Bread Machine Crispy Baked Potatoes

In this Instructable I will take you through the process I use to make crispy baked potatoes in a bread machine, which can be lavished with your favorite toppings! This one is a favorite for me, as I am a shift worker and the bread machine timer allows me to have beautifully cooked crispy spuds waiting for me when I wake up!! Here's how it's done..

First you will need a Bread Machine. I use the Breville BB420, but what you are after is a machine that you can program. On this machine it is accomplished using the "Manual Set" button. Consult your machine instructions for individual operation, but what you are trying to achieve is No Kneading, Maximal Baking Time (for me this is 2 Hours 30 Minutes) and a Maximum temperature (for me this is 150°C/302°F).

You will need to experiment and definitely watch the Potatoes the first couple of times you do this.

Disclaimer: You do this at your own risk, if you burn your house down or kill someone it is your fault, anything could happen blahdy blah blah blah...you get the picture. Oh and you will probably void your warranty.

Pick a couple of nice handsome spuds and get to work! Rip out the Kneader you won't knead it (ha!). Place the potatoes in the pan.

Word of caution: I do not prick the skins. I leave them so that the skin puffs slightly and crisps up. This does mean however that they build up steam pressure and could blow up in your face. That said, I have done this plenty of times and I'm only slightly disfigured ;o)

Select your custom program, adjust the timer and start the machine. When I do this I often set it for then number of hours sleep I am going to have, 2 hours and 30 minutes of which is cooking time.

Remember when getting the spuds out of the machine that they can be quite distended and ready to explode, so take precautions or turn the machine off  and let them cool slightly.

Load them up with your favorite toppings, la Voila!

You can include stuff like garlic or herb butter, cheese, tuna, chicken breast, nachos and corn chips, salads.

Once you are competent at this you can try a sweet potato variation and at the end load it up with whipped butter, sugar and cinnamon.

Enjoy! :o)