Don't Be Alarmed If Your Potatoes Look Weird After You Bake Them In The Slow Cooker - Tasting Table

"If you're trying this method of baking potatoes for the first time, you might be surprised when they come out looking a little different. Slow cooker baked potatoes often open up to reveal darker colored insides than their oven-baked counterparts. This is nothing to do with user error, it's simply down to the Maillard reaction. This chemical reaction occurs when starches and sugars in the food are exposed to dry heat, resulting in the development of new flavor compounds."

"The answer is that it can, but it doesn't have the same effect. The higher temperate and shorter cooking time means that only the skin ends up brown, while the inside remains moist and white. The extended time you need to soften potatoes in the slow cooker gives the moisture in the potatoes longer to evaporate, and more time for the Maillard reaction to work its way in."

Slow cooker baked potatoes frequently show darker-colored interiors due to prolonged exposure to dry heat that enables the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction forms when starches and sugars are exposed to dry heat, producing new flavor compounds and yielding a rich, nutty flavor and toasty aroma. Higher oven temperatures and shorter cooking times usually brown only the skin while leaving the interior moist and white. Reducing interior browning can be achieved by shortening cook time with higher heat, wrapping potatoes tightly in aluminum foil to retain steam, or adding a little water to prevent excessive drying without steaming.

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