Yahoo News Spudman reveals the secret to perfect jacket potatoes - and it's all about the potato
A jacket potato seller from Tamworth, Staffordshire, has become an internet sensation through TikTok - with customers flocking from across the UK and braving lengthy queues to try his potatoes. Dubbed as Spudman, Ben Newman's videos showcasing delicious-looking jacket potatoes have made waves online.
It seems clear now that a baked spud, particularly with baked beans and cheese, is never dull in the UK - a sentiment that the rest of the world now appears to be adopting. However, if you're not up for enduring hours in typically British weather to sample Spudman's crispy potatoes, which cause mouths to water whenever they grace one's TikTok For You Page, then consider this your day of luck.
The 39-year-old vendor recently shared his 'secret' to the ultimate soft jacket potato packing a crispy skin on the platform - enabling fans to replicate them at home. And despite the common presumption, it doesn't come down to a precise cooking duration, reports the Mirror.
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Rather, the father-of-nine asserts that the secret ingredient is the type of potato employed. In response to a comment on his TikTok account enquiring about how he achieves silky insides and the specific cooking time, Ben said: "So you want me to give away my trade secrets? Well, go on then."
Ben, boasting 3.5million devotees on his @spudarmy account, said: "First of all, it's not so much about how you cook the potato, it's the variety."
The variety of choice in Spudman's jacket potato van is aptly named the Melody. He added: "These are beautiful for baking. Not every potato is equal. Not every potato should be used for the same thing."
When it comes to cooking them, the Spudman van boasts massive industrial ovens that reach scorching temperatures of 300C-350C, which is the reason they "wrap everything in tin foil". For achieving a crispy skin at home, Ben said: "At home, you don't need to. Your oven gets to 200C- 220C, so leaving them out of the foil at home will give you a nice, crispy skin."
Ben's third piece of advice was to "be patient and wait until they're ready". He added: "You can tell they're ready by giving them a little squeeze. If you can feel like you could squeeze the entire thing, they're ready. It's got to have that give to it."
