Just about everyone I know bakes a potato by wrapping it in foil and putting it in the oven. And yes, this works just fine. But did you know you don't actually need to put the potato in foil? If you bake a potato wrapped in foil, the potato skin will be very soft once the baking is done. I prefer a crispier skin on my baked potato. The way to control how crispy the skin is, through the use of foil.

Baking in foil for the entire baking process gives the softest skin and baking without foil at all gives the crispiest. When I bake a potato, I bake it for 20 minutes in foil. Then I take it out, remove the foil, put it back in the oven and cook for another 45 minutes or so. Perfect.

If you are a life-long foil baker, try cooking it part of the time without the foil. You may be surprised by the results.