[3] It may be served with fillings, toppings or condiments such as butter, cheese, sour cream, gravy, baked beans and tuna.

Some restaurants use special ovens designed specifically to cook large numbers of potatoes, then keep them warm and ready for service.

Prior to cooking, the potato is ideally scrubbed clean, washed and dried, with eyes and surface blemishes removed, and rubbed with oil or butter and/or salt.

Microwaving takes from six to twelve minutes depending on oven power and potato size, but does not generally produce a crisp skin.

Wrapping the potato in aluminium foil before cooking in a standard oven will retain moisture, while leaving it unwrapped will result in a crisp skin.

Many restaurants serve baked potatoes with sides such as butter, sour cream, chives, shredded cheese, and bacon bits.

[8] The Idaho baked potato was heavily promoted by the Northern Pacific Railroad in the early 20th century, often using Hollywood movie stars.

Word of the line's specialty offering traveled quickly, and before long it was using "the Great Big Baked Potato" as a slogan to promote the railroad's passenger service.

[10][11] When an addition was built for the Northern Pacific's Seattle commissary in 1914, a reporter wrote, "A large trade mark, in the shape of a baked potato, 40 ft. long and 18 ft. in diameter, surmounts the roof.

Premiums such as postcards, letter openers, and spoons were produced to promote "The Route of the Great Big Baked Potato".

[14] Common jacket potato fillings (or "toppings") in the United Kingdom include, roasted vegetables, grated cheddar cheese, baked beans, tuna mayonnaise, chili con carne, and chicken curry.

[17] All sorts of foods can be added to the potato: mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles, sweetcorn, sausage slices, carrots, mushrooms and Russian salad.

Although baked potato with various fillings is not considered a traditional Russian dish, it has recently been gaining popularity as a fast food.