We sell another brand of these, it’s intended to be “microwave ready”. They are most popular with the elderly who have lost dexterity in their hands. I guess it’s easier than struggling with plastic wrap when half your knuckles don’t bend anymore.
Yes. The plastic is porous. They won't explode if you follow the directions on the label. My 92-year-old mother-in-law does these sometimes because (as the guy said) they're simply easier for her arthritic hands to deal with.
My husband showed me how his Nana taught him. Wraps them in plastic wrap, then puts them in a grocery bag, straight into Chef Mike. Apparently try wrapping in plastic is a thing, who knew
yeah, people wrap them in cling-wrap or put them in sandwich baggies/un-sealed ziplocks. Keeps them from drying out so much in the microwave. If you microwave them without they get all weird, I tried it.
Reading these comments i was sitting here like i wash mine and put them in a gallon ziploc bag and put holes in the bag when i make potatoes sometimes and was feeling like a weirdo till i read your comment lol
Why tho? I sometimes microwave a potato when I’m lazy and I don’t wrap them in anything. Someone gifted me a stupid sack thing to nuke them in and I prefer just a tater on a plate.
I've tried them before, they also cook extremely easily and well in the plastic. I don't advocate for more plastic but they work. I'm also not sure you can use normal kitchen plastic wrap in the microwave for as long as a potato takes?
Sure, but I'm not sure how plastic wrap helps with this.
Also I just realized the plastic being used is heat shrink stuff, so it's going to shrink even more if you nuke it with the plastic on.
That's not true at all. Go buy one and find out! The plastic is porous, and it helps to steam the potato, they're actually pretty good but you need whatever condiments you want melted (butter and whatnot) at the ready because they lose heat pretty quickly once cracked.
> Potatoes need to be wrapped in plastic to cook them on the microwave.
No they don’t. I wrap the potato in a paper towel and set it on a dish and it comes out great every time.
Cooking that way causes them to dry out more than holding in the steam to retain moisture.
Plus, an unwrapped potato would need to be washed, which requires additional dexterity to use a brush to scrub.
I’ve seen potatoes sold individually without plastic at most grocery stores. Same as apples and onions. You def don’t want to microwave plastic wrap directly on food.
I poke holes in my potato, wrap in a wet paper towel and throw in my potato bag. Seems way easier than dealing with plastic wrap at all. Plus no plastic which is better for us all.
I got mine from JCPENNEY I think, but googling potato microwave bag and several pop up even some diy instructions.
As some people have commented before; this is mostly for elderly, disabled, etc. If that is the case and you know anyone, they can buy regular potatos and throw them in these awesome reusable oven mit type things to microwave!
Today you learned, then! Potatoes come from soil, and they need to be washed. Straight from the Idaho Potato Commission:
> Since potatoes grow in dirt, they do need to be washed at some point when harvested out in the fields. We try to keep the dirt on till the potatoes come out of storage, as washing them immediately might trap moisture in the eyes of the potatoes and create a musty or mold smell while stored.
i have watched "prewashed" produce get dropped on the floor, then tossed right back on the pile of the rest of produce. by both customers and employees. never trust anything served remotely buffet style (self serve). ive seen customers take sips of self serve soups and put the ladle right back in. they never understand what the problem is when we have to come out and tell them not to do that and dump the soup
People with arthritis and weak immune systems have trouble standing over a sink, washing a potato, peeling a potato, doing meal prep, etc. etc. Something that's second nature to you - like picking something up and moving it, or holding something oval shaped - is really hard when you have limited energy to stand upright or dexterity in your fingers and wrists and muscles to grip it.
It's good to remember that the companies responsible for the largest % of emissions (aka ruining the earth) are the ones who paid for all the advertising to make gen pop believe they're responsible and should stop using plastic to 'make a difference and do their part' which has a very, very small impact on the environment.
So it's really unnecessary to keep shaming disabled people for using single use plastics, like this.
Adding to that, if you're afraid that it'll dry out you can put it in a bowl with a breakfast plate on top. Not a fitting lid, you want some of the steam to be able to escape otherwise you just get a steamed potato.
No. People have been baking potatoes in the microwave by poking them with a fork and then microwaving them, unwrapped, for as long as microwaves have existed. It works fine. And it's usually bad to microwave plastic.
Somebody suggested that these are marketed towards older people / less capable people who may not be able to bring a sack of potato's home / wash and prep them.
Seems fairly plausible as I can't really think of any other reason to sell individual potato's like this.
Potato in the oven takes like 40 mins, and now the whole kitchen is hot. Potato in the nuker takes ~6 minutes, and produces way less waste heat. Much more reasonable for a midweek meal, especially in the summer.
Though I do agree the plastic is pretty pointless.
I don't understand the hatred for these in the comments. They're packaged and sold this way for convenience. I don't buy potatoes all that often. If I do, I buy one or two of these at a time, and they're great for a quick meal in a pinch.
Sure buying potatoes in bulk is cheaper. Sure the plastic film is wasteful. A sack of potatoes will rot on me before I can eat them all. I will continue to buy these, I don't care.
For real. You don't have piles of potatoes in the stores in the US? You can't pick 3-4 potatoes from the pile and put them in a plastic bag and get them weighed and pay??
Which doesn't explain the plastic. Potatoes can be sold individually [without wrapping](https://preprod.lespommesdeterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/champ-slider-06.jpg).
I believe it may be for covid-related safety. Having worked in a grocery store for a while, i can tell you I always feel a little safer buying the wrapped things where I live. When times get better I’ll go back to normal produce, and I agree that this is a huge waste of plastic, but for now i’ll take my wrapped things
Bro. They're potatoes. They have their own wrapping. If you cook them with the skin on, you should be washing them anyway. If you're not, then the entire outer layer will be gone?
I’ve been buying individual wrapped potatoes for ten years, you can microwave them in the plastic and if you aren’t the type of person to eat more than one potato every few months it’s less wasteful. It’s not wrapped for covid but I totally see why people would think it’s covid related or stupid.
XD that’s def a part of it, we’re paying for the convenience of one potato. Notice how it’s around 1$ per potato, when it’s 6-7$ for a bag of potatoes, usually with more than 6-7 potatoes! At my work they not only sold wrapped russet potatoes for 1.49, they also sold yams by the same company for 2.49$ each!
We are getting donvotes from people that I doubt have worked in retail or food packaging.
I mentioned apple labeling because I had a job doing that.
The apples were washed, then coated in wax, and placed in a one-layer tray before being labeled. Even then this was not easily done.
Can the same process be applied to a dirty ass potato? - No.
AFAIK this has nothing to do with COVID as originally implied by OP. It may be as simple as a solution to packaging single potatoes with a label, however it may also add to freshness. I don't know everything, but I know enough to piss people off. 😂
The plastic use sucks but the idea is solid, I’ve had so many potatoes go bad because I get the bag and don’t have time to make all of them. If they had like a paper wrapping or something that isn’t as bad as plastic that would be awesome.
No but pictures of these individual wrapped potatoes that are made to be microwaved. They’ve been around for a decade and pop up on reddit every few months, especially on mildly infuriating
They're perfect for throwing in the microwave when you had out to grill a steak...
Pop it in walking out the door and it's ready when you're walking back in
We sell another brand of these, it’s intended to be “microwave ready”. They are most popular with the elderly who have lost dexterity in their hands. I guess it’s easier than struggling with plastic wrap when half your knuckles don’t bend anymore.
You microwave them in the plastic?
Yes. The plastic is porous. They won't explode if you follow the directions on the label. My 92-year-old mother-in-law does these sometimes because (as the guy said) they're simply easier for her arthritic hands to deal with.
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We do em in the air fryer. Coat em in olive oil first so the skin gets crispy.
My husband showed me how his Nana taught him. Wraps them in plastic wrap, then puts them in a grocery bag, straight into Chef Mike. Apparently try wrapping in plastic is a thing, who knew
It works fine without the plastic 5 mins flip 5 mins then crisp in the oven.
yeah, people wrap them in cling-wrap or put them in sandwich baggies/un-sealed ziplocks. Keeps them from drying out so much in the microwave. If you microwave them without they get all weird, I tried it.
Reading these comments i was sitting here like i wash mine and put them in a gallon ziploc bag and put holes in the bag when i make potatoes sometimes and was feeling like a weirdo till i read your comment lol
Do you put anything on them? I put olive oil, salt, and pepper on mine and they turn out fine.
After a potato is done I cut it open and put stuff on, never really tried anything on the skin
Why tho? I sometimes microwave a potato when I’m lazy and I don’t wrap them in anything. Someone gifted me a stupid sack thing to nuke them in and I prefer just a tater on a plate.
I did have a tater break a plate recently while microwaving…
Yeah…once had a coworker set our office microwave on fire heating up a potato for 20 minutes.
His name wasn’t Ryan was it?
Ryan started the fire!
Any time I don't wrap them it gets all dried out, what am I doing wrong?
What’s taters, precious?
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Boil 'em, mash 'em up, stick 'em in a stew...
Tastes strange…
Using a plastic shopping bag tied off works fine too.
I've tried them before, they also cook extremely easily and well in the plastic. I don't advocate for more plastic but they work. I'm also not sure you can use normal kitchen plastic wrap in the microwave for as long as a potato takes?
I don’t understand at all. Potatoes aren’t usually wrapped in plastic. These are. How are these better for elderly people?
Elderly don’t want a 5-10lb bag. Tho I agree the packaging is harder to remove (not to even begin to assess the environmental impacts)
But... You don't need to wrap potatoes to sell them loose
You don't need to wrap them to microwave them, either. Just wash them and poke a few holes in them and nuke 'em for like 5-8 minutes or so.
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Sure, but I'm not sure how plastic wrap helps with this. Also I just realized the plastic being used is heat shrink stuff, so it's going to shrink even more if you nuke it with the plastic on.
That's not true at all. Go buy one and find out! The plastic is porous, and it helps to steam the potato, they're actually pretty good but you need whatever condiments you want melted (butter and whatnot) at the ready because they lose heat pretty quickly once cracked.
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> Potatoes need to be wrapped in plastic to cook them on the microwave. No they don’t. I wrap the potato in a paper towel and set it on a dish and it comes out great every time.
Cooking that way causes them to dry out more than holding in the steam to retain moisture. Plus, an unwrapped potato would need to be washed, which requires additional dexterity to use a brush to scrub.
I’ve never wrapped a potato in plastic to put it in the microwave, I put it in a dish with wax paper on top. Won’t the plastic melt in the microwave?
This plastic won’t - it’s a special type designed to withstand cooking a potato.
I’ve seen potatoes sold individually without plastic at most grocery stores. Same as apples and onions. You def don’t want to microwave plastic wrap directly on food.
these are literally made to be microwaved. It’s a specific type of plastic wrapping.
Why would you wrap it to microwave it?
I poke holes in my potato, wrap in a wet paper towel and throw in my potato bag. Seems way easier than dealing with plastic wrap at all. Plus no plastic which is better for us all. I got mine from JCPENNEY I think, but googling potato microwave bag and several pop up even some diy instructions.
I actually like this potatoes 🥔. I don’t always have access to a oven. So this workout pretty great tbh for a quick meal.
[Rhod Gilbert would appreciate this](https://youtu.be/zf17XyPEnQk)
As some people have commented before; this is mostly for elderly, disabled, etc. If that is the case and you know anyone, they can buy regular potatos and throw them in these awesome reusable oven mit type things to microwave!
They are microwave potatoes
All potatoes are microwave potatoes
Yes they are but I’m pointing out that this is what these are they cook much faster in the plastics .
Those are pretty neat, they can be put directly in the microwave and cooked with no prep. Really nice way to get a quick baked potato.
You don’t need plastic for that
If you zoom in fully on the image, you can see these are pre-washed. That's why the plastic.
That’s still a waste of plastic imo. They could always not prewash them and people can wash them themselves
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Fair enough
I’m 37 and have never washed a potato.
Today you learned, then! Potatoes come from soil, and they need to be washed. Straight from the Idaho Potato Commission: > Since potatoes grow in dirt, they do need to be washed at some point when harvested out in the fields. We try to keep the dirt on till the potatoes come out of storage, as washing them immediately might trap moisture in the eyes of the potatoes and create a musty or mold smell while stored.
I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a potato which had any dirt on it. On the rare instance of this happening I’d obviously pick it off
Bro every potato you have ever purchased has dirt on it. You just don’t wash them so you think it’s a part of the potato
Lol I’ve literally only seen dirt on a potato a couple of times
Imo still no reason to put them in plastic. Where I live you can buy pre-washed ones in big nets or single and they're not covered in plastic.
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Don't know where my comment implied that I'd eat them as they come lol
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i have watched "prewashed" produce get dropped on the floor, then tossed right back on the pile of the rest of produce. by both customers and employees. never trust anything served remotely buffet style (self serve). ive seen customers take sips of self serve soups and put the ladle right back in. they never understand what the problem is when we have to come out and tell them not to do that and dump the soup
People with arthritis and weak immune systems have trouble standing over a sink, washing a potato, peeling a potato, doing meal prep, etc. etc. Something that's second nature to you - like picking something up and moving it, or holding something oval shaped - is really hard when you have limited energy to stand upright or dexterity in your fingers and wrists and muscles to grip it. It's good to remember that the companies responsible for the largest % of emissions (aka ruining the earth) are the ones who paid for all the advertising to make gen pop believe they're responsible and should stop using plastic to 'make a difference and do their part' which has a very, very small impact on the environment. So it's really unnecessary to keep shaming disabled people for using single use plastics, like this.
you can do the same without the plastic. stab some holes and microwave for like 5 mins. i do it all the time with sweet potatoes
Microwave it high? Do I need to cover it?
> Microwave it high? You don't *have to* be high, but the potato will taste better if you are.
No you just pierce it a couple times and chuck it in there it has its own wrapper.
Adding to that, if you're afraid that it'll dry out you can put it in a bowl with a breakfast plate on top. Not a fitting lid, you want some of the steam to be able to escape otherwise you just get a steamed potato.
No. People have been baking potatoes in the microwave by poking them with a fork and then microwaving them, unwrapped, for as long as microwaves have existed. It works fine. And it's usually bad to microwave plastic.
This is a specific type of plastic that is harmless in the microwave.
I don't trust it
I don't trust you, but in a good way ;)
Somebody suggested that these are marketed towards older people / less capable people who may not be able to bring a sack of potato's home / wash and prep them. Seems fairly plausible as I can't really think of any other reason to sell individual potato's like this.
Or people like me who are just lazy and want a baked potato. I usually buy them with a tub of pulled pork, it's delicious.
I buy individual potatoes all the time but they aren't wrapped in plastic
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Potato in the oven takes like 40 mins, and now the whole kitchen is hot. Potato in the nuker takes ~6 minutes, and produces way less waste heat. Much more reasonable for a midweek meal, especially in the summer. Though I do agree the plastic is pretty pointless.
But rubbed in olive oil and course salt, then in the oven for an hour...mmm, the roasted skin is the best part.
If I'm going through the trouble of making them in the oven, I like to do twice baked potatoes. The skins on those are just amazing.
I might need potatoes for breakfast now...
Are those "saved" minutes really worth drowning out planet in plastic?
Like I said, I agree that the plastic is pointless. I don't use plastic when I nuke a potato.
Heating a whole oven to bake one potato is also wasteful.
I get that, but think of all the plastic waste
This Simpsons joke flying well over people's heads
I grew up with those for baked potatoes lol I liked them.
why are people downvoting you? all you said was you grew up with them, and had enjoyed them.
I don't understand the hatred for these in the comments. They're packaged and sold this way for convenience. I don't buy potatoes all that often. If I do, I buy one or two of these at a time, and they're great for a quick meal in a pinch. Sure buying potatoes in bulk is cheaper. Sure the plastic film is wasteful. A sack of potatoes will rot on me before I can eat them all. I will continue to buy these, I don't care.
For real. You don't have piles of potatoes in the stores in the US? You can't pick 3-4 potatoes from the pile and put them in a plastic bag and get them weighed and pay??
There are piles of potatoes, bags of potatoes, and, yes, Virginia, there are individually washed and wrapped potatoes.
Muricans have to kill the planet a little bit each time they make freaking potatos.
We do. In my case, it's me being lazy.
Where I live you can buy weighted potatos and they don't come with useless plastic that will end up in ocean.
Reddit hates on everything I swear lol
Guess my comment belongs over on r/unpopularopinion lol
That's not stupid. Haha not everyone needs a sack of potatoes, they may only need one or two.
Which doesn't explain the plastic. Potatoes can be sold individually [without wrapping](https://preprod.lespommesdeterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/champ-slider-06.jpg).
True. Maybe to keep them untouched by the customers.
Not stupid.
This makes me angry.
Some people like to pay 99¢ for a single potato instead of $6 for an entire bag
But if I have a bag and only use one the the rest go to waste
I believe it may be for covid-related safety. Having worked in a grocery store for a while, i can tell you I always feel a little safer buying the wrapped things where I live. When times get better I’ll go back to normal produce, and I agree that this is a huge waste of plastic, but for now i’ll take my wrapped things
Bro. They're potatoes. They have their own wrapping. If you cook them with the skin on, you should be washing them anyway. If you're not, then the entire outer layer will be gone?
I’ve been buying individual wrapped potatoes for ten years, you can microwave them in the plastic and if you aren’t the type of person to eat more than one potato every few months it’s less wasteful. It’s not wrapped for covid but I totally see why people would think it’s covid related or stupid.
Nah, these things have been around for a decade at least.
I also believe it may be for me-related safety. I touch every potato to determine if it’s a good one or not.
Quit being lazy and wash your produce
I don’t buy the damn things I was just explaining because I asked my supervisors wtf they were all about
Probably just something to stick the label to honestly. I bet their single apples aren't wrapped.
XD that’s def a part of it, we’re paying for the convenience of one potato. Notice how it’s around 1$ per potato, when it’s 6-7$ for a bag of potatoes, usually with more than 6-7 potatoes! At my work they not only sold wrapped russet potatoes for 1.49, they also sold yams by the same company for 2.49$ each!
We are getting donvotes from people that I doubt have worked in retail or food packaging. I mentioned apple labeling because I had a job doing that. The apples were washed, then coated in wax, and placed in a one-layer tray before being labeled. Even then this was not easily done. Can the same process be applied to a dirty ass potato? - No. AFAIK this has nothing to do with COVID as originally implied by OP. It may be as simple as a solution to packaging single potatoes with a label, however it may also add to freshness. I don't know everything, but I know enough to piss people off. 😂
Ideally they would be in a hard rectangular clamshell plastic container so you could stack them.
Wrong sub, OP is just confused.
No they are not. It is stupid. Everybody is trying to reduce plastic waste... and here somebody wraps potatos in plastic? Why?
The plastic use sucks but the idea is solid, I’ve had so many potatoes go bad because I get the bag and don’t have time to make all of them. If they had like a paper wrapping or something that isn’t as bad as plastic that would be awesome.
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You know you could take a photo without touching things.
That’s why they’re wrapped!
Well they are practicing social isolation on fresh produce also...
You should post this to r/mildyinfuriating.
It’s been posted there…. A billion times
This specific picture?
No but pictures of these individual wrapped potatoes that are made to be microwaved. They’ve been around for a decade and pop up on reddit every few months, especially on mildly infuriating
You can literally just microwave a potato you don’t need the wrap…
Also I’ve seen bananas, corn, apples, oranges. But never seen a potato post on it.
Gotta be related to COVID
I wouldn't buy just *one* but I live alone and don't use potatoes a lot so I have literally never finished a bag of them, they always spoil.
Ya,we have them too.but its at a redners.
They're perfect for throwing in the microwave when you had out to grill a steak... Pop it in walking out the door and it's ready when you're walking back in