AirFryday: The secret to perfect baked potatoes

It was in the Seventies and Eighties that baked potatoes were a big deal. Emerging from the wings, where they had long been a side dish (as they often are again today), they entered the mainstream as a meal in their own right. Now we can bake them in our air fryers.

These are the potatoes I baked in an air fryer for the mashed potato that I used to fill this recipe for baked potato boats stuffed with cheese and onion, published in our Lekker Brekker series last Monday.

The reason I baked them, rather than boiling the potatoes, was that I needed the half shells to use as “boats” to be filled by mashed potato mixed with grated Cheddar cheese, then topped with golden fried onion and grated cheese and baked.

But the potatoes could just as well have been baked just to be enjoyed as they were — just the kind of baked potato we all love. 

These were large potatoes, so they took a full 45 minutes to be just the way I wanted them. You could whip up a topping in the meantime — a cheese sauce, mushroom sauce, tuna mayo, or for that matter a meaty mince sauce to be topped with guacamole and sour cream.

A few tricks: 

Use a skewer to pierce a series of holes in the potatoes on top and bottom, for steam to escape; otherwise there’s a chance the potatoes could burst when the pressure builds up inside them.

Make sure the potatoes are totally dry when going into the oven.

Salt the outside of the potatoes after pricking them.

Make sure there’s plenty of space between the potatoes for the hot air to circulate. This aids crispiness. Therefore, assess how many potatoes you want to cook at a time according to the size of your air fryer basket.

Most important is this: the cooking time depends on the size of the potatoes. I baked four large ones, and they took 45 minutes; but they may cook quicker if they are smaller. So, they’re done when they’re golden and crispy and when they are super-soft inside when you insert a skewer.

Tony’s air fryer baked potatoes

(Per 4 large potatoes)

Ingredients

4 large potatoes

Salt

Method

Wash the potatoes and pat them thoroughly dry.

Prick them several times all over with a skewer.

Preheat the air fryer to 200°C or 205°C (which is my machine’s default “bake” setting).

Bake them at that temperature until they’re golden and desirable outside and, when you insert a skewer to the centre, are fluffy and soft. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the year award, in 2021 and 2023

Order Tony’s book, foodSTUFF, here.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.