frozen mccan jacket potato rage!

[wonderingsoul]

this is obviousely light hearted.

i saw an advert for mc cains frozen ready meal jacket potatoe... it gave me the rage the more i thought about it.

i mean why?.. seriousely why? just why?

surely you have to put it in the oven/microwave the same way you would put a normal bloody tatty in right?

are people really that easly fooled by advertising?

they cant be lazy as there doing the same amount of work by using them.. infact its costing them MORE?

do people need a box with instructions to know how to cook one?

i dont get it.

i reaally reallly dont fecking get it!

i cant be the only one.

i realize its not rational to be THIS raged when i think about it.. but i dtiabu

[scottishmummy]

You can freeze cheese?well I never

[SaucyJack]

Never tried these, but I have become a recent convert to tinned fried onions.

Fantabulous. Not having to chop onions is well worth the extra 20 p.

[scottishmummy]

You know you get frozen chopped onin

[TheScience]

I've a big fan of frozen veg full stop - love that there is no waste and you never have to use up the last of whatever is lurking in the fridge (thinks back to all the veg stew nights we had when we got a veg box delivered).

[Dubjackeen]

Love them, very handy to have a few in the freezer.
So, for the first time on MN, I'm going to say YABU.

[Mygoldfishrocks]

why not wait for a time when you've got a spare few hours and cook up a batch? add cheese. cool, wrap individually and freeze. take out when you fancy a five minute microwaved potato ( that'd be never for me)

I've just saved you a few quid surely?

[wonderingsoul]

okk well im glad i have a few on emy side

i will how ever have to buy some tonight to try something stupied will prob happen and ill end up liking them ill end up having rang in my rage!

[PasswordProtected]

Never heard of these, but not in UK.
Another example of processed food for the sheeple?
Don't ovens have timers on them anymore?

[Lovecat]

Never mind that, I was amazed when I was flicking channels and caught the following gem off Superscrimpers -

"When making a baked potato, save time and energy by putting a metal skewer all the way through it to conduct heat to the middle and cook it in only an hour" said a smiley lady as if this were the key to the knowledge of the Ages, putting a single potato into a cavernous oven.

a) I thought that was common knowledge
b) Heating an entire oven for 1 baked potato is surely the antithesis of scrimping/saving
c) Erm... microwaves?

[RedFocus]

I've used them and I think they are great. Already cooked and cut so you are basically just heating them up. Quick for those times when you are in a hurry too. Could take them to work if the fridge has a small freezer compartments. Easy peasy.

[MorrisZapp]

In my local shop (which happens to be M&S simply food!) two baking potatoes cost £1.20, or a pack of four for two quid.

The frozen ones aren't that much more expensive.

If you want to talk rip off though, I give you Oats so Simple etc. They are just small packets of porridge marked up by many 100%s.

[wowfudge]

I am a frozen baked potato fan - quick, easy and a proper baked potato without turning the oven on. As it's often only me I'm feeding then it's a sensible solution. Frozen mash fan too - thank you Delia for showing me this a few years ago. DP loves mash and I'm not a big fan so give him mash and I'll have couscous or lentils instead.

Frozen chopped onion is brilliant - especially if you are cooking a big batch of something or conversely just need a bit of onion for one person.

Convenience foods at their best IMO.

[KurriKurri]

My mum is in her nineties, lives on her own and has limited mobility. She uses these a lot (a sainsbury's version I think) -she wouldn't be able to fiddle about cleaning a potato to microwave it (although she did try once -forgot she'd put it in and blew up her microwave) if she buys a bag of spuds even a small one, she can;t get through them before they start sprouting. Also she can't eat a whole potato - the frozen ones mean she can do a half potato with a bit of salad (which she buy in packs ready chopped) and she's got a hot meal. (She actually couldn't really make herself a meal and wasn't bothering to eat properly, then she discovered frozen baked spuds and the world was her oyster! )

A lot of convenience foods are good for old people who can't stand around in a kitchen (if my mum stands for too long she wobbles and falls and moving from sink to oven to bin etc etc is quite an effort of manouevering her walking frame in a small space). So they have their place for some people.

[NotJustACigar]

I just bought some this morning after reading this thread. They are 4 for £2 at Tesco at the moment.

For those that say just bung them in the oven for an hour, do you really not realise how daftly wasteful it is to run your oven for an hour just for a baked potato?

[NuggetofPurestGreen]

Also when I come in in the evening I don't want to wait over an hour for my dinner, I'm hungry! Or even half an hour. These take 5 mins.

[FrankelandFilly]

Jacket potatoes in the slow cooker are amazing.

Just thought I'd throw that into the mix!

[Fortysomethingwinelover]

I got banned from another forum because of the McCain frozen potato debate

I love them for lunch at work. They're so quick to make and we don't have the luxury of an oven.

[Fortysomethingwinelover]

frankelandfilly How long do you put potatoes in the slow cooker for? I didn't know you could do them in a slow cooker.

[whatever5]

I haven't tried them but I presume the point of them is that they are quick to cook but taste like potatoes that have been in the oven for an hour as opposed to the microwave for ten minutes. I don't like microwaved potatoes much if even they have been "crisped" in the oven for a few minutes. They don't taste the same to me.

Regarding cost, although potatoes themselves are cheap it costs quite a lot in gas/electricity to cook them in the oven so overall the McCain's potatoes might not be more expensive.

[FrankelandFilly]

I'd put them in before work in low and when I get home about 9 hours later they'd be perfect.

Pierce the skins
Rub them with a bit of olive oil
Wrap in foil
Put about 1cm of water in the bottom of the slow cooker
Put potatoes in

The skins don't get crispy in the slow cooker, so I would put the oven on high and pop them in for 10 minutes just to crisp them up.

[NotJustACigar]

Say you're the only one in the house who wants a baked potato. It costs on average 30p to run an oven for an hour. If you put them in for an hour and a half that's 45p you've spent just to bake the potato. A microwave costs about 1p to run for five minutes. So you've saved 44p on cooking costs, not to mention an hour and 25 minutes of your time.

At the moment these potatoes are 4 for £2 at Tesco so 50 p each, total cost including cooking 51p.

As you spend 45p just to bake the oven potato, you would need to buy a full sized baking potato for 6p or less in order for it to be as cheap as the McCains. You can't do it .

[NuggetofPurestGreen]

That's my understanding too whatever. I don't like microwaved 'real' potatoes and I can't be arsed waiting for the oven cooked ones and these are fine from the microwave. I also like the ones from Tesco that have the cheese and the butter put on them already

[wonderingsoul]

notjus i am in awe of your maths skills.... and your comment to prove a point
ok ok i will take it that i abu purely for that answer alone.

[MoominIsEightNinthsManatee]

I'm a student and even I think these jacket potatoes are unreasonable and we're supposed to be the kings and queens of lazy cooking and eating!

I tend to buy a bag of jackets, cook them all in one go, then stick them in the freezer and microwave when needed.


I am definitely going to try slow cooker jacket potatoes though!

[NotJustACigar]

Oh you can just tell me I'm pedantic, wondering soul, it's the truth . Thanks, though!