Anyone ever have a baked potato explode?
Idle question. I've always heard that you need to prick the skins before baking a potato. The potential consequence for failure to do so is a catastrophic potato explosion.
Has anyone had this happen to them?
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…or a bombe de terre, if you will.
French speaker here: what makes it funny for me is it kind of sounds like someone trying to say “pomme de terre” with a stuffy nose
I thought it was Germans who were humourless.
I literally said “what makes it funny for me”
And then proceeded to explain the joke
I don’t get it, sorry
That's what they we're going for, yea
You deserve good things in life.
Yep
You brought receipts. Impressive lol.
No pan or tray? Straight on the rack huh?
I was under the impression that you prick the skin to make it easier for the moisture to exit the potato so it gets drier and therefore fluffier.
But my wife just said she had a potato explode when she didn't poke it enough.
Years ago, though I'd say "burst" more than "explode."
Interesting! That's kind of what I was thinking as a realistic outcome.
Hotdogs, on the other hand, do sometimes explode because of all the trapped moisture becoming steam
Not something I thought I’d ever read
A Rapid Unscheduled Mashing, as they say in the industry.
Even if untrue, I’ll just take the opportunity to stab something inanimate that won’t get me arrested.
Despite microwaving potatoes frequently, (1-10/wk, don’t judge me) for many years (often questionably, typically without pricking) I have yet to have one explode. One would assume microwave explosions would be more common.
Perhaps luck, perhaps potato type/size (I like Yukon gold and reds, which are thin skin, small, and relatively soft) but it’s just me so I don’t usually buy large/baking potatoes, and maybe those are more prone to bursting?
I put them in a lidded microwave safe container, bit of water in the bottom, microwave for 10-15 minutes. Never a burst in.. almost 20 years?
Not judging, but that's a lot of potatoes.
Avg of 5/wk, 260/y, 5200 over the 20years.
Did you celebrate the 5000th?
Potatoes are fairly cheap and you can survive on them far longer than ramen.
But maybe they just really like the taste.
Saw a recent video from America's Test Kitchen where they recommend temping baked potatoes and docking the skins: https://piped.video/watch?v=iG7wEqs9j4E
In the comments, someone said they had potatoes explode after baking, letting them cool for a bit, then re-baking.
Personally, I don't usually bake enough potatoes to justify turning on the oven, so I microwave them; which is notorious for for getting food everywhere without adequate supervision.
I was going to reference the same video, but highlight the part where they said they did a whole bunch of experiments to try to get a potato to explode, but never managed to do it. They specifically asked for anecdotes in the comments to help them figure out what they were doing wrong (or right, if you don't want exploded potatoes).
In other words, they still recommend docking just in case, but apparently exploding potatoes are really really rare (unless you know the trick to make it happen on purpose, I guess).
Not in a regular oven, but in a microwave, yes
I used to work in a bar that made baked potatoes all the time
It was a fast way to sober up a bit when one would pop in the oven
Have you heard of the Tunguska Event?
*Spudguska Event
Potatoes absolutely will build up enough internal pressure to pop, even if the skins have been punctured. Not every spud will blow up some just split; when they do it makes a hell of a mess in the oven. I once broke a microwave at work with a potato because it did this. To postulate a reason; some potatoes have a higher moisture content than others.
When I was a kid my mom was baking potatoes one time and realized partway through that she forgot to stab them before putting them in the oven. She quickly opened the oven and slid the rack out and stabbed one with a fork. Unfortunately it was too late. I was standing right next to the oven and potato exploded all over my mom and I as soon as the fork touched it.
That's the sort of horror story that's going to keep me stabbing my potatoes.
You used the microwave ? 🤨
No. I've got a couple in the oven right now because the weather is cold. In warmer times I've been using an air fryer.
I was under the impression it only really happens in the microwave. The oven heats it slower so it might get a crack to let the steam out, but a microwave is so quick it can get a small portion that seems to "explode" enough to get a bit of potato on the inside of the microwave.
It's not just that. Ovens cook with heat originating outside of the food, so the skin cooks(and cracks) before the inside gets hot enough to detonate. Microwaves on the other hand cook by exciting water molecules inside the food, and since the inside of the potato has way more moisture than the skin, it heats up much faster than the skin does.
Microwaves still cook from the outside in, but yes, mostly only excite water.
I believe this came up in another ATK thing, but can't track it down at the moment.
Well, t.i.l., thanks 👍
No but had eggplants explode, and instantly sear onto the entire inside of the oven. Even kicked the door open a little.
I would fear an eggplant more than a potato. Higher moisture and tougher skin. Not going to take any chances.
In the oven, really hot and it blew open and "baked" all over the inside. Hell to clean up. I was sure I poked it, but... couldn't remember.
Now I go all serial killer on them before baking.
Now that's the exciting outcome from my worst fears.
Yes. And in a very traditional oven too.
Yes. It blew up real good.
Potatoes have exploded in my family's microwave numerous times.
Nope, never. I never prick the things, just straight in on the rack as they are.
@ArtieShaw
Yes.
Never
I stab deep with a fork; twice on the ends, twice on the sides (six total). I’m paranoid but it works.
Never. Never had to prick them either.
No. But I did have one catch on fire in a big way, because it was already fully cooked (low moisture at that point) and too close to the broiler element. I had never used a broiler before. The starch and sugar in a potato is quite flammable.
Been practicing cooking for pretty much thirty years. Many many baked potatoes, never had one explode.
Same here! Last night I was stabbing a couple out of habit and felt like the question needed to be asked.
Never stabbed one potato in all that time.
...Perhaps they don't explode in Australia? Or it could be a microwave thing. I don't have a microwave.
There are videos of this on YouTube and TikTok.
It's never happened to me, but it happened to someone I knew in college. They spent a while cleaning the oven after that lol.