Best baked potatoes EVER. TRY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

nolaegghead

Microwave solves both those "problems".  

SGH

nolaegghead said:

What exactly are aluminum nails for if not wood?

We use them when pinning rectum and bowel. They do not taint the meat like steel does. 

nolaegghead

Also remove the taint from the rectum or it will taint the rectum.  

RRP

nolaegghead said:

What exactly are aluminum nails for if not wood?

I guess you don’t own any of these 4” aluminum nails meant for baking potatoes. I suppose if I tried real hard using say a 2# hammer so as to really slam it quickly then maybe I could surprise that soft nail enough to drive it a little in to a piece of soft pine before it bent over.

nolaegghead

Ron, you are right.  It just split the wood. (Cypress)

Botch

nolaegghead said:

What exactly are aluminum nails for if not wood?

When I worked in the trailer manu. plant (summers, from Jr High thru college grad) (and these were office trailers, not boat trailers) aluminum nails were used to attach gutters onto the fancier stuff, because they didn't rust.  
Even with a stiff steel tube to guide them (across the gutter itself) I would still buckle about 1 in 3 nails, and I guess I was the best guy to do it as I always got the job at the plant.  I hated those things.  
Would love to know what they're using nowadays, no way they'd still be using any system that had a 33% failure rate.  

nolaegghead

Botch, I'm pretty sure they are used where galvanic corrosion is a problem with fencing, aluminum panels, etc.  Also you can drive them with a nail gun.  That nail is left over from my gutters.  I pre-drilled a hole before driving the nail.  

Never heard of using them on spuds.  Makes sense if it also vents the food as well as increases the heat conductance. 

Botch

Pre-drilling would've been perfect, but that wasn't an option for me in those days.  Nor were nail guns that could drive them (that we were given, anyways)  

SGH

At one time aluminum nails was used extensively in the forestry industry for pinning and attaching signs and markers to trees. They used aluminum because more often than not the nails never got removed. The reason was in 10-20 years when the trees was harvested a chainsaw could cut right through the aluminum nails with no damage to the saw and/or harvester. 

I have no idea if that is still practiced or not. But it stands to reason that it does to a degree. 

nolaegghead

@SGH You are absolutely correct.  Also doesn't stain the wood like iron.

I have destroyed a few chains and blades hitting steel in wood.

SGH

nolaegghead said:

@SGH You are absolutely correct.  Also doesn't stain the wood like iron.

I have destroyed a few chains and blades hitting steel in wood.

I remember it from the 70’s and 80’s when pulp and paper wood was huge in my area. Those aluminum nails was in half the pine trees you saw around here. 

nolaegghead

@SGH - btw, have you ever used a professional chain on your chainsaw?  (The kind with no kickback mitigation)

I'm getting a 20" 62cc chainsaw delivered tomorrow.  I hear those chains cut incredibly fast, but they should only be used by trained professionals because of kickback risk.

buzd504

I pre-drill all my potatoes.

SGH

nolaegghead said:

@SGH - btw, have you ever used a professional chain on your chainsaw?  (The kind with no kickback mitigation)

I'm getting a 20" 62cc chainsaw delivered tomorrow.  I hear those chains cut incredibly fast, but they should only be used by trained professionals because of kickback risk.

Nola I have in the past on some of the bigger saws I have. I have a Husky 372 and a 385. They both still have full chisel chain on them but they see very limited use now. The biggest draw back to running the aggressive chains is kickback if you do much under cutting. 

With that said, on a 62cc saw you will be fine as long as you use a little common sense when under cutting. The problem usually arises on saws 70cc and higher. Once you go above 70cc the saws have so much power they are very difficult to control with a very aggressive chain. 

Now that I am older I use the anti kickback chain 95% of the time. Yeah it’s a little slower, but it’s much safer. 

With the above said, as long as you are careful and pay attention I think full chisel chain is safe for general cutting. The problem is people usually get tired and complacent. That is when anti kickback chain can be a life saver. Especially when undercutting. 

rifrench

Full chisel pro chain (yellow link) is on my 61cc saw.  I am extremely careful when I use that, even though I serviced (rebuilt, repaired, sharpened loggers' saws 70cc and above for 10 years.

Dad always said "familiarity breeds contempt" and I took it to heart.  There are some reduced kickback (green link) full chisel chains on the market.  My 50cc and below saws use semi chisel safety chain, and for my use are fast enough.  I'm old and slow and not cutting for production!   While at the saw shop I worked on Pioneer, Husqvarna, and Stihl pro saws, as the boss switched franchises. I buy Stihl.   Be careful with saws!!!  They don't slice, they cut a kerf in wood and flesh.
 

SGH

rifrench said:

While at the saw shop I worked on Pioneer, 

I still have a Pioneer 405 with bow guide from the early 70’s. A true pulp wood classic. 

SGH

rifrench said:

I'm old and slow and not cutting for production!  

 

Me too my friend. That is why I have went to smaller saws and the use of the anti kickback chain. My Husky 372 and 385 are “woods ported” and I run a 8 tooth sprocket on them. Truly wicked saws. To much for the old man to handle now. They are on standby for emergency use only. 

SGH

This thread went from potatoes to nails to aluminum nails to chainsaws. My kind of thread 👍

HeavyG

SGH said:

This thread went from potatoes to nails to aluminum nails to chainsaws. My kind of thread 👍

And none of the flaggots have thrown a single "off topic" flag - it's a miracle!

SGH

HeavyG said:

SGH said:

This thread went from potatoes to nails to aluminum nails to chainsaws. My kind of thread 👍

And none of the flaggots have thrown a single "off topic" flag - it's a miracle!

Give it time brother heavy. 

RRP

SGH said:

rifrench said:

I'm old and slow and not cutting for production!  

 

Me too my friend. That is why I have went to smaller saws and the use of the anti kickback chain. My Husky 372 and 385 are “woods ported” and I run a 8 tooth sprocket on them. Truly wicked saws. To much for the old man to handle now. They are on standby for emergency use only. 

Just curious, Scottie...why did you acquire so many saws and such powerful ones at that? I thought you made your living under water inspecting transatlantic pipelines. Or were you Lumberjack Scottie in your younger days?

nolaegghead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts

nolaegghead

@SGH or anyone....so I got my new chainsaw.  Someone said something about soaking the chain in oil before installing...does that really make a difference?

Also, it runs on a 50:1 gas/oil mix.  I've heard some people will run more oil during the initial "break-in" period.  Same question - is that really necessary?

(that said, I haven't read the instruction book yet).

BAKED POTATOES ARE GOOD!

SGH

RRP said:

Just curious, Scottie...why did you acquire so many saws and such powerful ones at that? I thought you made your living under water inspecting transatlantic pipelines. Or were you Lumberjack Scottie in your younger days?

Years ago we cut tons of firewood. Also on my property on the Ms/Al line there are many large oak and pecan trees. Being in the bullseye of most hurricanes we lose big trees regularly.  

Back when we cut wood regularly the small saws just would not hold up for long under heavy load in large wood. It was cheaper in the long run to buy the bigger saws because they would last much longer. 

Also at the time my pre X torq 372 was only about 500 bucks vs what it costs today. If memory serves the 385 cost in the 600’s then. A fraction of today’s cost.  

I have noticed through the years that if you run a saw 10 or more hours a week on a weekly basis and are running a 24” bar or longer in big wood under heavy load you will save money in the long run by going with a 70cc or bigger saw. 

I have held on to these saws because they are old school. They have no electronics and carb limiters. In a nut shell I can work on these saws. 

Most of the new saws has so much emissions crap on them that I can’t work on them and they are very expensive to have them worked on. Plus they are overpriced junk now. Most saws today only make good power at the very top of the power band. The older saws have good low end and high end power. 

My apologies for getting side tracked and starting to rant. But I held on to the old saws and came by them for the reasons mentioned above. 

On a side note, I also have a 3120 but it is of newer design. Unfortunately it has the limited coil. When time allows I will replace the coil with a coil from an old 094 which will un-limit the rpms. Something Husky should of done their selfs. But every moron in the world believes in climate change so there you go.
 

Mickey

@SGH @nolaegghead you guys take my simple thread anytime and run wherever. Only an a-hole would "Off Topic" it. And the baked potatoes are damn good as well. 

dannys

Photo Egg said:

dannys said:

I tried making these twice now. I don't see that it adds anything. First, two hours to bake a potato? The area where you cut the potato dries out and the skin is too crisp for my taste.  I'll stick with the tried and true method I've been using.

Don’t leave us in the dark. What is your tried and true method?

Wash potato.
Fork it, to quote Emeril
rub with oil and hit with salt
Bake at 400 until done.

SGH

nolaegghead said:

@SGH or anyone....so I got my new chainsaw.  Someone said something about soaking the chain in oil before installing...does that really make a difference?

Also, it runs on a 50:1 gas/oil mix.  I've heard some people will run more oil during the initial "break-in" period.  Same question - is that really necessary?

(that said, I haven't read the instruction book yet).

BAKED POTATOES ARE GOOD!

Now days the saws are designed to break in at whatever mix they recommend to run. In the 70’s and 80’s it was recommended to break saws in with straight 30 weight motor oil. Due to different metallurgy this is no longer the case. Also back then most saws ran a 20 or 25 to 1 mix. Now most are 50 or higher. 

As to soaking the chain, it certainly will not hurt a thing. But it is not necessary for 99.9 percent of chains. 

I actually store chain in oil that will not be used for long periods. But a presoak is not required. Again I use it for long time storage of the more expensive chain. I have a few in a jug of oil that has been there for 15 years or more. There is a real good chance they will still be there soaking 15 more years from now because I’m getting lazy 🤪

nolaegghead

CPFC1905 said:

Mickey said:

https://www.thekitchn.com/jacket-potato-22943799?amp=1

Have used this for the past two months and outstanding.  

A thread dear to my heart.  Always loved a baked spud, always will.  
From the recipe I think only line #2 matters,  hot oven and long cook.  I would need persuasion about that fancy-dan hoity-toity cross cutting complication.
I am aware that oiling and salting proponents exist.  I am unconvinced. 

Since we're on the subject, the single biggest step change in my spud-life was transitioning from a length ways single splice to a 'quarter and squeeze' pre-dressing potato activation.     It drew much suspicion from my family at the time, but once I started down that a road I couldn't go back. 
As with most things in life I rely upon the advice of Don Henley about never going back.

In the interests of full disclosure I am a skin last eater as opposed to during because that gives a second pass of the grated cheddar.    I have dabbled in exotica with egg-nests and also a scoop out & re-fill technique involving smoked bacon.  

I am now curious as to the approaches preferred by my countrymen; @Eoin
@Stormbringer @TheToast

I too am a "skin last" eater.  I've been cursed with a compulsion to eat my food systematically.  I could successfully argue the benefits of my methodology against any foodie Christopher Hitchens.  But with the skins, I will often make an additional trip to the kitchen and add additional accoutrements such as cheese, sour cream, etc. and the like.

PS - the skins are poisonous.

rifrench

The skins last also gives another chance for butter!

SGH

Potato’s, nails and chainsaws. What more could you ask your except maybe rectum.