The Best Way to Cook an IQF Baked Potato

           IQF stands for Individually Quick Frozen which is how we do potatoes at World Wide Foods.  This unique process is what gives our potato that baked potato taste that only comes from oven baked potatoes.  Since we actually oven bake them, and freeze them (IQF style), this gives you two things that you will love. 1) Baked potato taste. 2) Convenience.

Cooking Baked Potatoes

Personally, I have tried cooking these potatoes several ways and the following two are my favorites. 

1.  Microwave baked potatoes. 

            When you microwave these it takes 3-4 minutes.  You can have the main part of your meal done in the time it takes to throw together a salad.  Just add butter and sour cream to taste and you have lunch.

2.  Oven Baked with a crispy shell

            Some of us know that it's not a baked potato unless the shell is crispy, whether we plan to eat the shell or not.  We can do this with our IQF baked potatoes!  One way to do this is to put them in your oven on 500 for about 30 minutes.  It takes half the time as the baking of a raw potato, plus you don't have to scrub them first.  Make sure you poke a hole in them with a fork because if you don't, on rare occasions, at this temperature, they might explode.  The crispy shell you get this way is great.  If you are pressed for time, you can put them in the microwave for a couple of minutes first and finish them in the oven to get the crispy shell.

3.  Toaster Oven

            This one, I don't even recommend.  Toaster ovens just take too long and they never seem to get hot enough to properly cook a baked potato.

Toppings

As for toppings, and you've got to have toppings, there are so many things you can put on a baked potato.  Here are some that I've tried and loved.

1.  Gravy

            This is my personal favorite.  If you just dig out the inside, and mash it with gravy, it makes great mashed potatoes.  This is so much more convenient than boiling, mashing, and whipping up mashed potatoes.  And you can do one or two without feeling like you just wasted a lot of time because it is so quick and convenient.  The hardest part is making the gravy.  Also, kids love them.

2.  Butter and Sour Cream

            This is perhaps the easiest way to make a baked potato.  A good trick to using butter and sour cream and not getting too much fat is to pour a little milk on it (skim, 2%, whatever your preference).  This will add moisture without adding too much fat.  Then you can add a little butter and sour cream for flavor.

3.  Other toppings

            Other toppings you may want to add to butter and sour cream are cheese-put that in while your potato is still hot and it will melt just right.  Then add your butter and sour cream.  Other options include chili and green peppers, broccoli and cheese, cheese sauce with jalapeno peppers, and cottage cheese.  

            Whether you microwave or bake our IQF baked potato, just add your favorite toppings.  It is going to come out quick, and taste great.