First, these are dehydrated hashbrowns, prep time is minimal, you take out as much as you need, you add an equal amount of hot water and let sit for 15 minutes, drain and cook on a well oiled pan until browned. These are seasoned very little, it contains dry potato, salt, dextrose, sodium bisulfate and BHT (the last 2 are preservatives). It contains 0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 280 mg sodium and 110 mg potassium per 1/3 cup (dry) serving. The box contains 33 oz (2.06 lbs) and makes 52 servings (1/3 cup each). Don't let the dry weight fool you into thinking you aren't getting a good value, once you rehydrate the potatoes, you are definitely getting your money's worth.
These are very good, great for long term storage, preppers, backpackers, camping, restaurants, and for regular home use. You do not have to refrigerate the dry product, the only time you would need to refrigerate is if you had re-hydrated the potatoes and weren't going to cook them right away, or any leftover cooked potatoes.
My biggest problem with them is I always get out too much, when I'm measuring out the dry amount, it never looks like it's going to be enough, then after it soaks up the water, there is too much, I just have to learn how to use less.
When cooking these, they don't hold together like freshly grated potatoes do, but that doesn't bother me, the flavor is great and they cook up fast. I just get a cast iron pan hot, add butter then add the re-hydrated potatoes, I season them with some salt and pepper, they cook up quick, I'm mainly just adding color and flavor by toasting them in the pan. You could easily add minced onions and peppers to make potatoes obrien, the onions and peppers could be fresh or dehydrated. For camping or backpacking, I would put some potatoes in a zip-baggie, add dehydrated onions and take them with me.
For those who are doing food storage, these are a great buy, I would put them into another container for long term storage, vacuum sealed bags, or mylar bags with an oxygen absorber.
I wish the description on Sam's page was better for these, no where does it say that this is a dehydrated product, that is a pretty important detail. My other wish is that these could be available for mail order, these aren't available in all Sam's stores, and I live 3 hours from the nearest Sam's store, so if these were available as a mail order item, I'm sure it would sell great, I would certainly promote them.
I say that if you like hashbrowns, but don't want to mess with peeling and shredding fresh potatoes, this is a good product, with great flavor and quick prep and cooking time.