Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

Re:Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores by jessaustin on Saturday June 04, 2022 @08:49AM (#31619704)

That's a fine technique. What set me off ITT was the "a kit or a flavor packet" recommendation. I have long considered these to be egregious wastes of money. The ones that act as thickeners are mostly corn starch (which is weird for non-Chinese-food), except a 2 oz packet costs more than a whole tub of corn starch. The ones for flavor are almost entirely salt and MSG. There's nothing wrong with salt or MSG, but they are also much cheaper when purchased individually.

I think this phenomenon started in USA with the "Betty Crocker" and "Bisquick" product line. This was marketed as easier than scratch cooking. There's nothing wrong with the concept (I'm sure there is a box of Bisquick in my kitchen), but it doesn't always make sense from a value standpoint. Also it is less flexible. You could apply the technique you describe no matter what you were cooking, and you could vary the timing and amounts a great deal. The "kit" stuff is more like a chemistry demonstration, which must be carried out fairly closely to the directions on the box in order to remain somewhat flavorful.

https://tastecooking.com/the-thing-about-bisquick/

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Re:Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores by bbarnett on Saturday June 04, 2022 @09:03AM (#31619812)

Interesting analysis.

I think it really extends to everything, others have mentioned pre-made tomato sauces here, also baffling both for price and taste.

When I left home, pre-internet, and started grocery shopping for the first time, I recall wanting spagetti. Well ground meat, that made sense. Pepper. Salt. Noodles.

But until years later, I didn't think about the spagetti sauce I bought. I just kept buying it. It was just there, labelled as a natural ingredient.

You want to make spagetti? Why, there's the sauce!

In retrospect, I think labelling is quite effective in this way. Get 'em when first out of the house, latch on to their inexperience then.

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