The All-Clad D3 strikes a great balance between sturdiness and maneuverability. It has riveted handles, a seamless base, and comes with a stainless steel lid (All-Clad also sells glass lids separately if you prefer those).

What we’d leave: Compared to the Made-In stockpot, the handles are a bit smaller, but we’re really splitting hairs here. The biggest gripe here is the price. $350 is quite a hefty price to pay for a single piece of cookware. While it’s a fantastic stockpot, you should definitely consider how often you’ll use it before buying. Then again, you’ll never have to buy another stockpot in your life, so it is certainly worth it in the long run.

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Best budget stockpot: Goldilocks 8 Quart Stockpot

What we loved: We really like Goldilocks cookware. At a glance, these stockpots can easily be mistaken for All-Clad. And many of the things we like about the Goldilocks stockpot are what we like about the others above. It’s wide, spacious, and lightweight (it’s a touch heavier than the overall winners, but only a touch.) Its handles are larger than All-Clad’s, as was the pot’s actual demonstrated liquid capacity. The biggest difference? The price: $95.

What we’d leave: Through cooking tests, we’ve definitely noticed differences in the quality between it and more premium brands. The pan’s surface finish is slightly rougher than All-Clad, which we’ve found makes it prone to slight discoloration over time. The pans can also be a bit more prone to scorching at high heat. When comparing to cookware with a similar price point, Goldilocks wins out on performance and design.

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How we tested stockpots

When evaluating stockpots, we considered all the tasks that only a large pot can handle: big batch cooking, meal prepping, home canning, and, of course, making stock. These are the following tests we put each pot through to determine the winners.

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What makes a good stockpot?

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Other great stockpots we tested

Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Stainless-Steel Stockpot

This is an excellent budget choice for a stockpot. It has cool-grip handles and a superb, tight-fitting lid that minimizes drips and spills when you lift it to check on food. The pot is taller and narrower than our winners, though, which we weren’t as crazy about.

Martha is known for many iconic dishes, from her gooey macaroni and cheese and one-pan pasta to mile-high pies and her classic chewy chocolate chip cookies. Her baked potato is a favorite for many fans, and for good reason. She has turned an ordinary spud into something fabulous—special enough even to make it onto the menu at her restaurant, The Bedford in Las Vegas. It’s not just a baked potato, it’s a smashed potato.

Her unusual, gentle smashing technique sets her baked potato apart. It helps fluff up the interior of the warm potatoes. And Martha’s smashed potatoes are something that can easily be made at in your kitchen. All you need is a clean dish towel and a hot potato to bring The Bedford home and create a restaurant-worthy side dish for anything from a casual weeknight dinner to a comforting dinner party.

Why Martha’s Baked Potato Is Better Than the Rest

Making a baked potato is simple, right? Yes, but there is a crucial step that most people miss. If you slice directly into a baked potato while it’s hot, the interior flesh will be quite compact and dense. There’s nothing wrong with that, but, as Martha knows, there is a super simple way to lighten the flesh and make the baked potato nice and fluffy—and it involves getting some aggression out. 

Once the baked potato comes out of the oven, Martha makes a slit lengthwise down the center to open the potato a little. Then, with the potato wrapped in a clean dish towel, she gives it a firm but controlled smash on the countertop. This movement immediately breaks up the compact interior, leaving you with a fluffy baked potato every time.

How to Make Martha’s Famous Smashed Potato

Follow these four simple steps to change your baked potato game for the better. 

Choose the Right Potato

The first step is to pick the right potato for the job. We always reach for a russet, also known as an Idaho. This type of potato has a high amount of starch and low moisture levels, as opposed to more waxy potatoes like Yukon gold or red. Starch is exactly what you want in a baked potato, and the relatively low moisture content is what contributes to the interior’s fluffy texture. 

Aim for potatoes that weigh roughly 8 ounces each—just the right size for a substantial side dish. 

Prep It Properly

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Then scrub the potatoes with water and pat them dry. Use the tines of a fork to poke holes all over the outside (this will help the potatoes release some steam so they don’t explode in the oven). Next, rub the exterior with some good extra-virgin olive oil and season generously with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper. This way, the skin will be just as delicious as the interior.

Bake

Place the seasoned potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake them on the center rack of the preheated oven until they are easily pierced with the tip of a knife, about 1 hour. 

Slice and Smash

Remove the potatoes from the oven and use a paring knife to create a shallow slit (no more than one-third of the way into the flesh). Working carefully (the potato is hot!) transfer it to a clean dish towel and wrap it up. 

Finally, use a moderate amount of force to slam the potato against the countertop. For a more dramatic effect, do this tableside—as they do at the Bedford—so your guests can enjoy the spectacle.

Serve

Split the potato open as you would usually, season the flesh with more salt and pepper, and serve with your choice of toppings (see below for ideas). 

Serving Suggestions

At The Bedford, Martha serves her smashed potatoes with a dollop of sour cream, a hefty spoonful of caviar, and a light sprinkle of fresh snipped chives. It’s perfect for a special night out, but it can be equally as special at home. Here are a few other fun and easy ways to enjoy it:

• Topped with a compound butter, such as lemon-basil, roasted garlic, or smoky chipotle
• Loaded with sour cream, crispy crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and thinly sliced scallions
• Filled with homemade beef chili or all-bean chili

I’ve written about my love for anchovies before: I use the satisfyingly salty tinned fish to make salad dressings, dips, and pastas, and will happily eat them on their own as a snack. While many people discard the can and the remaining oil once they’re done with the fish, I like to save all the oil for another use: It’s wonderfully briny, and great for flavoring breadcrumbs, croutons, salad dressings, and more.

Below, you’ll find recipes for using up all that delicious anchovy oil—simply replace all or a portion of oil called for in the recipe with the same amount of anchovy oil to give your food a pleasant savory kick. While anchovy oil itself isn’t salty, it has a briny quality, so you may want to reduce the amount of salt called for in the recipes slightly or simply season your food to taste.

Chasing the ultimate mashed potatoes recipe? Stop clicking. This easy recipe yields supremely fluffy, ultra-creamy results that will complement Thanksgiving turkey, weeknight meatloaf, Sunday fried chicken, and anything else you can think of to serve with a pile of potato clouds.

Yukon Golds reign supreme here—rich in flavor and naturally silky even before you add dairy, but yes, russets will work in a pinch. The technique matters as much as the spuds. We boil the potatoes with their skins on in well-salted water to preserve texture and flavor. Then we pass them through a ricer or food mill to render them smooth without turning them gummy. Warm dairy infused with garlic and fresh rosemary, and a generous knob of butter swirl in seamlessly to create that dreamy, melt-in-your-mouth finish.

Feel free to make this side dish a day ahead (store in an airtight container in the fridge). Reheat gently with a splash of milk and an extra pat of butter. And when the gravy’s thin or missing? A garnish of sour cream, some chives, or a bit of salted melted butter always helps.

Tips for the best mashed potatoes

• What potatoes to use: Yukon Gold potatoes are hands-down the best potatoes for mashing. They have a naturally buttery flavor and a good level of starchiness that lends to a supremely creamy texture. But, you can also use Idaho or russet potatoes, or even a combination if preferred.
• Salt early, heavily. The water you boil your potatoes in is your first and best chance to season the spuds from within. Underseason that, and it shows.
• Keep skins on while simmering. This shields the flesh from absorbing too much water and keeps your mash from becoming soupy.
• Use a ricer or food mill—not a potato masher. Those tools give a fine, airy purée without overworking the starches into glue. Read more about why we like ricers for mashed potatoes.
• Warm your dairy. Using cold milk or cream would cool the mash and slow absorption; for the creamiest mashed potatoes, it’s critical to first heat up any liquid dairy. Your butter, however, should be cool room temperature, not melted, as melted butter will separate from the mash.
• Add liquid gradually. Depending on the size of your potatoes, their freshness, whether you cut them, and other factors, they may need more or less moisture to reach your desired consistency. Add the cream mixture in ½-cup measures until it’s to your liking, keeping in mind that it will thicken up a bit as it rests.
• Make ahead with confidence. These mashed potatoes reheat beautifully, but if you want even more guidance, try our Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes recipe.

I love a baked potato at home, and so does my family. There is just nothing better than a baked potato with crispy, salty skin, a fluffy inside, and topped with butter and all the best baked potato toppings.

My husband will make a big batch of baked potatoes at the beginning of the week, and we will cover them in beef chili one night and serve them as a side dish the next.

When I think about the perfect potato, there are a few things that pop into my head.

• A golden potato that has been baked to perfection. Its skin is shiny and crisp from oil.
• When you cut the potato in half, the middle is tender and easy to fluff with a fork.
• The inside is warm enough to melt a pat of butter in seconds.
• It’s a potato that you can’t stop eating after you’ve seasoned it perfectly with salt and pepper.
• Take this baked potato up a notch and make it a full meal by loading the baked potato with chili, sour cream, or any other toppings.

When it comes to how to bake the perfect potato in the oven, you only need 4 ingredients.

1. Russet potatoes -I recommend using large russet potatoes, especially if they are the main part of your meal. If you have Idaho potatoes, those would work too. Time may vary depending on how large the potatoes are.
2. Olive oil- I recommend olive oil because I love the flavor. If you don’t have olive oil, feel free to use avocado oil, vegetable oil, or butter. The oil is a must, it is the reason the potato skin crisps up and gets golden brown.
3. Salt- Don’t skimp on the salt it brings adds terrific flavor to the potato skin.
4. Pepper – Fresh ground pepper is a great flavor add.

Baking a potato with perfectly crispy skin and a fluffy inside is easy to do in just a few steps. It’s also easy to get the whole family involved; my nephews absolutely love to help with washing the potatoes and making sure to poke holes in the potatoes to help them bake all the way through.

1. Wash and dry the potatoes before baking. Use a fork to poke holes all over the potatoes.
2. Next, massage olive oil, salt, and pepper into the potato with your hands. Be sure the whole potato is coated to ensure the potato skin gets crispy.
3. Bake the potatoes at 425ºF for 45-60 minutes, flipping the potatoes every 20 minutes so they bake evenly.
4. Remove them from the oven once they pass the ‘fork test’. Poke a fork or knife into the center of the potato, and if it goes through the potato easily, the center of the potato is done.
5. Let the potato rest for 10 minutes and then cut the potato in half. Top with butter, salt, and pepper.

Tips for Best Results

How to Know When Your Potato is Done

There are a few different ways to know when a baked potato is done. The most common way to tell if the potato is done is the fork test. Otherwise, you can tell that a potato is done if the skin is brown and crispy or if the potato’s internal temperature is between 205-210ºF

Sometimes baked potatoes are served as the main dish, and sometimes they are served as a side to other delicious meals. Here are some of our favorite main dishes to serve with baked potatoes:

After your baked potatoes are ready, it’s time to top those taters with all of your favorite fixings. You can use super simple and classic ingredients or get creative with them.

• Broccoli and cheese
• Butter, salt, and pepper
• Hot honey
• Taco toppings (ground beef, cheese, and lettuce)
• Pizza toppings (mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and dried oregano)

More Potato Recipes to Try

How long does it take to bake a potato at 400°F?

It takes between 60-90 minutes for a baked potato to cook through at 400ºF. It all depends on the size of your potatoes. Smaller potatoes take less time, and bigger potatoes take more time.

What temperature is best for baked potatoes (400, 425, or 450°F)?

I like to bake potatoes at 425ºF, no matter the size, because it gives a consistent bake through the potato and crisps up the skin nicely.

Should you wrap potatoes in foil when baking?

It all depends on what type of skin you want on your potato. If you want a baked potato with crispy skin, I do not recommend wrapping the potatoes in tin foil. For faster baking of potatoes with more tender insides, I recommend wrapping the potatoes in foil. For more information about baking a potato in foil, check out this baked potato in foil post.

After the baked potatoes are cool completely, you can place the baked potatoes in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Sometimes it’s helpful to drizzle a little olive oil on the potatoes before putting them in the refrigerator to help keep them moist.

I do not recommend freezing baked potatoes.

The package instructions on most rice will tell you to rinse the grains before cooking them, but if you’ve been tempted to skip this step—or if you have skipped this step, only to be left with a bowl of gummy rice—you’re not alone. You might be wondering why people in the know consider it so important to wash rice, or if it’s always necessary. Here, we’ll cover the facets of making perfect rice, including why you should wash your rice, when to wash it, and how. Read on for perfectly textured grains in your fried rice, pilafs, biryanis, and so much more.

Why should you wash rice?

When rice makes the journey from paddy to grocery store to your home, with a few stops along the way, the grains rub against each other, resulting in a layer of starch that coats the outside of each individual grain. When you cook rice without rinsing it beforehand, that excess starch makes the grains stick together, forming into one gluey mass. Rinsing rice also helps remove any grit or tiny broken pieces that might have made their way into the package.

How to wash rice

You’ll need: A bowl that is comfortably larger than the amount of rice you’re cooking and a strainer of some type.

Measure the quantity of rice you’d like to make. Pour it into a large vessel and add enough cold water to completely cover the grains. Agitate the rice with your hands until the water turns murky. Then, pour this starchy water out, using a mesh strainer or small-holed colander to catch the grains of rice. Repeat this step until the water runs clear; the number of rinses will depend on the kind of rice, but usually three or four times is sufficient.

You can also simply place your rice in the strainer and let running water roll over it, but this makes it harder to see when your water goes from starchy and murky to clear.

What types of rice need washing?

Although every kind of white rice will have excess starch around the outside of the grain, the starch content does vary depending on the type of rice. All rice contains two types of starch: amylose and amylopectin. The types of rice that are high in amylopectin and lower in amylose are stickier—think arborio or glutinous rice. In contrast, rices like basmati or jasmine are higher in amylose and lower in amylopectin, so they produce a fluffier, more separated final result.

Every type of white rice should be washed until your water runs clear when you want the end result to have separated, fluffy grains. For dishes where you want the rice to stick together, like risotto or congee, you’ll likely still want to do a light rinse to avoid too much gumminess, but you can skip the thorough washing because, after all, your desired result involves the starchy rice breaking down into a sticky, porridge-like texture.

Article created by: Greta Jaruševičiūtė

We usually think about acquiring good cooking habits and ways to improve our masterchef skills by implementing novelties, tips and tricks, and going out of our comfort zone. In fact, we previously wrote a handful of useful posts just about that and you can find them here, here and here.

But the truth is, unless we earn our bread from cooking, most of us are pretty susceptible to daily kitchen mishaps, faux pas and questionable recipes that would make any chef’s hair stand on end. “What bad cooking habits get on your nerves?” asked one Redditor on the Cooking community and added “For me it’s when people use the highest flame setting to cook EVERYTHING. It is wasteful, overcooks food, overboils everything and it really does ruin pans.”

The thread immediately resonated with cooking aficionados who saw it as a perfect opportunity to spill all the bad cooking habits that totally annoy them. And it’s not looking pretty.

In this edition of Epicurious 101, professional chef and culinary instructor Frank Proto demonstrates how to make the best cheeseburger sliders at home. If you need to feed a crowd fast, sliders are your secret weapon; small, quick to assemble, and easily batchable, these delicious beef sliders in Hawaiian rolls are sure to go down a treat at any occasion.