Smoked Twice Baked Potatoes
Smoking-Meat.com is supported by its readers. We may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you if you buy through a link on this page.
Read this article without ads
These are called smoked twice baked potatoes because you bake them in the smoker (or any heat source for that matter), cut them in half, scoop out the insides and mix it with my original rub , bacon, cream cheese, jalapeños, etc., and grated cheese on top, then put it back into the potato skins and bake them even more until the cheese melts on top.
They are baked twice in the smoker, thus they are called smoked twice baked potatoes.
Many folks use sour cream in these but I like to use cream cheese for a richer, fuller flavor.
You can mix just about anything you like into these including onions, hot sauce, parmesan, fresh ground black pepper, etc. The list is endless and only limited by your imagination.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 3.5 hours
- Smoker Temp: 240°F (116°C)
- Meat Finish Temp: N/A
- Recommended Wood: Pecan
- 6 baking potatoes
- 1-½ cups grated Cheddar or Cheddar/Monterey Jack mix
- 4 jalapeños, cleaned, deseeded and diced
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ stick (1/8 lb) real butter, softened
- Jeff's original rub
- 8 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream (milk will also work but I like the richer flavor of the cream)
Start with nice, consistently sized potatoes. I like the ones that are oblong.
Wash them under running water and dry them with a paper towel.
Rub olive oil on them.
Place them in a large bowl and drizzle the oil on them.
Then pick each one up individually and rub the oil all over them with your hands. Give them the love!
Sprinkle with a good dose of kosher or other large flaked salt, and they are ready for the smoker.
Set up your smoker for cooking at 240°F (116°C) using indirect heat. If your smoker uses a water pan, fill it up.
3 hours on the smoker grate should get them nice and tender. If not, let them go longer.
The potatoes need to be really soft so don't be afraid to cook them a little longer if they need it.
Cut the smoked potatoes in half.
Be careful as they are very hot and you might want to hold them with a towel or thick gloves while you slice them open.
Use a large spoon to scoop out the potato from the skins.
Be careful that you don't tear the skin if you can help it. It's ok to leave a little layer of potato in there to help sturdy them up a bit.
Use a potato masher or your hands, or whatever it takes to mash the potato up real good.
Mix the cream cheese, butter, bacon, jalapeño, 2 TBS of Jeff's original rub , 1 cup of the grated cheese, whipping cream and whatever else you might like to add into the potato that you scooped out.
Make the bacon crumbles while the potatoes are smoking..
I highly recommend making your own bacon crumbles as they are so much better than the fabricated stuff in the bag.
Place the bacon in the freezer for 30 minutes or so to firm it up.
Lay the bacon out on the cutting board and cut into ¼ inch wide strips.
Then, cut the strips into ¼ inch pieces.
That's just how I do it.. you can also just fry the bacon and then crumble it. Whatever floats your boat!
Once you have all of the ingredients mixed in with the potato and it's nice and creamy, stuff it back into the skins all heaped up.
Place the stuffed potato halves onto a cookie sheet and give it a good sprinkling of my original rub. Don't be stingy with the flavor!
Top with lots of grated cheese.
Place them back into the smoker at 240°F (116°C) for about 30 minutes or if you want them faster, into a preheated 325°F (163°C) oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melty.
Yeah, Baby!
Smoked twice baked potatoes for the win.
Smoked Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 baking potatoes
- 1-½ cups grated Cheddar or Cheddar/Monterey Jack mix
- 4 jalapeños (cleaned, deseeded and diced)
- 4 oz cream cheese (softened)
- ½ stick ((1/8 lb) real butter, softened)
- ¼ cup Jeff's original rub
- 8 slices bacon (fried and crumbled)
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream (milk will also work but I like the richer flavor of the cream)
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes then dry with a paper towel.
- Rub olive oil all over the potatoes then sprinkle coarse kosher salt on all sides.
- Set up your smoker for cooking at 240°F (116°C) using indirect heat. If your smoker uses a water pan, fill it up.
- Once the smoker is ready, place the potatoes on the smoker grate and close the lid.
- Let the potatoes cook for approximately 3 hours or until they are soft and tender.
- Once they are finished cooking, cut them in half.
- Scoop the potato out of the halves and place into a medium sized bowl.
- Mix the cream cheese, butter, bacon, jalapeño, 2 TBS of Jeff's original rub , 1 cup of the grated cheese, whipping cream and whatever else you might like to add into the potato that you scooped out.
- Stuff the mixture back into the potato skins all heaped up. Sprinkle more Jeff's original rub and plenty of grated cheese on top of the potatoes.
- Place them back into the smoker at 240°F (116°C) for about 30 minutes or if you want them faster, into a preheated 325°F (163°C) oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melty.
- Serve immediately.
Outstanding! We mixed up the cheese combo, but absolutely fantastic. They certainly should be eaten immediately, but can they be frozen? I know the taste isn’t as good, but if you can get 75% of the taste out of one, it’s worth it.
Mr. Steak– I have not tried freezing these but potatoes generally freeze very well. I would thaw them in the fridge a day before you’re ready to reheat and eat.
I make a big batch and freeze some. Works out great. These potatoes are fantastic.
I add 1 1/2 lbs of pulled pork to the filling and finish with bbq sauce. Takes it to another level
Where does the butter get used in the recipe?
This is a great question! Looks like we forgot to add this ingredient into the instructions. The instructions now show that the butter should be added into the mixture that gets stuffed back into the potato.
Thanks for pointing this out so we can correct it!
I add more cheese, and cut the bacon while frozen into small tiny pieces. This way, all of the bacon fat ends up in the tater. I add some milk and more butter but dropped the cream cheese, not my fav.
This recipe is spectacular.
These potatoes are awesome. I smoked the bacon until crispy while I smoked the potatoes. Added good flavor.
I did not see the button to jump to print recipe.
Sandra, the recipe card is now available for this recipe.
How to print?
The recipe card is now available for this recipe.
This sounds like a great recipe, but why oh why is there not a proper recipe for it? I don’t want to have to wade through pages and pages of pictures and little instructions. So frustrating!
No longer allowing fans to read and print the recipes? Please don’t tell me that comes with a cost now. :(
Dave,
I do not have a special printable recipe card yet for this recipe. Should have that ready soon. However, you should be able to see a full set of instructions with images. If this is not the case, let me know what device you are using and I can help you do some troubleshooting.
Your adds are killing me.
It’s a chore to read your recipes with all the pop ups.
Dick, I completely understand. And for that reason, I have created a way to get rid of ALL of the third party ads on the website. It’s inexpensive and people are loving it.
The ads support the site really well so they are a necessity however, they can be removed at https://www.smoking-meat.com/membership-join
People have to realize you are running a business….we’re just chowing down on exceptional Smoked foods!
Another thing you can do after you have scooped the potato out is to deep fry the potato skin until they are golden brown just like you would french fries. Then add the potato filling or whatever you want before baking, broiling or smoking the potatoes. We have found that deep frying the skins really adds another layer of flavor. These skins can be frozen for later use and can also be used for potato skin appetizers.
What wood do you use to smoke the twice smoked potatoes?
The ultimate bacon to use is bacon that you cured yourself. It’s easy and you can make it any flavor you like (i.e., maple, pepper, jalopeno, etc.). You can then cut the pieces any size you like.
Would like to make these ahead of time. Meaning doing the first bake in the oven. After re-filling put into the smoker. Have you tried this method?
Thanks
My wife and I do them the way you describe – bake the potatoes in the oven for 2 hours, then slice/scoop/fill. Finally, smoke for 45 minutes to an hour.
We’ve tried them both ways, and found it’s the second smoke that really gives the flavor.
Do the potatoes taste smoked? How smoked?
I’m smoking for the first time today & am so happy to have found your websight.
Most of the recipe is easy to follow but you were unclear on how to keep 6-8 slices of cooked bacon around long enough to crumble it and mix it into the filling.
I tried making 12-16 slices but that did not work either.
I admit that part is not easy.. try hiding the bacon under some healthy vegetables like broccoli, carrots, eggplant and lettuce for added security.
Slightly off-topic here, but have you checked out this web site?
https://grilled.net/smoked-twice-baked-potatoes/
Either you wrote the article or they are clearly plagiarizing you. By the way, they left out your rub in the recipe!
Thought you should know…
Rob, Thank you for letting me know. These guys have been notified a couple of times to cease and desist but they are ignoring the orders. Their fB page is also using our material from smoking-meat.com to build their fan base. I have contacted them again this morning so we’ll see what happens =) I say if you want to build a website about smoking meat or grilling, then cook something, take pictures and then write the recipes so others can repeat it. Some just don’t have what it takes to put in the work..
I love these but I just wrap uncooked bacon around the potatoes and cheese and cook them until the bacon crisps up.
hahahahaha!!!!!!!
A nice ‘paint’ of bbq sauce in the scooped potato bottom before heaping in the mixed contents provides also a nice ‘wow’ factor.
Is the butter just for topping? I see it as ingrediant but not in the recipe
Thanks,
J.T.
Hello Jeff
I am a Huge fan of your Smoking Site and avid “fellow smoker”.
I was wondering why I have never seen you mention “Smoked Bacon” in any of your recipes.
I mean REAL smoked bacon which I constantly put on my smoker (after I pepper it) along with whatever other meat I am smoking.
We found out just how delicious it is one day by mistake after removing it from a Pork Loin I smoked, using your recipe I might add.
I now usually keep a small plastic bag of smoked bacon in my fridge for a lot of other recipes
Take one or two pounds of bacon, separate onto a long platter and “pepper” it with course ground pepper. Regular cut works but “thick cut” give you more body.
Put it in the smoker( I lay it over two cross pieces of the grid so it hangs and drips) along or with whatever else you are smoking and about 1.5 hrs later you have crispy, smokey, BEST BACON YOU EVER ATE!
You have probably already tried this but maybe some other people haven’t.
Thanks for listening and all the help your have given me with my smoking!
TC
I have not tried putting bacon in my smoker, but have thought about it. And will now. But one way I have enjoyed bacon is by using Jeff’s rub on it prior to putting it in the oven. It is awesome! Now I am going to try it in my smoker.