How To Get Rock Salt To Stick To A Baked Potato (5 Easy Tips)

By: VidJovanovic
Date: October 12, 2022
Time to read: 9 min.

Because rock salt is rock salt, it falls off when baked. But let’s say you want to bake potatoes with rock salt. You’d never be able to do it without the rock salt falling off during the baking process.

I will teach you how to bake potatoes with rock salt on top. You’ll never lose salt again!

Key Takeaways

Coat the potato in oil before adding salt to help the salt stick.
Add salt to the potato while it is still hot for best results.
Use a coarse salt like kosher or sea salt for better coverage.
You can also add sugar, herbs, or spices to the salt for flavor.
Experiment with different amounts of salt to find your perfect balance.

salt crystals — How To Get Rock Salt To Stick To A Baked Potato

Table of Contents

Here’s The Answer To How To Get Rock Salt To Stay On A Potato When You Bake It

The first thing to note is that rock salt will stay on a potato when baked at a lower temperature. This means about 400 degrees Fahrenheit or less, depending on the size of your potatoes. At higher temperatures, rock salt will melt off before it can stick properly to your potato.
The next step is to make sure your rock salt stays in place when baking in foil., spray some nonstick spray onto the foil before adding the potato and rock salt mixture inside. To ensure that this method works well, use aluminum foil and not wax paper or parchment paper since those two do not conduct heat as well as aluminum does!
If you’re using regular old plain old white floury potatoes (and who isn’t?), try sprinkling them with freshly ground black pepper after pre-baking them iso they have something extra besides just plain old boring salted baked potatoes. Don’t worry—this won’t make them spicy, just flavorful.

To achieve better results, adhere to following steps:

Wash The Potatoes

Wash the potatoes well. You can use a brush to remove any dirt or bacteria clinging to the potato’s skin. Don’t use soap or detergent, as they will affect the taste of your baked potato and may leave traces in them when you eat them. Instead, wash them with water only.
Make sure they are dry before baking them in an oven. Otherwise, they could turn soggy and lose their crispiness and bright coloration; this is especially true for refrigerated potatoes sitting at room temperature too long during preparation time. So before putting them in the oven, make sure they are fully dry.

Peel The Potatoes

The first step to getting rock salt to stick to your baked potato is peeling it. This can be done in many ways:

A knife. If you have a very sharp knife, use it to cut the top off of the potato and then slice down one side of the skin. Then use the knife to peel off any remaining parts of the skin.
A peeler. A peeler works perfectly to peel the skin off the potato.
A grater: You can also use a box grater instead if you have one handy. It won’t look as neat, but it should still work fine for baking!

This method will give us nice thin layers outside, which can help the salt stick.

Soak The Potato In Salt Water

potatoes socked in water — Soak The Potato In Salt Water

Soak your potato in salt water for at least 30 minutes before baking. You can use any salt, but the standard table variety works well.

Those will also work if you have kosher or pickling salt on hand. It’s best to keep the potatoes covered while they soak so they don’t absorb too much water and turn into soggy spuds.

Prick The Potato With A Fork

Pierce the potato with a fork. You should pierce it just enough so that most holes are on the top of the potato.
Don’t prick too many times. A few holes will help keep your rock salt from falling off when you bake the potato.

Wrap The Potato In Foil

If you’re not one to enjoy the taste of aluminum, you may want to go with tin foil instead. You’ll need a large piece to wrap around the potato, though.

If it’s too small, your potato will still coated in salt but may be underbaked.

Bake At A Lower Temperature Till It Is Half Backed

a baked potato — Bake At A Lower Temperature Till It Is Half Backed

To avoid burning the potato, bake at a lower temperature till it is half-baked. To test whether your potato is half-baked, stab it with a fork or skewer and see if it goes through with some resistance.

You’ll want to bake your potatoes for about 40 minutes in total—about 20 minutes the first time.

Let It Rest

Let it rest. One of the best ways to get rock salt to stick to a baked potato is by letting it rest for about 10 minutes before baking it again, especially if you’re using a less porous variety of spud. This allows the salt to melt and penetrate your spud’s flesh, ensuring that every bite is seasoned evenly. It also gives you time to cut up some green onions or other toppings for your potato!
Prepare your toppings beforehand. Because we’ve let our potatoes rest for 10 minutes, we don’t want them sitting out too long before breaking it.

Add Some Oil

To make sure that the rock salt just adheres to the potato and nothing else, you can take a few steps. One of those is adding a little bit of oil.

This will keep the salt from sticking to the foil or baking sheet, so it will only stick when it’s time for you to eat your baked potato.

This gives any spices or seasonings time enough to properly coat every bit of potato before they have a chance at becoming sticky themselves.

Add Rock Salt

Use a teaspoon to add the salt. Don’t add too much, or your potato will be salty with no taste of the potato itself. Remember, the potato was stoked in the saltwater before.
Don’t put the salt on earlier than you need to: if you’re adding rock salt instead of regular table salt, this should be done now. Just make sure that everything is nice and dry before putting it in to bake again. You don’t want moisture getting into those crevices and making them mushy later.

Bake Till Its Golden Brown

Baking potatoes again for 20 minutes at a lower temperature will help you get rock salt to stick to them. Once you’ve cooked your potato, let it rest in the oven for 10 minutes before serving it.

The outer layer will dry out too much if it rests too long.

Heat Rock Salt In A Pan Before Putting It On Potato

baked potato with salt sprinkled on it — Heat Rock Salt In A Pan Before Putting It On Potato

The best way to add salt to a baking potato is to heat the salt in a pan before adding it to the potato. This will help the salt stick to the potato and form a crust.

It seems that heating the salt beforehand is the best way to go.

Following These Steps Keeps The Salt Stuck On The Potato

By following the steps mentioned above, one can achieve a better result. A crisp outer layer with equally slightly salty, moist, and mushy inside.

What You Need For This To Work

Potatoes
Nonstick cooking spray
Foil
Rock salt (the amount you use depends on how much you like to salt your potatoes)

Potatoes

You can add some flavor to your potatoes by adding butter, salt, pepper, and other spices before baking.

Potatoes are best if they are baked in foil packets because they keep their moisture inside and don’t get dry on the outside as quickly.

You should also prick them with a fork so that steam can escape while they bake, preventing them from becoming soggy or falling apart when you take them out of the oven.

Non-Stick Cooking Spray

You can use the following oils to coat the potatoes: olive oil, butter, coconut oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, and sunflower oil.

If you’re a little nervous about using nonstick sprays in your oven (or worried about their health effects), then one of these other options would be preferable.

All these oils will keep your potatoes from sticking to the baking sheet and the spray without harmful chemicals or additives.

Foil

Use a little piece of foil to wrap your potatoes if you wish to. If you’re looking for something larger, try using a large piece of foil instead.

If you keep accidentally tearing off pieces of foil with your hands when trying to do this, don’t worry. With the aid of an aluminum foil dispenser, this is simple to rectify.

Rock Salt

Rock salt is a type of salt that is made by evaporating seawater. It’s also known as sea salt and is a coarse-grained salt that has not been processed like table salts are.

Rock salt comes in different sizes and colors, but our favorite would be the large pieces because they look great on a baked potato!

How Much Should Rock Salt Be Used When Baking Potatoes?

The size and thickness of your potato will determine how much salt you use. The best-baked potato is perfectly cooked with a crispy salt crust and fluffy potato interior.

Depending on the size, type, and preferences of the potato, you may need to cook it longer or use less salt.

The ideal baked potato can be achieved using a few different techniques. One is to drizzle the potato with olive oil and kosher salt before cooking. This will help to create a crispy salt crust.

Another method is to place the potato on a bed of rock salt in a hot oven. The potato will become fluffy inside thanks to the salt’s ability to pull moisture out of it.

How Long Will The Rock Salt Stay On The Potato?

The time the rock salt stays on your potato depends on how hot your baked potato is. The dryer it is, the longer it will hold the rock salt.

If your baked potatoes are cold when you eat them (and they will be if they’re rested for longer), then your rock salt might not stick as well as it would if they were served warm.

Colder potatoes allow more moisture to escape from them than warmer ones, meaning any extra moisture retained by colder baked potatoes may end up dripping off before serving time. You want all those delicious flavors locked inside.

Tips On How To Evenly Distribute Rock Salt On The Potato

Use a spoon to evenly distribute the salt.
Use a fork to prick the potato.
Don’t forget to clean your pan before adding oil and placing your potatoes in it. This will help with even distribution and prevent sticking.
Don’t put too much salt on your baked potatoes at once. You can always add more later.

Conclusion

This blog discussed the best way to get rock salt to stay on a baked potato. We also included a list of things you need to know about getting the salt to adhere to the potato.

Before you bake a potato home, ensure you have all the necessary ingredients.

For more great content, check out our other blog posts and keep following us for new topic updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will rubbing salt directly onto the potato make it more effective at sticking rock salt to it?

Yes, rubbing salt directly onto the potato makes it more effective at sticking to rock salt. Also, the increased moisture will make it more effective at sticking to rock salt.

Is there anything else I can do to make this process easier for myself?

Adding the salt after baking the potatoes halfway through really helps. And preheating the oven for about 10 minutes will ensure that the salt sticks to the potatoes.

Can I use any kind of salt for this task?

Yes, you can use any kind of salt for this. Just make sure that the salt is coarse and not fine. Also, preheat your oven before baking the potatoes for the best results!

Is there any reason I should not use rock salt instead of regular table salt?

Salt sticks to potatoes when the moisture between the surface of the potato and the salt is reduced by applying heat. Rock salt has a higher mineral content than table salt. Therefore, it’s not as fine or as pure and has a greater tendency to clump together.

Author

I’m Vid Jovanovic and I’m 36 years old. I’m a teacher by profession and my passion lies in baking. I have been baking since my early teens, when my grandmother taught me how to make a simple cake that you can find in any supermarket. My passion for baking grew as I got older and I started experimenting with different ingredients and recipes.