It’s a British staple that’s easy for anyone to cook at home.
But according to Ben Newman – better known as the Spudman – a lot of people make mistakes when dishing up the popular meal.
Ben, 39, who became a TikTok sensation thanks to his mouth-watering loaded jacket potatoes told Ninja Kitchen the common mistakes people make.
The Tamworth-based chef revealed that you should in fact use two potatoes and never wrap it in foil.
Mr Newman pictured outside his trailer in Tamworth where he sells hundreds of meals a day
Ben, also known as @spudarmy on TikTok, has amassed a huge following of 1.9 million by sharing his culinary tips, often handing out free jackets to a few lucky customers
Make sure you use the right type of potato
‘It’s all about the variety of potato as opposed to how you cook it.
‘When buying jacket potatoes, avoid ‘Nadine Potatoes’ – they are a variety of potatoes stocked by many supermarkets. Whilst they look great and most likely have a high-yielding crop, the cook on them is absolutely awful.’
Use two small potatoes instead of one large one
‘Cooking time will depend on the size of the potato. If the potato fits in the palm of your hand, cook for around an hour and a half.
‘Everyone makes the mistake of going for the biggest potato they can find, but it is better to buy a couple of smaller ones and have two.
‘They will cook more evenly and won’t have any hard bits in them.’
Don’t wrap your potato in foil
Whilst many may think you must wrap a spud in tin foil, Spudman says not to, saying. ‘I never wrap my potatoes in foil at home. You’re less likely to burn them in your home oven as opposed to an industrial potato oven which hits 300-350 degrees.’
Mr Newman has previously revealed the heartfelt reason behind his rockstar look after suffering his own health battles.
The jacket potato king got the punk hairstyle to raise money for kidney research and it’s something that has stuck ever since.
His business has exploded since he started uploading videos onto TikTok last year just to ‘keep an eye on my kids’ and the son of a potato merchant is regularly mobbed when fans see him walking through the town.
It’s beyond his wildest dreams and something that seemed unimaginable when he started the business under a different name two decades ago, aged just 18.
He now sells up to 1,000 meals a day priced between £4 and £5 from inside his tight-knit cream-coloured trailer.
He suffered three failed kidney transplants – in 2014, 2016 and 2019 – and will be on dialysis for the rest of his life.
People have been flocking from as far as the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia to his humble jacket potato van after his videos took the internet by storm racking up 2.6 million followers and 41.6 million likes on TikTok.
‘It’s all been beyond my wildest dreams,’ he said.
‘I just try and have fun with the videos. People seem to enjoy the livestreams but I enjoy filming people’s responses when I give them a free spud.
‘I’ve seen the Binley Mega Chippy comparison but I like to feel we’ve worked a little harder than that.
‘They were a meme and it happened by chance. We know it will drop off but we want to keep going for as long as we can and to put Tamworth firmly back on the map.
‘If we do well, so does the town. It’s all about promoting local businesses and also every jacket potato seller out there.
‘There is one in your own town, go and support them.
‘My grandad was a farmer and my dad was a jacket potato merchant, I think they would be proud.’
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