Jacket potatoes used to be way bigger?

[midnights92]

DH and I both convinced the baking potatoes you can buy these days are far smaller than years ago.

Has shrinkflation spread to agriculture or are we both greedy bastards?

YABU - potatoes aren't getting smaller, that's insane.
YANBU - the conspiracy is real.

Thank you, feeling very vindictated.

@midnights92 will try out your method 🤞🤞🤞

Has anyone tried the jackets from Subway yet? Are they any good?

I think you're right. As you can tell, this is a very important issue in our house and we're going to have to rethink our potato purchasing patterns somewhat. Thank you for some good recommendations.

yes the ones in packs of 4 rhat are specifically labelled as baking potatoes are much smaller than they used to be!
Dh and I both have to have 2 for a main meal whereas 1 would have sufficed before.

Thank you for the moral support. Some nights are just a 2 potato night and I wasn't sure the competitive undereaters of mumsnet would be able to acknowledge that fact.

Yes!

I don’t buy those tragically small baking potatoes from a supermarket any more , but have found that my local fruit and veg man has proper sized ones instead . Or I buy a commercially traded sack of 40’s and keep them in the cold and dark , so they last . I buy Saxons from our local farmer , which come up beautifully fluffy and actually taste of potato . Gorgeous.

Yes I just but a two kilo of potatoes and bake them all. Everyone gets about 3 random sizes.

I am very intrigued by the idea of a wholesale sized sack. This is really opening my eyes to the possibilities of having a truly unhinged amount of carbs in the house and I'm really delighted.

DH is wondering if the variance in surface area to volume ratio doesn't cause big issues?

Update: he says he's not wondering, he 100% knows this will be chaos and can't be the solution.

I think it's a good workaround in desperate times.

Can a jacket potato be too big though? When I worked in an office, I used to have one with cottage cheese nearly every day from a stall and was stuffing myself towards the end because I can't bear to waste food.

I love a baked potato but I prefer one that isn't too big and just use more filling and have a big side salad with it.

Global warming innit. You need to check the rainfall at tattie planting time. They won't grow big without water and the right conditions. Its not a conspiracy, just weather. I live in Lincolnshire where we grow them. And we don't eat the skins, ever. The top 2mm of skins contain all the pesticides and herbicide residue that is sprayed on the plants.

The skin's the best bit! I've been poisoning myself for decades.

I live in the Fens , so literally surrounded by potato fields , but I also use a cash and carry fruit and veg supplier who are a lot cheaper than supermarkets if I’ve got something like a party on , or Christmas for example . 25kg sacks of potatoes are about £8.50 near me , and I’ll get about 40 huge potatoes in that .

It isn’t though? You can buy great big ones if you buy loose potatoes! They’re just putting shite small ones in the four packs!
Also quite happy to poison myself for delicious crispy potato skin goodness 😁

Yep. OH is a chef and you can buy 'sized' jacket potatoes by the box from the wholesaler. They are massive. I've never seen them available to buy that size in the supermarket.

Agree. Apparently I love the taste of pesticides.

But thank you @thenightskyfor some good intel. I feel like we're starting to understand the problem now.

If this isn't the call to action to fix global warming I don't know what is.

He's like our potato spy, sharing the vital industry secrets.

I feel like I need to start a new thread documenting our tales trying to find a canteen sized potato of ca 2004

I agree op, I’ve been thinking this. The only big ones I find are loose ones in the local greengrocer.

Jacket potatoes are so much more important than loss of habits for endangered species, people displacement because of coastal erosion, and premature death in hot Summers. I feel a children's book coming on: "I WANT MY POTATO!!!"

Just buy bigger ones.

DH went to Lidl last week came home with four enormous potatoes he'd picked loose. I couldn't eat a whole one.

Our greengrocer sells them in sacks. Keep it in the garage and they last months unwashed.r

I get big ones from my local greengrocer... but actually I prefer 2 small ones as they cook better and you get more skin! Yummy!

You’re right. You don’t get the whoppers you used to get. They are more like baby new potatoes in comparison nowadays 😅