Baked Potatoes in Convection Oven: A Step-By-Step Guide
Potatoes. Give them to me - mashed, baked...even fried!
However, few things feel as cozy as having some steamy, delicious baked potatoes when the temperatures start dropping.
It's my personal nirvana.
Undercooking? I used to worry about that, until I got my convection oven. Let me tell you: making baked potatoes in a convection oven can be really easy.
Today we'll be looking at a few things:
- Step-by-step guide to baking potatoes in your oven
- Including how long should you bake them depending on size
- A few favorite topping options I recommend (this one might be too traditional for some, but I can't resist it)
OK, let's go!
By the way...If you're in the market for a new convection oven, feel free to check my round up of the best convection ovens for baking.
Baked Potatoes in Convection Oven
If you’ve recently upgraded your oven, your cooking style and knowledge need to be brought up to date in line with your equipment.
As convection oven experts, we’re often asked about cooking times and temperatures, so we’ve recorded all of our answers here to help you achieve baked potato success.
Can you use a convection oven for baking potatoes?
Yes, you’ll be pleased to learn that you can cook baked potatoes to perfection in a convection oven.
In fact, there isn’t much your new convection oven can’t cook.
Does it take longer to bake in a convection oven?
No, it’s quite the opposite.
Baking in your convection oven will usually be around 20% faster than your older conventional oven.
Your new convection oven will not only cook faster, but it’ll also do it at a lower temperature.
So, be sure to adjust your cooking times appropriately when following old recipes.
How to Bake a Potato in a Convection Oven
Learning how to bake a potato in a convection oven is easy.
With our method, you’ll achieve potatoes that are crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.
To achieve crispy skin, we don’t use any foil when baking the potatoes. In fact, you don’t even need an oven tray.
What temperature should a baked potato be cooked at?
You can bake your potato at a temperature as low as 300F, but if you want to cook them quicker, up to 375F will still work.
The flexibility of temperature makes life much easier when you’re baking more than one item in your oven.
If you’ve got some veggies to roast at the same time, or perhaps some fish sticks to heat up, you can usually match the other item’s temperature needs.
You should also know that the higher the temperature you use, the crustier your potato skins will be.
Then again, if you try to cook them too high, you run the risk of burning the skin before the inside is properly cooked through.
How long to bake potatoes in convection oven?
Your cooking time will depend on the size of your potatoes and the temperature you have your oven preheated to.
Undercooking your potatoes will cause them to be hard when you cut into them, and overcooking will dry them out.
Use the cooking times below as a guideline to get your potatoes right every time.
Medium-Sized Potatoes (Approximately Five Ounces)
- Cook for 90 minutes at 300 degrees
- Cook for 60 minutes at 325 degrees
- Cook for 45 minutes at 375 degrees
Large Potatoes (Eight to 10 ounces)
- Cook for 80 minutes at 325 degrees
- Cook for 60 minutes at 375 degrees
How to Bake Potatoes in a Convection Oven in 8 Easy Steps
Now that you know how to bake your potatoes, let’s put it into practice with a step-by-step guide.
Step 1: Choose Your Potatoes
If you like your baked potato to be soft and fluffy on the inside, you’ll want to choose a potato variety that has a high starch content.
King Edward and Desiree are two such varieties. They’re also suitable for crisping up as their skin doesn’t hold moisture well.
Russet potatoes, also known as Idaho potatoes, are also really great for baking.
If you’re baking more than one potato, try to select potatoes similar in size when you’re at the store.
This way, they’ll all have roughly the same cooking time, simplifying the cooking process.
Step 2: Wash Your Potatoes
Once you’ve selected your perfect potatoes for baking, rinse them under cold water and scrub the skins off them well.
We use a stiff bristle brush that we keep under the sink for scrubbing all kinds of vegetables ready for cooking and eating.
Remember, you’ll be eating the delicious skins of these potatoes, so remove any discolored spots or bruises that you see on the surface with the tip of a knife.
Once you're done cleaning each potato, dry them thoroughly with a paper towel and set them down on a chopping board.
At this point, you don’t want to soak them for any length of time, as this will make them soggy.
You shouldn’t use hot water because this will start cooking the outside of the potatoes, and the insides won’t be able to catch up.
Step 3: Pierce Your Potatoes
Next up, using your knife, you need to pierce each potato deeply several times at (roughly) one-inch intervals.
Doing this allows the steam to escape during the cooking process.
Forgetting to do this may cause them to explode and make a terrible mess in your oven.
Step 4: Grease Your Potatoes
If you’re following a low-fat diet, feel free to skip this step, but greasing the outside of your potatoes will help them achieve crispier, more delicious skin.
You can use olive oil, butter, or any other cooking oil (vegetable oil, canola oil, etc.) you have on hand.
Pour a small amount of oil or melted butter into your palm and rub it into each potato skin, covering every inch.
Step 5: Salt Your Potatoes
Now that your potatoes are all greased up, the salt will stick to them easily, and they’ll be ready to bake.
Pour out some coarse grain salt onto a plate and roll each potato over it until they’re lightly coated in salt.
Depending on what you're eating your potatoes with, you could also add some spices or seasonings to the salt to make a mixture.
We recommend trying garlic powder, onion powder, or cajun seasoning to make those potato skins even tastier.
Step 6: Cook Your Potatoes
Now, your potatoes are ready to cook, so place each potato directly onto the oven rack.
It doesn’t matter where they go in the oven, as that’s one of the benefits of a convection oven.
Your potatoes will start to brown where they’re touching the rack, so turn them over halfway through cooking to prevent them from over-browning.
You can also place a baking tray or sheet of aluminum foil on the shelf directly underneath the potatoes to help make cleaning up even easier.
Step 7: Check If They’re Properly Cooked
There are several ways to check that your baked potatoes are cooking properly.
The most reliable and efficient way is to use a meat thermometer, which should read 210 degrees Fahrenheit when they’re ready.
You can also stick a fork in them or give them a squeeze with an oven mitt.
If you’re using a fork, it should pierce the skin, sink into, and pull out of the potato flesh easily when it’s done.
If you’re using an oven mitt, the potatoes should yield easily when you squeeze them, which will tell you that they’re ready.
Step 8: Serve Your Potatoes
When you’re happy with your potato's softness or temperature, remove them from the oven and slit them open on the top with a long and as-wide-as-you-can cross.
Using your thumbs and index fingers (and some heat protection), pinch the edges of the potato and push down into them to encourage the fluffy interior to pop up slightly.
Be very careful when doing this. The potato will release a lot of steam, especially if it’s fresh out of the oven.
Ideas for Baked Potato Toppings
You may like to stick to traditional toppings on your baked potato, such as butter, cheese, and sour cream.
However, you can also transform your baked potato into an entire meal with the right toppings.
Here are some of our favorite baked potato toppings from around the world, which can all be enjoyed with or without butter and cheese.
When it comes to the cold toppings (coleslaw, tuna, and shrimp mayo), you can add your cheese first (if you prefer it melted) or on top of the dish to keep it more solid!
- Grated cheese and coleslaw
- Tuna mayonnaise with red onion
- Shrimp mayonnaise and shredded iceberg lettuce
- Chilli con carne
- Baked beans and cheese
- Hummus, olives, and tomatoes
- Your choice of meat, taco seasoning, black beans, cheese, and salsa
Best Baked Potatoes
Now that you know how to make perfect baked potatoes in convection oven, you can have loads of fun trying out different toppings.
Baked potatoes are so versatile, they’ll work with almost anything!
You can easily increase or decrease the cooking time to suit the rest of your meal preparation by adjusting your oven’s temperature.
Remember not to leave your potatoes in the oven too long, though, as that will dry them out.