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Does It Really Do That? Potato Express

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Potato Express promises perfectly cooked potatoes in your microwave in just four minutes.

Does it really do that?

KDKA-TV anchor/"Does it Really Do That?" reporter Jennifer Antkowiak took the product to Lynn Berkoben to put it to the test.

Lynn's helped us test cooking-related items before. She dines out a lot, but her family is trying to get her to spend more time in the kitchen. While she's open to that, Lynn needs fast and easy solutions.

The Potato Express promises just those things and Lynn was happy to give it a try. It looks like a little sleeping bag for potatoes. It has a pouch with an opening for potatoes and a flap that closes them in.

The commercial says the secret is in the insulation of the pouch.

It's supposed to create a steam pocket that cooks potatoes fast. Jen and Lynn wanted to see how a potato cooked on its own.  Lynn put a potato in the microwave by itself, set the timer for four minutes and they got a fully cooked, fluffy potato.

How would the Potato Express do? The simple instructions are printed right on the pouch:

Place as many as four washed potatoes in the bag, close the flap, place in the microwave flap side down.

Lynn put a potato in the pouch, and cooked it for four minutes. Lynn said the Potato Express potato was done, but felt firmer than the one cooked by itself.

"This is really hard. Unless it's just this particular potato, but I would want to put it back in for another minute or two. It was very hard compared to one that wasn't cooked in the bag," she said.

They were eager to see how the Potato Express would do with more potatoes, since that could bring a real time-saving element to dinners. Lynn could only fit three potatoes in the pouch.

As directed, she cooked them for four minutes, and they felt hard again.

A disclaimer says cooking times may vary based on microwave output and other factors. The instructions say if needed, you can cook the potatoes in additional one-minute increments, but only up to four minutes at once.

After four minutes, the three potatoes were still hard.

After another four minutes, Lynn could squeeze the potatoes, but they still felt hard inside.

Lynn cooked them for two more minutes. After a total of 10 minutes in the pouch, in the microwave, the three potatoes were done.

"Faster than a regular oven, but not four minutes," Lynn said.

Although the potatoes were done, Lynn didn't like the taste or texture compared with the first potato she cooked without the Potato Express. She took a sample to her aunt, Linda, who agreed.

Perfectly cooked potatoes in your microwave in four minutes with Potato Express? Does it really do that?

Lynn and Linda say no.

"I don't think I would marry this one, I'm sad to say," Lynn said.

Potato Express sells for around $10 at stores that carry "As Seen on TV" products.

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