Overview
You’re likely well aware of the common problems of baking potatoes. Using the oven takes forever, and using the microwave provides results that are often less than satisfactory. What this product is trying to do is give you oven results but from your microwave so you’re getting them in a fraction of the time. Potatoes might make it onto the plate more often if they were easier to cook, and if you had something that provided consistent results each time.
The Claim
The makers of the Potato Express say that all that’s required is placing them in the special sleeve and popping them in the microwave. Four minutes later you’re supposed to have perfectly done potatoes with tender skins and fluffy and fully cooked potato on the inside. They say that you can make any of your favorite baked potato varieties because it comes out the same as a baked potato out of the oven does. They also say you can use these cooked potatoes to make mashed potatoes or potato salad, taking away the need to boil potatoes.
The Hype
The hype comes from the discord of seeing so many microwave products flop. The microwave is just such an attractive piece of equipment because it gets things heated up so fast, but it has the inherent problem of cooking from the outside in, which usually means lousy potatoes that are cooked about half an inch on the outside and not at all in the middle. By claiming that this product solves that problem by providing a pocket within which the potato cooks all throughout there is a certain leap of faith you have to make in order to fully buy in to its viability.
The Cost
The Potato Express is $24 all together and will come with two pockets and two recipes guides as well as 2 cheese graters. They offer a 30 day money back
The Commitment
The main pitch here is that they’re drastically reducing the time it takes you to make potatoes, either baking them or boiling them. When you consider that baking a potato in the oven can take 40 minutes to an hour and it’s possible to both overcook and undercook them, it can be a real pain. Plus if you are tired of having to boil your potatoes to make things like potato salad or mashed potatoes you’d have a way to get the same results without waiting for the water to boil, and then waiting for the potatoes to be tender and fully cooked.
Evaluation
If you love the taste of potatoes but find that you don’t cook them as often as you’d like to, Potato Express seems like it would be the answer. Let’s take the summer time for example. It’s often too hot to want to turn the oven on, or even have a big pot of boiling water on the stove to boil potatoes. You might find yourself opting for a different side, or substituting potato chips as a side because you want the potato taste without the hassle of making potatoes.
The feedback on this unit is quite limited, so it’s still a bit of a gamble to make a determination on how it works. The concept is solid enough, since putting the potato directly in the microwave does get you some results, i.e. the potato gets cooked, just not very well. By placing it in the pouch you’re creating an environment that is like a steam room for it, so it likely provides the results it says but by steaming the potato, not by baking it. So if you’re looking for the classic baked potato taste, you’re not going to get it. This would have the consistency of a boiled potato that was kept whole, so the skin is going to be very soft, not the way it is when it’s properly baked. This makes it a good candidate for any recipe that calls for boiled potatoes.
The Potato Express is getting our Risky Try rating because there aren’t enough users that have said how it works, and the pricing structure puts a lot of the risk on your part. In all probability it will cook your potatoes, but the results you get will be somewhat like a boiled potato, and not exactly like a baked potato, the way they claim. It might get you a similar experience to a baked potato in a short amount of time, but if you’re expecting an entire replication of the experience it will fall short.
Our Recommendation
This is still a great addition to your kitchen if you want a fast and painless way to get the same results as you would from boiling potatoes, like for potato salads and mashed potatoes without having to boil a big pot of water.
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View Comments
I use my Potato Express all the time and love it. It's true that 4 minutes is rarely enough time, so I just add an extra minute or 2 until they yield to a squeeze. For those who say they don't cookwell enough, if you have a small microwave with lower wattage, or if you have very large potatoes, of course, you have to add extra time. I like to cook my red potatoes, cut them apart and fry them in a little olive oil until the meaty part is crispy. Ummm
This product is worthless. Have tried it about 4 times and no luck all 4 times. Got it on sale so it didn't bother me to cut it up and throw it away.
We have been using this for quite a while now and like it just fine. HOWEVER the claim that it will cook four potatoes in 4 minutes is far fetched. It may be true with four new baby red potatoes but not four bakers!
Four standard medium sized russets take twice that. We cook them (1100 what oven) for four minutes and then turn them over for another four and they come out beautiful.
Nice and steamy, not all dried out at all as can be done in a oven.
We also do yams or sweet potatoes and they work out swell also.
I do recommend this item.
I love my potato express. It does a surprisingly well job. The hardest part is getting potatoes of a similar size together to put in the pocket. Otherwise, I have no problem. If they aren't quite done due to large size, I throw them back in a bit. I even use it for my yams. I look for a nice round yam or sweet potato, microwave it, leave it on the counter until it is cool enough to handle, and I have my work treat ready to go. Fantastic
I bought one for $10 and I find it works fine! I usually cook the smaller red potatoes and have put as many as four in the envelope. It might take a little more than 4 minutes for 4 of them, but I played around adding minutes, and they all came out fine. I usually chop them up for skilliet meals. I'm very happy with my purchase, which I made on the recommendation of someone else who bought and liked oe.
What power do you use?????????
We had seen the commercial several times on TV and my husband loves potatoes so we were excited to see it at Walmart at the As Seen on TV section he wanted to buy two but I was skeptical I wanted to try it out first glad I did cost was $9.88. We got a bag of potatoes put them in the red pouch and set the time for 4 mins in the microwave on High anxiously waiting for the 4 minutes to be done we opened the pouch and to our dismay hard potatoes I had to cook them for an additional 5 minutes and still not what the product advertised. Don't waste your money or time
We love ours!!
Hubby said make sure it's sealed properly, and folded side down. We've cooked potatoes, sweet potatoes and most recently plaintains, which came out delicious! We've fit several potatoes in the bag at a time, whatever can fit.
Again, it's based on steam, so make sure the bag is sealed good!
I have tried the Potato Express four times on four different size potatoes. I never got a potato that was steamy and fluffy. I get hard uncooked spots and not fully cooked areas.
What power level are you to use? The directions say not to cook on Hi.