Select starchy potato types, such as the Idaho or Russet potato. (Potatoes labelled as "baking potatoes" in the store are perfect.) Wash them well and scrub with a vegetable brush. Dry with a dishtowel, and rub well with a little bit of cooking oil. Sprinkle on the outside with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Poke several times with a dinner fork to make steam holes; unventilated potatoes sometimes break apart from interior steam pressure. Bake in a 375° oven about an hour, or until the sides of the potatoes give when squeezed gently.
Ideal Product: A great baked potato should be generous in size, with a crisp, tasty exterior, and a very light, fluffy and fully cooked interior.
Select a waxy (high sugar) potato type, such as red or small white potatoes. Peel or not according to taste. Cover by about one inch of cold water. Salt the water generously, until it's about as saline as sea-water; remember, the salt should penetrate to the interior of the potato, and most of it will be thrown out with the cooking water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low; simmer, partly covered, until potato can be pierced with a fork withough too much resistance. The length of time varies greatly depending on size of the potato -- peeled marble-size baby potatoes take only five minutes or so, big fist-sized potatoes with peel take closer to half an hour. Do not cut so long that potatoes split with pierced.
Ideal Product: Not at all mushy, or too soft; nor hard when bitten. It should have a perfect, gentle resistance to your bite, but not crunchy.
Here you can use any time of potato, so for economics choose the USDA Grade A potatoes, the kind that are sold in plastic 5- and 10-pound sacks. For each person, peel a couple of medium sized spuds and quarter. Cover with cold water, salt as for boiled potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are cooked soft; you want no resistence when you pierce the potato with a fork. Drain off the water return the potatoes to a pot. Smash with a potato masher until smooth. While doing this, add some milk that had been scalded with butter, no more than a half cup per quart of potatoes. Season to taste with salt, white pepper, butter and a little hot milk. Whip with a ballon whisk if deisred to make more fluffy.
Ideal Product: Light, fluffy, and savory. A little butter and milk goes a long way; too much milk will make the potatoes heavy. Also, be aware that once a cooked potato gets cold, very strange things happen to it's starch molecules, and any mixing or whipping will create a gray, gluey mess. Keep the potatoes, pots and milk hot.