I dno't know how OUtback does it, but a restaurant I used to work at definitely cooked them wrapped, and we never poked holes. We cooked them at 475 in a steam oven, and we never put them in a cold oven. It was the same way we cooked white potatoes.

I believe it's the variety...some sweet potatoes have a higher percentage of fat.
I have never had sweet potatoes at outback, but I bake sweet potatoes all the time...I like them with holes punched and really cooked a long time...like about 45 minutes to an hour at 350. They need to dry out after they get soft.
The ones with the lighter colored flesh are drier.
Linda C

It's not fat, I think, that makes the 'fluffy' characteristic - it's starch. The starchiest white potatoes are Russets, which is why they are the 'classic' baking potato. I think lindac is right about the variety, so if you're using Garnets, for example, try Beauregards. Garnets are always very soft when cooked.

Garnets are yams, aren't they? Yams and sweet potatoes have very different textures. Maybe you are using the wrong tuber? ;) If you are buying sweet potatoes at the store try buying yams.

Outback Steakhouse Sweet Potato

1 lg. sweet potato
2 T. shortening
2-3 T. kosher salt
3 T. softened butter
3 T. honey
1 tsp. cinnamon

Rub outside of potato with shortening and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake the potatoes at 350F for 45 to 60 minutes (until soft).

Split the potato. Whip together butter and honey and put inside.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.

Serves 1.

I still wonder if they might be using yams...

In the US yams are sweet potatoes. The darker skinned sweet potaotes are commonly marketed as "yams", but they are sweet potatoes.

True yams aren't grown commerically in this country and seldom imported. Yams are tubers from a tropical vine, and a completely different plant from sweet potatoes. About the only place you'll find them easily in the US is cities with a large African or Caribbean population.

Here is a link that might be useful: yams and sweet potatoes

Putting the salt all over the greased sweet potato then baking it can pull some of the moisture out of the potato, thus making it drier and maybe fluffier inside. I don't think they are using yams. Yams are longer, more slender, and the flesh is paler in color. I bet they are using the same variety of sweet potato in all their restaurants to maintain consistency from one location to the next. Also, you can fluff up the flesh with a fork after it is baked.

Thanks for the recipe! I don't use shortening; can you use oil, margarine or butter instead?

In the stores here nothing is called a yam. You only see things labeled sweet potatoes.

If this is called sweet potato -

...then what do you call a yellow-fleshed sweet potato? They are completely different.

I still call the orange-fleshed ones "yams" and the yellow-fleshed starchier ones "sweet potatoes" and I think many others do too:

Yam recipes

I'll still do it, for lack of clearer instructions from the food industry, LOL!

they are all sweet potatoes....just like yellow tomatoes and red tomatoes are all tomatoes...
Yams are NOT sweet potatoes, but something very different....they are HUGE...not like 2 or 4 pounds each but like 7 to 10...
I had yam in Africa...not like out sweet potatoes of the things that are often called yams here.
The dark ones are garnets and the lighter ones beauregards.
It's a very rare thing to find yams at your local store.
Linda C

Gina, you can certainly call your sweet potatoes anything you'd like to.

But the fact is, beenthere_donethat is right.
If you haven't checked out the link that was posted, you might like to. Very informative.
Never hurts to learn something new.

Also, you may have noticed that the picture you posted was labeled, on the wine recipes blog you got it from, as a 'sweet potato or yam'.

Which just reinforces the fact that many people use the two names interchangeably, whether it is right or not.

Rusty

I understand that it is not a yam, I get that. But I think there should be 2 monikers - the food growers need to come up with a name. Until then, I will personally call it "yam" even though I know that it is not technically a yam. It is colloquially called that in many places and old habits die hard - especially when there is not a good alternative.

:-)

What Gina said...