Insert hot potato joke here
November 17, 2011 1:10 AM Subscribe
Help me figure out the best way to bake 80 lbs of potatoes for hungry protestors, please?
I figure the least I can do is feed some people, so today after I had a phonecall with the person in charge of dinner over at Occupy Seattle I bopped over to the store and bought 4 20lb bags of russet potatoes, a bunch of aluminum foil, and additional nonsense like tubs of sour cream and cheddar cheese (and some of that fancy vegan "cheese", the type that apparently does melt) and chives.
I have a regular electric oven with two racks, a couple plastic storage bins I intend to use to transport the potatoes when baked, and a smallish amount of counter space.
Thus far my plan is to wash & poke the potatoes individually, put as many as will fit in one of the storage containers with some oil and salt and whack them around so they get coated, stick as many as will fit on my oven racks and bake at 400F for an hour, and then take them out of the oven with a pair of mitts and wrap them individually in foil, and stick the finished ones in the other tub. Eventually I will wash the first tub and use that one to hold the other half of the potatoes.
But when I think about it, this plan seems like it has great potential for disaster. Is there some kind of logical system or order of operations I could employ to get this done in a way that will get me a baked potato for a hungry person who wants to eat the skins, but also wouldn't involve handling super hot potatoes without foil around them? Is there some way I could wash them all in a huge batch instead of scrubbing them carefully in my kitchen sink? Something I could use to poke holes in them all easily, without possibly stabbing myself in the process? Can I do some of this tonight? And since I know I can't fit ~100 potatoes on my two oven racks, how can I keep them all warm enough to still be good at about 6:30pm when I'm planning to take them over to the camp? Will the foil be sufficient?
I've never cooked anything for more than 8 people, so if you have tips or experience, please share your wisdom, oh great and noble mefites!
I figure the least I can do is feed some people, so today after I had a phonecall with the person in charge of dinner over at Occupy Seattle I bopped over to the store and bought 4 20lb bags of russet potatoes, a bunch of aluminum foil, and additional nonsense like tubs of sour cream and cheddar cheese (and some of that fancy vegan "cheese", the type that apparently does melt) and chives.
I have a regular electric oven with two racks, a couple plastic storage bins I intend to use to transport the potatoes when baked, and a smallish amount of counter space.
Thus far my plan is to wash & poke the potatoes individually, put as many as will fit in one of the storage containers with some oil and salt and whack them around so they get coated, stick as many as will fit on my oven racks and bake at 400F for an hour, and then take them out of the oven with a pair of mitts and wrap them individually in foil, and stick the finished ones in the other tub. Eventually I will wash the first tub and use that one to hold the other half of the potatoes.
But when I think about it, this plan seems like it has great potential for disaster. Is there some kind of logical system or order of operations I could employ to get this done in a way that will get me a baked potato for a hungry person who wants to eat the skins, but also wouldn't involve handling super hot potatoes without foil around them? Is there some way I could wash them all in a huge batch instead of scrubbing them carefully in my kitchen sink? Something I could use to poke holes in them all easily, without possibly stabbing myself in the process? Can I do some of this tonight? And since I know I can't fit ~100 potatoes on my two oven racks, how can I keep them all warm enough to still be good at about 6:30pm when I'm planning to take them over to the camp? Will the foil be sufficient?
I've never cooked anything for more than 8 people, so if you have tips or experience, please share your wisdom, oh great and noble mefites!
If you are planning on baking the potatoes, definitely leave on the skin. The skin prevents them from drying out in the oven (not to mention being nutritious and delicious)
If I we're doing this, I think I would leave the skin on, but pierce each potato in a few places with a fork before wrapping them in foil.
Russet potatoes in foil take about an hour to cook thoroughly at 425, according to this recipe. Poke them with a fork after that to see if if they're done (they should be soft and yielding)
The benefit to doing them in foil is they steam themselves while they cook, so they should be light and fluffy to eat. Once they are all done, transfer them to your buckets using tongs if you have them.
It's also worth noting that even cold baked potatoes are delicious, and would certainly be appreciated (even without the awesome addition of sour cream and whatnot) so if you dont feel you can get them there hot safely, maybe just let them cool before throwing them in the tub? That way you also would not have to worry about cooking them all at once. You could also check with the people at Occupy and ask if they have a method for reheating the potatoes there.
Thats my two cents. On a personal note, thank you for your generosity and contribution to an important movement!
posted by sarastro at 1:29 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
If I we're doing this, I think I would leave the skin on, but pierce each potato in a few places with a fork before wrapping them in foil.
Russet potatoes in foil take about an hour to cook thoroughly at 425, according to this recipe. Poke them with a fork after that to see if if they're done (they should be soft and yielding)
The benefit to doing them in foil is they steam themselves while they cook, so they should be light and fluffy to eat. Once they are all done, transfer them to your buckets using tongs if you have them.
It's also worth noting that even cold baked potatoes are delicious, and would certainly be appreciated (even without the awesome addition of sour cream and whatnot) so if you dont feel you can get them there hot safely, maybe just let them cool before throwing them in the tub? That way you also would not have to worry about cooking them all at once. You could also check with the people at Occupy and ask if they have a method for reheating the potatoes there.
Thats my two cents. On a personal note, thank you for your generosity and contribution to an important movement!
posted by sarastro at 1:29 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Well, not to threadsit, but the reason I wouldn't wrap them in foil before baking is that apparently doing that results in non-delicious skins. Also, I just have never personally baked a potato that way. Are the skins just as good when pre-foiled?
posted by Mizu at 1:35 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by Mizu at 1:35 AM on November 17, 2011
Where have you heard that it ruins the skins to bake them in foil? The skin is still great. Plus if I had to pick between the quality of the skins versus the rest of the potato, potatoes cooked in foil are way fluffier and don't dry out.
posted by Nattie at 1:42 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Nattie at 1:42 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
Best answer: When our family throws large dinner parties (50+) at our hunting lodge we wrap each potato in foul and prick with a fork a bunch. Each potato gets rolled in some butter and then gets a hearty sprinkle of salt and a grind or two of pepper. The foil is then put around the potato and it is just thrown in the oven until it is full and you can't get any more inside. Cook for about 2 hours to allow for the heat to reach the innermost potatoes.
When you want to serve them just take them out and let them cool a bit and viola baked potatoes. I think the butter and salt helps the skins come out nice.
posted by koolkat at 1:45 AM on November 17, 2011 [4 favorites]
When you want to serve them just take them out and let them cool a bit and viola baked potatoes. I think the butter and salt helps the skins come out nice.
posted by koolkat at 1:45 AM on November 17, 2011 [4 favorites]
Just to add to what koolkat said, you can also rub them in vegetable shortening before sprinkling them with salt and wrapping them in foil. That way all of the potatoes would be good for vegans and you wouldn't have to make two different types I mention only because you mentioned vegan cheese. I used to work at a restaurant that did this, and the skins were still tasty. Plus, vegetable shortening should be cheaper than butter, so you could spend more money on additional toppings, if you so wish.
Is there anyone you can cajole into helping you? I can imagine this would be a quick job if you could do it assembly style, especially if you pre-cut a bunch of foil sheets.
Also, this is an awesome idea! Thank you!
posted by lizjohn at 2:26 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Is there anyone you can cajole into helping you? I can imagine this would be a quick job if you could do it assembly style, especially if you pre-cut a bunch of foil sheets.
Also, this is an awesome idea! Thank you!
posted by lizjohn at 2:26 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Wrapping the "hot potato" bin in a comforter or some such will help insulate it and keep the earlier batches a bit warmer while the later batches are still cooking.
posted by drlith at 3:19 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by drlith at 3:19 AM on November 17, 2011
Do you have a microwave? Because you can start them off for a few minutes before putting them in the oven in order to reduce the amount of time they need in the oven. Unfortunately I can't give (nor find) any details.
posted by kjs4 at 3:29 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by kjs4 at 3:29 AM on November 17, 2011
1. Wash potatoes.
2. Poke holes in potatoes.
3. Apply olive oil and salt.
4. Wrap individually in foil.
5. Bake.
6. Remove hot potatoes from oven with tongs, put them in an insulated cooler and haul them downtown.
Will this produce the BEST BAKED POTATO EVER? No. Is it a quick and easy method to make vast quantities of delicious potatoes that will be greatly appreciated by cold, hungry protesters? Oh, hell yes.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:56 AM on November 17, 2011 [7 favorites]
2. Poke holes in potatoes.
3. Apply olive oil and salt.
4. Wrap individually in foil.
5. Bake.
6. Remove hot potatoes from oven with tongs, put them in an insulated cooler and haul them downtown.
Will this produce the BEST BAKED POTATO EVER? No. Is it a quick and easy method to make vast quantities of delicious potatoes that will be greatly appreciated by cold, hungry protesters? Oh, hell yes.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:56 AM on November 17, 2011 [7 favorites]
Regarding microwaving, I usually do 2 medium sized potatoes for 10-11 minutes in an 800W microwave before baking them. The downside to that is it's a lot more work to be constantly microwaving small batches of potatoes. Probably easier just to throw them all in the oven for a longer period.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:57 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:57 AM on November 17, 2011
Wash, veg oil, salt, foil. Bake. Good tater!! Thanks for doing this!! Good idea!!
posted by pearlybob at 4:33 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by pearlybob at 4:33 AM on November 17, 2011
Former caterer here.
The best way to keep baked potatoes hot while you transport them is to put them in your ice chest or cooler when you take them out of the oven. The insulation keeps the heat in, and they stay HOT, especially if you fill up the cooler. You can stuff a blanket in there after the first batch is done to keep them hot if they don't fill the cooler, then take it out when you put the second batch in.
posted by MultiFaceted at 5:02 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
The best way to keep baked potatoes hot while you transport them is to put them in your ice chest or cooler when you take them out of the oven. The insulation keeps the heat in, and they stay HOT, especially if you fill up the cooler. You can stuff a blanket in there after the first batch is done to keep them hot if they don't fill the cooler, then take it out when you put the second batch in.
posted by MultiFaceted at 5:02 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
Second on the cooler. This is how I've seen local schools manage this for fund raisers. Keeps them warm for HOURS.
posted by plinth at 6:00 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by plinth at 6:00 AM on November 17, 2011
Do you have sheet pans? In an electric oven with two racks, you can probably get about half of these potatoes to go at once, meaning that you're looking at about 3 hours of baking time. No real need to oil or salt potatoes before cooking, unless you really want to. Still it's an extra step. Yes, they are just fine to wrap before baking. 3rding a cooler to transport, and a separate cooler to keep your cold stuff in.
posted by Gilbert at 8:56 AM on November 17, 2011
posted by Gilbert at 8:56 AM on November 17, 2011
The benefit to baking potatoes without foil is that the skins can get crispy and delicious, but since these aren't going to be eaten right out of the oven, the skins are going to get soft anyway. In this case I think it is acceptable to bake in foil, though at any other time it is a horrible affront to all that is good and true in the world.
posted by Nedroid at 10:05 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Nedroid at 10:05 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have no skills in this area but it seems to me you would need to shuffle your potato pile around once or twice to prevent uneven cooking.
Wrapping before baking has the advantage of not needing to handle hot potatoes and not letting them cool as you work.
posted by chairface at 2:16 PM on November 17, 2011
Wrapping before baking has the advantage of not needing to handle hot potatoes and not letting them cool as you work.
posted by chairface at 2:16 PM on November 17, 2011
Response by poster: Okay! I just got back from dropping those suckers off. It was very quiet, not sure if people were still out and about or if they were bunking down on this dreary night already but hopefully word spread and by now everything has been suitably devoured.
I have no coolers, alas.
For future reference, this is what I did:
Last night I dumped all my potatoes into one of my big bins. I poured water over them to cover and sat on the floor with a scrubby dish thingy (not a sponge, just the scrubby part) and a bath towel in my lap. I scrubbed each one (the bulk bags are always especially dirty I find), patted it dry on the towel, and deposited them into my second big bin. Then I washed and dried the first bin, which had accumulated an impressive amount of muck. This whole step definitely took the longest amount of time. I loosely covered the clean bin of potatoes with its lid so they would still dry completely but be in the dark until the next day.
Today I found some of those cheap wooden skewers which I randomly just had in the house. I was thinking that a fork actually requires significant force to poke holes because of how dull the tines are and something sharper would be better, but a pairing knife would just make a big gash. The little skewers worked perfectly - like a rapier instead of a saber, you know? It sunk right in. I set it up so I had the un-poked potatoes on one side, a nonslip silicone mat in front of me (technically it's for rolling out pie dough) so the potatoes wouldn't go places when i poked them, and the empty bin to the other side, and I filled it up with the poked ones. Meanwhile I made my compatriot rip enough pieces of foil for each potato. Holding a skewer in poking position makes your hand cramp up! Make somebody help you with this task because ow, my fingers haven't cramped like that since the SATs. Lesson learned: I probably should have wrapped it with something to bulk it up like a towel with some rubber bands.
Then I dumped a bunch of olive oil and salt on top of the poked potatoes, changed my shirt to something that could be ruined, and mixed it all up so every potato was coated. I put one at a time on the pile of foil pieces and my compatriot rolled them with his non-oily hands. Lesson learned: set out a few piles of foil so I can place more than one potato at a time. These were stuck in the original bin, where it was discovered that all of them fit, despite the additional volume of the foil wrapping.
From there I used koolkat's advice, thanks! I tried doing them in just one layer per rack but that was clearly nonsense. I made an aluminum potato ziggurat in my oven, just jamming all those suckers in there at once, cranked it to 425F and let it roll for two hours. About 1.5 hours in the outermost ones were probably a little overcooked, but the innermost ones were not quite done. I just let it keep going for the rest of the 30 minutes.
During the baking time I washed the oily salty bin out in the bathtub. I nested my two bins and lined the inside one with an old towel, and started taking out the potatoes. My oven mitts sufficed but my compatriot had those fancy work gloves. When I got to the inside potatoes I poked a few to make sure they were done and it was all fine. The oven was a bit steamy and now my entire apartment smells of potatoes, but there were no mishaps and no horrible messes. I stuck another old towel on top and with two lids and the additional layer of air between the bins for insulation they stayed quite hot on the car ride down to the camp.
When I got there we pulled up to the curb and I ran out over to the tent and announced the potato arrival and they were like, LET ME HELP YOU GET THEM. Everything just sort of disappeared into the night. They said on their website they needed storage bins, thus the two big bins were an additional donation. I didn't stick around to tell them the potatoes and cheese and sour cream had been purchased with the compatriot's sympathetic 1%er money, mwuahahaha~ It was cold and wet and I hope that some of them got a little warmer than they otherwise would be.
Primary lesson learned: those of us who think it is an affront to foil-bake potatoes are in the minority and most people are like "potatoes? get into my mouth!"
Thanks for your tips, fine mefites.
posted by Mizu at 8:27 PM on November 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
I have no coolers, alas.
For future reference, this is what I did:
Last night I dumped all my potatoes into one of my big bins. I poured water over them to cover and sat on the floor with a scrubby dish thingy (not a sponge, just the scrubby part) and a bath towel in my lap. I scrubbed each one (the bulk bags are always especially dirty I find), patted it dry on the towel, and deposited them into my second big bin. Then I washed and dried the first bin, which had accumulated an impressive amount of muck. This whole step definitely took the longest amount of time. I loosely covered the clean bin of potatoes with its lid so they would still dry completely but be in the dark until the next day.
Today I found some of those cheap wooden skewers which I randomly just had in the house. I was thinking that a fork actually requires significant force to poke holes because of how dull the tines are and something sharper would be better, but a pairing knife would just make a big gash. The little skewers worked perfectly - like a rapier instead of a saber, you know? It sunk right in. I set it up so I had the un-poked potatoes on one side, a nonslip silicone mat in front of me (technically it's for rolling out pie dough) so the potatoes wouldn't go places when i poked them, and the empty bin to the other side, and I filled it up with the poked ones. Meanwhile I made my compatriot rip enough pieces of foil for each potato. Holding a skewer in poking position makes your hand cramp up! Make somebody help you with this task because ow, my fingers haven't cramped like that since the SATs. Lesson learned: I probably should have wrapped it with something to bulk it up like a towel with some rubber bands.
Then I dumped a bunch of olive oil and salt on top of the poked potatoes, changed my shirt to something that could be ruined, and mixed it all up so every potato was coated. I put one at a time on the pile of foil pieces and my compatriot rolled them with his non-oily hands. Lesson learned: set out a few piles of foil so I can place more than one potato at a time. These were stuck in the original bin, where it was discovered that all of them fit, despite the additional volume of the foil wrapping.
From there I used koolkat's advice, thanks! I tried doing them in just one layer per rack but that was clearly nonsense. I made an aluminum potato ziggurat in my oven, just jamming all those suckers in there at once, cranked it to 425F and let it roll for two hours. About 1.5 hours in the outermost ones were probably a little overcooked, but the innermost ones were not quite done. I just let it keep going for the rest of the 30 minutes.
During the baking time I washed the oily salty bin out in the bathtub. I nested my two bins and lined the inside one with an old towel, and started taking out the potatoes. My oven mitts sufficed but my compatriot had those fancy work gloves. When I got to the inside potatoes I poked a few to make sure they were done and it was all fine. The oven was a bit steamy and now my entire apartment smells of potatoes, but there were no mishaps and no horrible messes. I stuck another old towel on top and with two lids and the additional layer of air between the bins for insulation they stayed quite hot on the car ride down to the camp.
When I got there we pulled up to the curb and I ran out over to the tent and announced the potato arrival and they were like, LET ME HELP YOU GET THEM. Everything just sort of disappeared into the night. They said on their website they needed storage bins, thus the two big bins were an additional donation. I didn't stick around to tell them the potatoes and cheese and sour cream had been purchased with the compatriot's sympathetic 1%er money, mwuahahaha~ It was cold and wet and I hope that some of them got a little warmer than they otherwise would be.
Primary lesson learned: those of us who think it is an affront to foil-bake potatoes are in the minority and most people are like "potatoes? get into my mouth!"
Thanks for your tips, fine mefites.
posted by Mizu at 8:27 PM on November 17, 2011 [3 favorites]
If you are indeed aiming at vegans, you won't want to put butter on the potatoes. You'd be better off with oil.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 9:06 PM on November 17, 2011
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 9:06 PM on November 17, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:29 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]