No Whoops From Me (Tesco Value Potato Rings)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Tesco Value Potato Rings
Date:	26/05/09 (98 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good price.

Disadvantages: Value Price Quality

Tesco Value Potato Rings - Hula Hoops, what's the difference?
I stood in the aisle at Tesco's wondering if there was any difference, was Tesco just marketing a similar product only giving it a downbeat name.
So I decided to give them a whirl, lets face it you say Potato and I say Hula Hoop ...

Right, so we have a multi pack. Eight packets for 81p, not bad.
The packaging is the standard well known much loved and adored red, white and blue Tesco value design which is only going to end up in the waste bin afterwards so why worry.

Open the large bag and whip one a potato ring for examination, a good fat bag, bulging with rings and not filled with fresh air. My eyes light up, this is looking very favourable.
Break the seal and I am already staring at a heap of potato hoops, golden and salted. They smell very good too.
I have already detected one subtle difference, the potato rings are no where near as thick as the opposition but I can live with that.
The only way forward is to plunge in at the deep end, grab the bull by the horns and snaffle a few of the Value Potato Rings. I pick a few out and thread them onto my fingertips ( the only way that any Hula Hoop impersonator can be enjoyed ) and then slurp the first one off of my index finger and await the outcome.

Hmmm, the crunch is there, the `saltiness` is there, the golden cooked flavour is there. All is looking good for the wolf in sheep's clothing, until ---
I get three crunches into the ring and something very strange starts to happen, the crunchy golden salty potato ring starts to turn ever so slightly slimy under the weight of my saliva. The potato ring is too thin and this in turn is affecting the texture. By now I am longing for - dare I say it - a `real` Hula Hoop !
I feel the furrows deepen in my brow and sweat beads appear at the thought of having just wasted 81p.
Maybe I am just having a bad dream and this unsavoury character that has entered my orifice is just playing with my emotions. No, there is a definite potato slime whirling around in my cheeks.
They do say that it is vital to use a good potato in order to produce a good tasty savoury potato snack and I am now wondering if Tesco have managed to `come by` a few sacks of cheapy spuds.

Yes, initially they have that golden salty potato crunch but as soon as the going gets tough they wave the white flag, the rings just - well - they just aren't like the real thing at all!

But with the greatest of respect for Tesco these Value Potato Rings work out at 10p a packet, hardly a fortune and they would make a good after school snack for the kids.
One fat packet contains 95 calories, a trace of sugar, 3.6g fat, 0.4g saturates and 0.4g of salt.

In conclusion I am going to say that they are most definitely not my cup of tea. If I am going to push the boat out and have a packet of Potato rings then I want the real ones.
Hula Hoops may well be thrice the price but there are some compromises that I am not willing to make and this is one of them.
The Tesco Value range excels itself in many ways but maybe this is one value product that I won't be hurrying back to buy again.

Summary: Not a product I would run back to buy again.