Potatoes can be baked in the oven or cooked in the microwave. The microwave version has a soft skin. For a crisper skin, baking in the oven is optimal. Rubbing on a little olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper (lots of pepper for me) before cooking is a way to infuse more flavor into the potato during cooking and get a crispier skin. Or, just toss the cleaned, dried and pierced potato in the oven with nothing else. If the oven hasn't reached optimum temperature by the time the potato is ready to go in the oven, go ahead and pop it in early. Most of the time, I use only salt and pepper to season my potato. However, there are many, many delicious toppings: melted butter, yogurt, sour cream, chives, shredded cheese or a combination of a few of these ingredients. Don't hesitate to top your baked potato with beef or chicken taco mixture or beef stew. Let your imagination run wild!