OPINION | FRONT BURNER: A U.K. method for crispy skins on jacket potatoes

Baked potatoes are among the first foods I learned to cook. As my mother's kitchen helper, I was most often tasked with things that didn't require using a knife or hold the potential to make a big mess. Scrubbing russet potatoes under running water and poking them with the tines of a fork was right up my alley.

The potatoes would then go into the oven for about an hour, depending on their size. Sometimes directly on the oven rack and sometimes on a baking sheet. We never wrapped them in foil because that would steam them and the goal was always piping hot, fluffy flesh and crisp skin. The baking temperature varied depending on if the potatoes were cooking alongside something else or by themselves.