ummm...he should start with 11 minutes, and then check in on them every few minutes and pull them out of the oven when they are golden brown. That's really not so difficult.

But what Aaron should really do is stop buying crappy biscuits in a can and make some from scratch.

Obviously they need to improve their labelling, but calling their support line about it? They're biscuits. You bake them until they're as brown. Geish...

Calling the support line is funny... seriously, is there ever a real reason to call the Pillsbury support line?

I'm pretty sure that 20-28 minutes is total time (including prep) and the 11-20 is the cook time. Funny they didn't post the directions which probably clearly point that out.

They're freaking biscuits... did he really waste his time calling up to find out what to do?

@medalian1: PREP time? Unless you are including warming the oven I don't see why opening a can and yanking out the soggy goo would take 10 minutes.

Aaron is the reason the troubleshooting section in the manual of every electronic device I own starts with "Is the unit plugged in?"

"My biscuits are burnin'!" - Yosemite Sam

It would probably be more useful to post the entire label...there is obviously more writing to the right...

"Until golden brown".

Bisquick biscuits take 9 minutes to bake. I don't think you want to bake a biscuit for nearly half an hour. That seems like a very bad idea.

This is a bad post.

There is ALWAYS a "directions" portion of the label with detailed instructions.
For example, what temperature should he set the oven? this small snippet of the label doesn't tell him! oh no! call customer support instead of flipping the container over and looking at the "directions"

You cook them until the little fat guy stops laughing.

The bag in the picture is either old or different from where I am at in California; or maybe the packaging has fixed. The bag I have are for 20 and they don't have that image anywhere, though I remember having a bag with it a little while ago. At least I recognized that picture when I seen it. These are different then the canned. These come in a bag and are individually frozen.

Anyways, according to my bag the 20-28 are for 7 to 12 biscuits, the shorter time is for 1 to 6. And you wouldn't know unless you turned it over and checked the Baking Directions :)

Oh SNAP!

@TedSez: Oh! SNAP!

Oops. Sorry for the double post. Forgot I could send a reply at the last moment. Stupid not being able to turn back the hands of time. Grrr.

That IS the directions portion of the label. It's step 3 -- see the big red number 3 to the left of BAKE? Step 1 is probably to preheat the oven to [whatever] temperature, step 2 tells you how to place the lumps of dough onto the pan, step 3 is the time.

Not a bad post at all. The picture merely focuses on the part with the conflict.

Maybe the clock is indicating that you should make the biscuits during the first 20 to 28 minutes of the hour?

It could be a Gremlins-esque thing where if you make the biscuits at 7:45pm (a wholly inappropriate time for dinner) as opposed to 7:15pm (a totally acceptable time for dinner) horrible things will happen (possibly including a Gremlin attack).

Maybe.

I think the 20-28 minutes is supposed to be for high elevation baking.

I suspect that Aaron's late-nite biscuit cravings may have been linked to some other late-nite activities. Duuuude, let's make some biscuits! That would also explain his decision to call technical support rather than just watch the freaking biscuits cook.

I agree with Citron. To think that maybe since the support line was closed, he actually DID bake them for 28 minutes...
And the way this post is worded, it sounds like Aaron's still waiting to find out. If ya can't figure this one out...should you be using a oven period? Just a thought.

K

I'm gonna change the batteries on the humor detector :p

If I were a betting person:
11 - 20 minutes = total bake time
20 - 28 minutes = total preparation time-preheating the oven, putting the biscuits on a pan, etc...

I cannot believe that people are actually digging this story.

I fear that this could be a downside to The Consumerist, where people are so eager to have a consumer-esque experience that instead of simply realizing that we have to gauge the amount of time the biscuits need to stay in the oven, we become incapable of self-reliance and have to call the Customer Support Line for help, endlessly waiting on hold while our unwatched biscuits burn down our house.

I bet Aaron was all ready to record his telephone conversation too, had they picked up.

Come on people.

p.s. Sorry for hatin. Just having one of those... Don't ban me Ben!

@OnoSideboard: If they were in that state, I would have thought watching them cook would be an exciting experience! Not only that, the less time it takes to cook, the better (speaking from experience, naturally!)

@Namrepus: Heh, "high elevation" definately seems to be the operative phrase here :-)

holy fuck, they're biscuits not heart surgery!

and if you bake, like, anything? ever? then you know that say, a cake takes 28 minutes. biscuits? nope.

and if they're not done, you just pop 'em back in the over. not heart surgery.

NO I HAVE IT! If you shape the biscuits into a letter 3 you bake them 20 to 28 minutes. Otherwise you turn golden brown in 11 to 20 minutes. This must be the answer! Do I win a prize?

Hell, just eat 'em raw.

I like KFC biscuits better, anyway.

Alrighty, crew... I'm Aaron and I'm the one that submitted this image to Consumerist. Just to clear up a few things:

The main reason I called their customer support number (which most food companies have on their packaging) was to inform them of the apparent typo. Biscuit making is definitely not difficult; the thing I found the most odd was that their phone line to make comments and raise concerns about their products was not available after business hours, when people are most likely going to be using their product.

Also, these are not the crappy biscuits that come in a can. These are the crappy biscuits that come in a bag. Prep time is virtually nil on these things.

And for those concerned with my sanity, I successfully baked the biscuits for approximately 15 minutes the same night.

@buthidae: You should try frosting those biscuits with fudge frosting from a can. Pure heaven, if you're in a certain state of mind (gnarly if you're not).

@Aaron Pratt: I'm glad you got to eat your biscuits.

Please....Buy your biscuits! Baking is so like passe.

@scoobydoo:

Yes, including warming the oven. The clock approximately shows you the total time you need to spend before you can eat.

//krunk (^_^x)

Just got back from the grocery store. Looked at the frozen type and the refrigerated type of Pillsbury biscuts. All had specific cooking time directions included on the back. I couldn't find any with this type of typo on the front though.

For all of you who said that Aaron should just bake them until golden brown - don't you think most people have better things to do than stare into the oven waiting until this event happens?

Heck, I'd rather know the approximate time, set the timer, and check back when just about done.

Unless I'm missing something, I think bake times are a little confusing, I applaud Aaron for trying to call the customer service line.

I love Pillsbury biscuits. I usually just bake them at 350 for 10-15 min, but periodically check them to see if they are golden yet. And I see no problem with calling the support line, that's what it's there for. I once had a Betty Crocker recipe for a cake, and noticed it skipped a step. I called support and they provided the missing step. It wasn't something obvious like "pour the batter into the pan" but a more important step. So yes calling is sometimes needed.

Ok here are the directions as found on some pillsbury biscuits today

http://www.flickr.com/photos/medalian1/402659714/

While the photo is blurry, the instructions are easy to understand.

at least hes at the point where hes ready to bake them...i could never get the damn thing open out of the tube, that whole pull the paper down bs never worked!!!!

This is from a bag of biscuits, not a can, and these are the directions from the back of the package, not the front.