenever we have a bbq small potatoes are always thrown into the charcoal when its dying down and we dust them off. Nice and crispy.

we cant get baking potatoes here and large ones are 't the same. In fact I dont like the potatoes here. Give me the great british spud every time.

[Jill Sparrow 10,321]

My mother always did jacket potatoes in the oven and was insistent on never cutting them open, since this ruined them. She would break them open by holding them with a thick tea towel. She would have no truck with oven gloves. Mind you, she said cooking them this way came a poor second to the ones she enjoyed as a child, at her grandma's house in Basford, cooked in the coal-fired range oven. The same went for rice pudding.

 

Today, I do jackets by brushing with olive oil, pricking skins, wrapping in foil and placing on the cast steel top of the multi fuel stove. Takes time and regular turning but the result is well worth it. Yummy!

[katyjay 5,091]

Never thought about it till now, but don't ever remember having a jacket potato as a kid. Mam was a meat, potato and veg with gravy, person.

[catfan 14,793]

l love em katyjay, with grated cheese & baked beans !

Sadly nowadays a thing of the past I'm afraid, too many carbs !

As a child my mam wrapped em in tin foil & baked em over the fire.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

We just used to pierce em with a fork to stop them splitting chuck them on the fire, dust em off open and eat with salt and butter.

[radfordred 6,284]

Foil? coal? Yo was posh we add to eat em raw with soil on

[banjo48 928]

Strangely my tastes have changed as I get older, mentioned this in another post on here, I was never a big fan of boiled potatoes but used to love them when baked in a fire, hence my question.

 

On my last trip home I found to my delight, that you could buy a baked spud with prawns and seafood sauce, so this became my all time favorite baked spud meal here, but I love the crunchy crispy skins, which we never seem to get here no matter how I cook them, oven -bbq etc.

 

We have an outdoor pot belly stove now so will try in the coals without foil, will report back.

 

 

 

[Oztalgian 3,330]

Banjo, By far the best potatoes for baking are russets but I have never seen any in OZ. I usually do mine in the BBQ and a trick is to use "starchy" potato. A couple of varieties that work best are the good old King Edward or Coliban (more varieties are available in the UK that here in Oz). You have to get the BBQ really hot, wash the potatoes, pat dry, brush with olive oil and add seasoning to the skins to taste and then wrap them in two layers of foil. Put them on the BBQ with the lid down, turn once or twice during the cooking time which is dependent on size and can be an hour or more for a big potato. The secret of a crunchy skin is removing the foil for the last 15 minutes or more of cooking and turning regularly over the direct heat of the grill depending on how crunchy you want them.

[katyjay 5,091]

I always eat the skins, but a lot of folks just scrape out the potato and leave the skin. I think it's the best bit.

[catfan 14,793]

The skins contain the most vitamins.

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Lady Christl are a lovely first early but I always leave some in the ground for about 18 weeks they make lovely roasters.

Another favourite of mine is Picasso with its red spotty skin.

[Guest]

Up until a few years ago I spent my Saturdays preparing veg for a business here in Tipp.

Washed and chopped ready for use- the Pentland Penn I found to be a beautiful spud..not ideal for jackets but smashing with the Sunday joint!

[freckles 196]

Mum used to put them in the oven when there was a casserole for tea ,so they slow cooked ,we used to have them at supper time, crispy skin with stork marg on,yummmmmmm 

[Guest]

Another tale from my Grandmother.. On Children's Corner many years ago there was a jacket spud seller..she threw the skin on the cobbles for the birds..there was a scrum of hungry kids fighting for it.

[Annesleyred1865 137]

As kids when we used to have a fire this time of year we would go in the local gardens  nick some taters and bake them in the open fire. They came out black and too hot to handle but we ate most part of them. Not like the ones done in the oven at home with a bit of Lurpack on. Why did they always taste better back then ? (the oven ones)

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

^^^^^^One thought is ......... not so much watter in the spuds, these days they are just over 80% water at harvest.

[Compo 10,328]

By far the best way to bake spuds is to put them, unwrapped, into a glowing wood fire.  Let the fire burn down to a large pile of glowing embers and place the spuds into the red-hot ash. Put some more wood on and let it burn down. When it has burnt down, roughly half to three quarters of an hour, the spuds should be blackened on the outside and soft in the centre. Test them with a skewer before biting into them. The charcoal squeaks as you bite into it - yummy!  Use thick skinned potatoes such as Arran Vicotry or Cara for this cooking method.  With bonfire night coming up, now is a good time to source your spuds for the fire

[catfan 14,793]

Another one of my favourites was jacket spud with baked beans & corned beef mangled with the spud ! ahhhhhhhh .

Don't forget plenty of brown sauce too.

[Compo 10,328]

Funny how tastes change; when I was a lad I liked Tomato sauce best but now that I'm an old fogie I prefer HP brown sauce.

[Guest]

Great hangover food..many a time I've sat on a bench outside Little woods on a Saturday munching on a cheese n beans job..great lining for round two!