Guy Fieri's Crunchy Baked Potatoes Start With A 6-Hour Brine Soak

Potatoes are an extremely important and popular crop, with the starchy tuber coming right behind rice, wheat, and maize as the most important food in the world (via ScienceDirect). According to the BBC, potatoes were first cultivated more than 8,000 years ago in the Andes mountains in South America. In fact, some archaeologists found evidence of potatoes in Chile and Peru from about 500 B.C, per What's Cooking America. It wasn't until the 1500s that Europeans first had access to potatoes, with the rest of the world following suit shortly after. Today, China, Russia, India, and Ukraine are some of the countries that produce the most potatoes around the world.

Despite how many years have passed since people first started preparing potatoes, it seems like there's always a new way to prepare them, and pretty much everyone can remember the last time they ate a potato. Odds are you most likely ate them prepared as french fries, or maybe you had them made into hash browns at your local diner. However you had them, one of the classiest (and arguably easiest to customize) types of spud would be the baked potato. You can load it up with butter, sour cream, bacon, onions, cheese, and so, so much more. Interestingly, Guy Fieri has one of the best recipes for a super crunchy baked potato that starts with an unusual key step.

The secret to making Guy Fieri's iconic baked potatoes starts with a brine in which the potatoes soak for a whopping six hours, via Insider. This salty water soak is key to achieving the perfect texture. A pro tip is to make sure you scrub clean the potatoes with water, as they might have a small bit of dirt on them. After you soak the spuds for six hours, you want to then roll the potatoes in a mixture consisting of garlic salt, seasoning salt, black pepper, and kosher salt. After that, simply pop them into the oven and bake them for 45 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Fieri even has a signature topping for baked potatoes, his horseradish sour cream. Although it sounds complicated, all you need to do to make it is combine black pepper, salt, sour cream, and horseradish.

If you're not a big fan of the baked potato don't stress one bit because there are still a ton of other ways to prepare them. Some of the best and most popular methods include french fries, mashed potatoes, and even boiled potatoes! For those craving a more elevated potato, try hasselback style or pave style. Per Cupcakes and Kale Chips, potatoes are chock full of nutrients. The inside of potatoes are full of vitamins C, B6, and potassium, while the skin is a great source of fiber. However you choose to enjoy them, you can't go wrong.