Sweet potatoes are by far one of my favorite foods, and I've only been eating them for a few years. I don't remember ever eating sweet potatoes when I was growing up. We had them at Thanksgiving, but I never tried them because they looked really gross: orange mash with marshmallows on top. Finally, several years ago, long after I became an adult, I tried them at Thanksgiving dinner. And they were delicious. I immediately decided to start cooking them for myself. I'd heard that they were good with butter and brown sugar, so I cut them in half, rubbed on butter and brown sugar, and then baked them. They turned out ok, but they were kind of dry. And the more I put butter on as I baked them, the drier they seemed. I could see right away that this was not a healthy habit. So, one day, I baked them just like an ordinary russet potato - stabbed them with a fork, wrapped them in foil, and then baked them that way. Success!
And so, now I share with you my tried-and-true method for cooking sweet potatoes (because they're worth it!). If you remember nothing else, remember this: bake first, season later. Preheat the oven to about 400 degrees (F). Stab the sweet potato several times with a fork (just like a regular potato), wrap in foil, and bake for about an hour. I also recommend baking them (wrapped in foil) on a tray or baking sheet (trust me; I learned this after getting many, many carbon drips on the bottom of my oven). You can cook as many as you want at a time. And if there is room in your oven, you can bake them at the same time you are baking the rest of your meal. To see if they are done, gently squeeze them with a hot pad - they will feel squishy. I like them best that way; they will have a similar consistency to squash. If you like your potatoes a little crunchier, pull them out before they feel squishy, or when they're just starting to feel soft. Eat the filling from the skin, peel the skin off, or just eat it all together (I usually peel the skin off, but some people like the skin).
Seasoning: whatever you want! I typically use either just salt or cinnamon. You can also put butter on them or do the traditional marshmallow topping thing. This is the part I can't really give you a recipe for, because it is all up to your particular taste. Try out several seasonings and see which one you like the best! The important thing is that you wait to put your seasonings on until after the potato is baked. It feels backwards, because baking in the flavor sounds SO good. But that method will dry out the potato really bad. It really is better to wait until after it's baked. Enjoy your sweet potatoes!
And so, now I share with you my tried-and-true method for cooking sweet potatoes (because they're worth it!). If you remember nothing else, remember this: bake first, season later. Preheat the oven to about 400 degrees (F). Stab the sweet potato several times with a fork (just like a regular potato), wrap in foil, and bake for about an hour. I also recommend baking them (wrapped in foil) on a tray or baking sheet (trust me; I learned this after getting many, many carbon drips on the bottom of my oven). You can cook as many as you want at a time. And if there is room in your oven, you can bake them at the same time you are baking the rest of your meal. To see if they are done, gently squeeze them with a hot pad - they will feel squishy. I like them best that way; they will have a similar consistency to squash. If you like your potatoes a little crunchier, pull them out before they feel squishy, or when they're just starting to feel soft. Eat the filling from the skin, peel the skin off, or just eat it all together (I usually peel the skin off, but some people like the skin).
Seasoning: whatever you want! I typically use either just salt or cinnamon. You can also put butter on them or do the traditional marshmallow topping thing. This is the part I can't really give you a recipe for, because it is all up to your particular taste. Try out several seasonings and see which one you like the best! The important thing is that you wait to put your seasonings on until after the potato is baked. It feels backwards, because baking in the flavor sounds SO good. But that method will dry out the potato really bad. It really is better to wait until after it's baked. Enjoy your sweet potatoes!