This thread is really quite sad - how people are getting high and mighty and thinking they're morally superior for not using such products.

I personally haven't ever used frozen mash but I've used chilled ready made stuff at times and will continue to do so until it becomes possible to boil potatoes and make a nice mash in 5 minutes! It's not laziness - standing in the kitchen waiting for potatoes to boil is boring and time-consuming rather than being a lot of effort.

Never tried frozen roast potatoes, but I do enjoy Aunt Bessies Yorkshire Puddings and dumplings - they're just nice extras which compliment meals so I really don't care if I haven't made them myself. As for frozen chips, I hardly eat them ever but they're not exactly healthy so I don't care if they're made from scratch or not!

why are you watching the potatoes boil? in the time they are cooking, you could be preparing another part of your meal. It's all about planning, but not everyone is good at that.

Aunt Bessie's rock!

Love their yorkies and apple pie. Roast potatoes aren't bad but my freshly made ones are better.

Tried other products such as pancakes, cauliflower cheese, chips and other bits, they are not as good as the real thing.

I've either got something in the combi microwave/oven which doesn't need anything doing to it or I'm frying chicken which always cooks well in less time than it takes to boil potatoes.

They just seem to take longer than anything else and you don't like to leave them unattended in case they burn/boil over.

The fact I'm not at home and have limited kitchen facilities probably makes a difference - I'm happier doing potatoes at home (unless I'm really in a hurry and will then opt for the chilled ready made variety)

I'll disagree with that, it actually aids planning. Example - I made a stew at the weekend and enough to make several meals. Some of it I froze, and some I placed in the fridge as I wanted it the following evening, not the night I actually made the stew. As the stew taken from the fridge was heating up, I put the Aunt Bessie's frozen mash in the micro, as they were cooking, my stew was heating up.

I forward planned my stew, the frozen mash allowed me to eat within minutes of when I wanted to, without going through peeling potatoes, boiling them for 20 mins, mashing them manually. Very handy, thanks to forward planning.

We always have a bag each of Aunt Bessies roast spuds and yorkshire puds in the freezer.
Very very handy.

I love her new jam roly poly with her ready-to-serve custard. Yum!

i've only ever had the frozen yorkshire batters. I like making my own roasties and mash

we make make most things from scratch most of the time, but I don't think I've ever made home made chips in my life.

Apart from anything else, aren't chip pan fires a major cause of house fires?

No I think whats sad is that people actually buy some of the products. Yorkshire puds, roast potatoes and Pancakes (to name some of the products) are some of the simplest things in the world to make. If you can open a packet you can make these from scratch. Not exactly hard or time consuming, just some people are too lazy to even contemplate mixing flour egg and milk

I prefer to make my own stuff rather than eat frozen

I hate the shop bought frozen puddings.

At the risk of being told I'm posh or up myself, I will join the ranks of those who don't buy this sort of stuff.
Frozen Yorkshires are just rank. Cardboard like items that just bear no resemblance to the freshly prepared thing. I'd rather go without than eat them.

Who said it was hard or that it wasn't easy to mix up some flour, eggs and milk? Mabye you missed the comments about such products saving time, being convenient when time may be at a premium one night.

Things like mashed potatoes along with pre-prepared main foods, are also very convenient at lunchtimes when only a microwave may be available. There are many different circumstances other than branding people 'lazy'.

I guess then you make your own ice cream. Or do you prefer the 'already made, stick in the freezer' stuff.

I mean afterall, there's no comparison to freshly made ice cream, or breads for that matter. Do you make your own bread too?

Must be great to have so little time on your hands.

I see it as some type of equation.

Ice cream I can't make easily, not even tried before. Not sure that I could make it to the quality that Ben and Jerry provide me with.
Bread, again, I probably couldn't make decent bread with the tools I have - small kitchen, shit oven, the list goes on.

Yorkshire Puddings on the other hand, are pretty simple to make. Not only that but I can make them and they taste lovely with a minimal amount of effort. Reducing that effort to zero and bunging some Bessies in the oven, results in a Yorkshire that bears little resemblance to one I could easily whip up myself. The equation of time/effort/ability/taste. Just doesn't stack up in favour of Bessy on this occasion.

The same goes for roast potatoes.

Aunt Bessie's roast potatoes are okay if you're desperate for time but they do put silly tiny ones in. We love AB's Homestyle chips with salt and vinegar for a change, but never buy yorkshire puds when I can make one like this.http://i38.tinypic.com/x3ixyw.jpg

You'll not choose to buy soups then, favouring making all your own *which I do with the exception of Heinz Tomato* - some home made, from scratch, soups are ready in as little as 20 minutes, but people still buy canned and packet ready made ones. Why's that I wonder?

You'll never use anything canned, or frozen, such as veg, fish etc?

The topic isn't about one specific item, it's about Aunt Bessie and the range of things the company offer.

I've made home made oven chips before, they were yummy.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2...nky-oven-chips

To keep this on topic, I have in the past used Aunt Bessie's frozen yorkshires (both the ready cooked and the batter types) and they seemed fine to me.

Saying that, I now prefer to make everything from fresh (not that I've had a roast dinner or yorkshires in ages) but I don't have a problem with people using them to save time.

One thing that makes me chuckle though, is when you see the packet mixes etc - for yorkshires it just says add milk and egg which suggests all you're doing is buying a small packet of flour!

Just a thought for the food snobs- do you ever consider that other people might prefer products like AB to their own roasties etc.? Or do you automatically think that if you make them from scratch, they're better, not knowing the cooking abilities of others?

Again.
Individual products are weighed up by me. Could I produce it easily? Quickly? Will the end result be pretty close to what I (me personally) could do from scratch?
It's always been about personal preferences, I have never stated anything other than that.
I don't really do soup but just to help you out - I don't mind eating soup from a tin. Mainly because the end result (to me) isn't that far removed from what I would find acceptable.
For someone else who loves their soup, I'm sure they'd much prefer to make theirs from scratch. In their situation, I dare say, if they didn't have the appropriate goods with which to make their own soup, they'd not grab a can of Heinz. In that situation (like me with the Yorkshires) they'd prefer to go without.

As for your other suggestions...

Other than frozen corn and peas, no you're correct. I don't do frozen veg. They are vile mush. Only peas and corn do ok from the freezer. The difference in quality between frozen peas and corn to fresh peas or corn isn't noticeable enough for me to get fresh every time I want them. If the quality wasn't there (as with frozen sprouts and Bessies Yorkshires) then I'd go without them.

Ok so you say it's about the company as a whole. I'll be amazed if you can find anywhere that I've slated all of the products. It is about personal preference and while I can see why someone might want to buy their Cauliflower cheese or puddings or a selection of the other meals they produce - I personally wouldn't purchase any of the more simple products.

We had the jam roly poly the other week and thought it was vile I thought roly poly`s were made with suet pastry ? mine always are but this was more like a sponge
The only thing i buy are yorkshires .

I hope that was a joke..

Well each to their own. Tbh this viewpoint just reinforces mine.

What, when they can use it as an excuse to call people lazy? Don't be silly.

Here's a little something for the food snobs out there. Ever considered a pot filled with hot boiling water and potatoes might be too heavy for the older and more frail people, those who might not have the strength to safely lift the pot? There are many of them out there, not only frail but having limited use of their limbs due to physical nature of bone diseases such as osteoporosis, athritis etc.

There's a whole lot more than being lazy in favour of these type of products.

I made myself a roast dinner the other day that was made purely from Aunt Bessie's stuff (minus the chicken and the gravy) and it was delicious!

I've no clue how to make things from scratch (I'm only 18 and very new to using an oven) so I got myself some Aunt Bessie's roasties, mash, cauliflower cheese, parsnips and yorkshire puddings and I absoloutely loved it.

And to all of those slating people for using ready made food, perhaps you haven't experienced what it is like to have no time whatsoever on some days or perhaps you just don't appreciate how little time some people may have to food preperation. It's none of your business to be quite frank and you're in no position to judge people for their own food options, it's doing you no harm at the end of the day is it?