Air Fryer Baked Potatoes | Crispy & Fluffy!

Today, we are going to make the best air fryer baked potatoes. When you bake potatoes in the air fryer, they turn out perfectly fluffy on the inside with a crispy outer skin. Plus, I'll show you a foolproof method for making sure your potatoes are perfectly cooked every time. To get started, you'll need to make sure that you choose potatoes that are roughly the same size and weight so they will bake evenly. Look for potatoes that are more long and narrow rather than wide in the middle if you'd like them to cook faster. I'm using russet potatoes today, which are the classic choice for making baked potatoes. But this method will also work well for cooking Yukon gold potatoes, which are creamier in the center, and for baking sweet potatoes. The most important thing to know when baking a potato is its weight, so you'll know exactly how long to cook it for. A kitchen scale really comes in handy here. As a general rule, a potato that weighs eight ounces or less will cook in about 45 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. A potato that weighs nine to 16 ounces will cook in about one hour. And a potato that weighs more than one pound will likely take an hour and 15 minutes or more to cook all the way through. And if you're cooking a particularly small potato that weighs six ounces or less, it might be done in just 30 minutes. To bake the potatoes, preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use a basket-style air fryer or an oven-style air fryer for this recipe. And be sure to check out my air fryer review video if you're curious about which brands I like the best. Scrub the potatoes under running water, then dry them off with a towel. Pierce each potato several times with a fork to help steam release as they bake. This will ensure they don't burst while cooking. Then drizzle on a little olive oil and rub it evenly all over each potato skin. Finish them off with some salt so the skins will be delicious when these potatoes are done cooking. Place the potatoes in your preheated air fryer basket and cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit according to the weights we discussed earlier. These potatoes are eight ounces in weight, so I'm going to cook them for 45 minutes. But if you are using larger potatoes, they may need to cook for an hour or more. What I love about this cooking method is you don't have to wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil. I actually tested that method for you side-by-side with an unwrapped potato just to see if it would affect the cooking time. I thought the foil might help speed things along, but both potatoes cooked in exactly the same amount of time and the foil-wrapped potato had a more soggy outer skin rather than a crispy one. When the cooking cycle is complete, test the baked potatoes to make sure they are tender. The common method is to use a fork to do this, but if you prefer foolproof results, try using an instant-read thermometer instead. You'll know a potato is perfectly cooked all the way to the center if the temperature reaches at least 207 degrees Fahrenheit in the very thickest part. If your potatoes aren't quite done yet, you can return them to the air fryer and cook in 10-minute intervals at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until they're done. Let the potatoes cool slightly, then they're ready to slice and serve. As you can see, they have a perfectly fluffy texture on the inside and are ready for your favorite toppings. You can store baked potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. You can reheat potatoes in your air fryer by splitting them in half and cooking them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes or until the center is heated through again. Try them topped with my black bean soup recipe for an easy vegetarian meal. I hope this air fryer baked potato tutorial has been helpful and be sure to check out my other videos here for more fast and easy real food recipes.