Crock-Pot Potatoes: Easy, But Skip the Foil for Safer Storage
Yes, you can cook whole potatoes in a slow cooker, and the result is tender, fluffy potatoes with very little effort. A university extension recipe uses a slow cooker for baked potatoes, cooking them on low for about 8 hours.
However, there’s an important food-safety issue with the popular foil-wrapped potato method. The CDC and USDA specifically identify baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil as a potential source of botulism when they are improperly handled or stored.
🥔 A Safer Crock-Pot Method
Ingredients
- 4–6 russet potatoes
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Butter, sour cream, cheese, chives, or other toppings
Directions
- Scrub the potatoes and dry them well.
- Pierce each potato several times with a fork.
- Rub lightly with olive oil and season with salt.
- Place them directly in the slow cooker rather than wrapping them in foil.
- Cover and cook on LOW for approximately 6–8 hours, depending on size, until tender when pierced with a fork.
- Split open and add your favorite toppings.
The potatoes won’t have the same crisp skin as oven-baked potatoes because the slow cooker produces a moist cooking environment.
