I recently received the new McCain Ready Baked Jackets to
review and must confess to being somewhat sceptical. The questions that I immediately
found myself asking were, “Do we really need
frozen jacket potatoes in this world?” and “Who would pay an inflated price for microwave jacket potatoes when you
can cook normal potatoes in the microwave anyway?”
This is the first obstacle that I needed to overcome because Tesco
for example sells 2.5 kg of Kent jacket potatoes for around £2.25 whereas the
McCain frozen ones are £2.50 for four potatoes so they are expensive in the
comparison. Upon opening the packaging the value for money point is
further hammered home as the size of the McCain frozen potatoes is
significantly smaller in comparison to what you would find in a traditional bag
of spuds.
However, we are living in an age of convenience and I must
admit that the thought of waiting a few hours for a jacket potato to cook is
enough to ensure that the only time I get to eat one is when I'm out and
about, which means that I purchase from a man in a van.
This is the big selling point of McCain’s product, because you
can put one in your microwave for 5 minutes, which is just long enough to grate
some cheese, open a can of tuna and tub of butter before tucking into a jacket potato
with a tasty filling, making this the perfect comfort food. At this point, I finally
understood exactly why these frozen tatties could be quite useful in our hectic
modern lives.
If you are sick to the bad teeth of eating the same
sandwiches at work each day, it would also offer an alternative that can be simply
thrown into a microwave. No scraping or washing the potato either, so if you
are short of time then this really could be an option for you.
After 5 minutes in the Microwave, my first opinion was of
slight disappointment as the skin just wasn't crispy, which is something that I
love about a good old fashioned baked spud, so if this is something you prefer
too, then I would recommend opting for the longer 45-55 minutes in the oven
method.
I find it quite hard to criticise the taste itself, because potatoes
are not known for their killer taste sensation and we all add butter and fillings of our
choice for this very reason. It’s worth pointing out to those of you on a
health kick that these come in at around 205 calories on their own, so don't go too crazy with the butter.
The potato itself is incredibly white and fluffy and
almost mash like which is not a problem for me but they do feel quite dry
(before butter added). The good news is there is no hard potato to be found
anywhere so that’s one pet hate of mine out of the way.
There’s nothing quite like the smell and taste of a slow
oven-baked jacket potato, but the downside is waiting ages for them to cook, so ultimately, if you feel like a pleasant change from sandwiches at work or need a few
emergency snacks in your freezer for when you find yourself short on time, then
the McCain Ready Baked Jackets will be perfect for you.
Sure if you want the crispy skin to your potato, then you are
better waiting for around 45 minutes in the oven, but the biggest negative must
be the price. Ultimately we all have a choice on our hands, do we pay £2.25 for
a whole bag of potatoes that take several hours to cook, or pay around the same
price for a couple of frozen potatoes that take only 5 minutes in the
microwave? That’s the trade off on offer here, so for me personally, as an
occasional emergency snack, they are perfect but I wouldn't expect these to
appear on anyone’s weekly shopping list.
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