Potatoes – the number one sold vegetable. It is the backbone of many homemade and restaurant dishes. Its versatility can help it be the star of the dish, or a wonderful garnish for a beautiful meal. There are many ways of cooking them – boiled, mashed, baked, roasted, fried – the options here are endless and all of them are delicious!
But let us say that we are on a mission to find out the easiest, fastest way to cook a potato, which appliance will do the job the best in this case? Will it be trusted oven, or the pot – the skillet, or the microwave?
So here comes the question – can you cook a raw potato in the microwave? This article will reveal all secrets around microwaving a potato – can you do it, how to do it, is the best way to cook a potato and if not, then what is?
Keep on reading if you want to know more about the focal point of our interest today – can you microwave potatoes?
Microwaving potatoes:
Microwaves are truly remarkable as the rapid heating they produce can cook or reheat almost anything in less time than other appliances.
In theory, every food can be microwaved, even potatoes, the question is about the quality of the result – if it will be just as refined and tasty as if cooked by using a different, more traditional method or appliance.
In the oven the heat has to migrate by conduction from the outside of the food towards the middle, in microwave cooking, however, the radio waves try to penetrate the food and there is no conduction, this is why if the dish you are cooking or heating is with uneven thickness, the microwave will very quickly dry out or burn the top and leave the centre ice cold, so most chefs try to avoid this appliance at all costs.
However, when it comes to practicality and time-saving, a lot of the times, microwaving is the way to go. If you want to try and cook your potatoes in it at home, we recommend following these steps:
- If you are cooking more than one potato, try to get them to be all roughly the same size, so you can ensure a more even cooking.
- Wash them well so you get rid of all grime and dirt and rug them with olive oil and some spices, you can even rub them with garlic – it will definitely enhance the taste.
- Poke several holes with a fork or toothpick on each side of the potato. As we know all flora and fauna contains parts water so these holes will help the steam that is building up in the potatoes, during the cooking process, to escape.
- This is an important step, please make sure not to forget it, otherwise, you risk having some explosive potatoes.
- If you do not want your potatoes to be dry, then in a bowl melt some butter and add salt flakes, smear some of this over the potatoes if you have cut them in half – the water will escape with the steam, but the butter will keep the potatoes moist nonetheless.
Now that we know we can microwave potatoes and how to do it, we will share with you another way of cooking them, which is just as simple and instead of having you constantly checking on them to see if they are cooked or to make sure they are not burnt, this way will give you plenty of time to prepare another meal or to get ready for your guests!
Roasted Potatoes In The Oven:
You will need:
- 5-7 medium-sized potatoes
- 4 tbsp of melted butter
- 1 tsp of kosher salt
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp of white or brown sugar
- rosemary
- 1 tsp of black pepper
How to do it:
If you have the time, boil the potatoes in hot water for about 3-5 minutes and preheat your oven to 357F or 175C.
Get a baking tray and cover it with baking paper. Wash the potatoes well and scrub away all the dirt as we will not be peeling them.
Melt the butter in a bowl and add the salt, the minced garlic cloves, the brown sugar and black pepper. After boiling the potatoes for 5 minutes let them cool for a bit and then rub them with the buttery mixture.
Set them on the tray and roast them in the oven for about an hour and a half. You will have plenty of time to cook another meal or a wonderful dessert as well, while the potatoes are baking!
To summarise it
You can definitely microwave potatoes, if you would like, however, there are some important steps which you must not forget – clean the potatoes well, rub them with spices and with butter or olive oil to have them moist, poke some holes with a fork so they do not explode and cook them in a microwave-safe dish!
We hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful. Now you are ready to microwave these potatoes and create some awesome meals as well!
