# Food items you should always buy, not make



## ptolemy (Dec 25, 2021)

A counter argument for other thread. Now, I definitely agree that ideally, we want to make all the foods, but there are many, where making them is simply either impractical for many people (due to not having space, right environment, or things taking forever) or you're not saving much by doing at home, or you just cannot replicate certain dishes or flavor profiles. 

Here are few examples. This is my opinion and I am keenly aware (code for envious) that many participants here have done most of these at home with great success).

Charcuterie. Either it takes weeks to cure or requires access to a smoker or a relatively controlled environment (for temperature/humidity) that I simply don't have ease access to as I live in an apartment. I have tried making bacon and bypassed smoking in flavor of sous vide and it came out, good, but just not bacon . 
Certain foods from your childhood that you can't replicate for one reason or the other. One is pelmeni. I have tried making them many times, and i can't get flavor profile right and dough is also different. Flavor is not what I remember and dough often rips and/or too thick.
There re many other, but I also have to take into consideration how much time something takes over cost of buying a close approximation.


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## spaceconvoy (Dec 25, 2021)

Salt


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## ptolemy (Dec 25, 2021)

spaceconvoy said:


> Salt



smartass  It's more of an ingredient, unless you have only salt for breakfast


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## Michi (Dec 25, 2021)

Cheese is on the other side of the line for me. It requires a lot of knowledge and dedication. I did attend a cheese making workshop a few years ago and, occasionally, still make my own mozzarella. But, on the whole, I'm happy to leave cheese making to the pros.

Brewing my own beer is something I used to do when I was too poor to afford buying the ready-made stuff. It was decent beer, but I can buy beer that's better than my own measly efforts so readily that the effort isn't worth it for me.

@ptolemy I totally disagree about the charcuterie!


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## ptolemy (Dec 25, 2021)

Michi said:


> @ptolemy I totally disagree about the charcuterie!



I want to disagree with that too, but few times I tried... I am either unwilling to wait 3 month or I am unwilling to risk eating it, for the fear it poisoning myself, haha. Cheese and Beer are great examples


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## sumis (Dec 25, 2021)

wine 

.


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## Michi (Dec 25, 2021)

ptolemy said:


> I want to disagree with that too, but few times I tried... I am either unwilling to wait 3 month or I am unwilling to risk eating it, for the fear it poisoning myself, haha.


To give you a little nudge, I've just added a recipe for Lomo Curado. That's probably the easiest charcuterie project of all. No special equipment needed, other than a bit of collagen sheet or dry age steak curing wrap.

There is hope for you yet!


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## M1k3 (Dec 25, 2021)

Vegemite
Hákarl
Marmite


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## Rainman890 (Dec 25, 2021)

Ketchup. Can't improve on Heinz.


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## spaceconvoy (Dec 25, 2021)

ptolemy said:


> smartass  It's more of an ingredient, unless you have only salt for breakfast


The others so far are ingredients too..

But ok, how about french fries, pizza, fried chicken, blooming onion. I guess you can include anything that needs a really hot oven or a deep fryer.

For me personally, once I found a baker in town who makes this one perfect loaf, I stopped trying to make my own. Don't know what I'll do if he moves or retires (bread can be a meal sometimes )


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## Michi (Dec 25, 2021)

Anything that requires long fermentation is tricky, due to the need to control the environment. Stuff like sauerkraut or other lacto-fermented vegetables are really easy. But I wouldn't try making fish sauce, for example. Or salami. I'd love to but, in my climate, that's possible only with a dedicated curing fridge. (I _am_ working on that problem  )

Honey is another one. It's cheap and plentiful at the shop, and the overhead of keeping my own bees doesn't make sense for the few hundred grams of honey I use during the year (pretty much all of it as part of marinades and the like).

Yoghurt, anyone? That's something I've never tried. I rarely eat yoghurt by itself—it mostly ends up as an ingredient in something else, so I've never been motivated to make my own.

I did make sour cream, which is easy enough, but it wasn't so much better than store-bought that I'd bother again.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

Coffee
mustard
canned sardines
Ghee
frozen spinach
potato chips
croissants
harissa


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## Grayswandir (Dec 25, 2021)

Brian Weekley said:


> Coffee
> mustard
> canned sardines
> Ghee
> ...


Ghee is pretty straight forward, isn't it?


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## demcav (Dec 25, 2021)

Laminated dough/puff pastry.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

It is, ghee is reasonably easy to make but with butter running $7.50 a lb (454gms), it’s much cheaper and easier to buy it. Sad but true!


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## LostHighway (Dec 25, 2021)

Brian Weekley said:


> Coffee
> mustard
> canned sardines
> Ghee
> ...



I understood where you were going with ghee but I don't get placing coffee in that group unless you're talking about coffee starting with cultivation. IME it isn't difficult to make coffee at home that is at least as good as pour over coffee shop coffee and much less expensive. Espresso requires equipment ($$) but with the right equipment you can again equal or exceed most coffee shops. The ubiquitous Starbucks is notably easy to improve on at home. Even home coffee roasting is not difficult and fairly simple equipment coupled with good quality beans can yield results that at least equal 90%+ of commercial roasters.

Now making baguettes is something best left to those with equipment homes don't typically have, the huge number of really bad commercial baguettes in the USA not withstanding.


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## stringer (Dec 25, 2021)

Brian Weekley said:


> Coffee
> mustard
> canned sardines
> Ghee
> ...



I agree with everything in your list but harissa. Store bought harissa sucks. I've tried a dozen different brands at least. Maybe there's something out there that's decent. I haven't found it. It all gives me heartburn and indigestion and usually just tastes spicy without much depth. Whereas homemade with freshly toasted and ground spices is amazing. It also freezes well so you can make big batches and store it indefinitely.


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## LostHighway (Dec 25, 2021)

stringer said:


> I agree with everything in your list but harissa. Store bought harissa sucks. I've tried a dozen different brands at least. Maybe there's something out there that's decent. I haven't found it. It all gives me heartburn and indigestion and usually just tastes spicy without much depth. Whereas homemade with freshly toasted and ground spices is amazing. It also freezes well so you can make big batches and store it indefinitely.



Have you tried the Zwïta stuff out of (strangely enough) Texas? I haven't traveled in Tunisia or Morocco but I find this better than the imported brands I've tried from those countries. Since it is absent feet on the ground experience I may well be wrong.


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## PeterL (Dec 25, 2021)

stringer said:


> I agree with everything in your list but harissa. Store bought harissa sucks. I've tried a dozen different brands at least. Maybe there's something out there that's decent. I haven't found it. It all gives me heartburn and indigestion and usually just tastes spicy without much depth. Whereas homemade with freshly toasted and ground spices is amazing. It also freezes well so you can make big batches and store it indefinitely.



I’ve had similar experiences with store bought harissa. I’ve never made at it home though, what do you recommend recipe wise?


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

Coffee … I’m lucky as I have several artisan roasters nearby who really (IMO) do a good job. On sale I can buy one of several artisan blends I like at $7-$8 a lb (about the same price as butter haha!). I can use the time I save by not roasting my own coffee to make my own Harissa.


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## LostHighway (Dec 25, 2021)

Brian Weekley said:


> Coffee … I’m lucky as I have several artisan roasters nearby who really (IMO) do a good job. On sale I can buy one of several artisan blends I like at $7-$8 a lb (about the same price as butter haha!). I can use the time I save by not roasting my own coffee to make my own Harissa.



$7 - $8 per pound Canadian or US? Either way that is a fraction of prices of the better local roasters here which range from about $16 USD per pound to $25 USD for 12 ounces. There is $7 or $8 per pound bulk coffee around but unfortunately it is swill.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

That’s $7-8 dollars a lb Canadian. Normal price is between $14-15 a lb but it can occasionally be bought 2 for 1. I keep my eyes out for the blends I want and swoop in when the sales happen. … and you’re right, the normal grocery store stuff IS swill … ditto for anything from Starbucks. I drink my coffee very strong and very black. Starbucks burn their beans so badly in roasting (imo) that it’s so bitter you have to add all the Starbucks crap to make it barely UN drinkable.

Just my opinion and I readily admit to being wrong much of the time.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

But not about my coffee.


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## coxhaus (Dec 25, 2021)

Rainman890 said:


> Ketchup. Can't improve on Heinz.


I agree except I like Spicy Whataburger Heinz ketchup. A good substitute is Heinz ketchup with Tabasco.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

I know how you can improve on Heinz … kick Buffet’s butt out of Heinz.

The first thing he did was shut down Leamington, Ontario’s historic tomato processing operation and throw a bunch of people out of work. I’m pretty sure that he replaced the tomato’s with product grown in China, fertilized with … well I won’t go into that, but you can imagine! The employees in Leamington re-started the plant and now produce French’s ketchup from the tomato capital of Canada … fertilized with properly produced synthesized chemicals like they should be.

Hmmmm … I think my argument is falling apart on a lot of fronts.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

Check it out …









Leamington, Tomato Capital of Canada, fruits, vegetables, wineries


Leamington - tomato capital of Canada, on the shore of Lake Erie, fruits, vegetables and greenhouses, grape production for wines



www.discover-southern-ontario.com


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## Knivperson (Dec 25, 2021)

Wine, whisky, well all kinds of alcohol almost. Soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, worchestershire sauce etc. etc.


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## Justinv (Dec 25, 2021)

Maybe I’m the only one here that makes their own tomato ketchup. Takes about 30 mins to make enough for a few months.

Coffee seems quite a problem to buy these days. I can’t stand sour coffee, and everyone is selling sour light roast these days. They even call it dark roast, yet beans are light brown. I had a new bag of coffee this morning with no labeling at all as to the roast, it was so light some beans were greenish. Why can’t the stuff get consistently labeled? Starbucks used to make coffee I liked but they have been overroasting and much is burnt these days.
I have roasted my own coffee but its time consuming and finicky unless you buy expensive roasters. I did make some great batches but they were small (1/3lb). Roasting is stinky and I don’t like to do it outside in the winter. I’ve probably tried 40 different types of coffee from specialty roasters in the last year and haven’t found one I like. Its almost all been underroasted and sour. So coffee is a almost a new category: don’t want to make it, can’t buy anything good, but gotta have it.


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## sumis (Dec 25, 2021)

Justinv said:


> I can’t stand sour coffee, and everyone is selling sour light roast these days.



this. 
yes, it opens up for more complex flavors and aromas, but sometimes i wonder if the third generation barista culture is all about burnt tea. and anything with milk sucks ass with sour light roast. 

.


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## Knivperson (Dec 25, 2021)

Dont they call it "acidic"?


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## ian (Dec 25, 2021)

I can’t even drink light roast because it f’s with my stomach.


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## MarcelNL (Dec 25, 2021)

I roast my own coffee, but when buying greens I steer clear of descriptions like 'bright acidity', 'apple juice' . 'citrus' etc.
roasting at home is totally doable but a bit of a rabbit hole, I happily invest the time (roasting 3-4 400g batches takes about an hour, once every two weeks) as most of what I buy is third wave orange juice or so expensive I'd rather not even mention it.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 25, 2021)

Hands down always buy … licorice allsorts!


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## LostHighway (Dec 25, 2021)

Truly sour coffee is usually caused by under extraction in brewing rather than the roast, per se. Really under roasted coffee is a bit sour but more grassy or vegetal. I've almost never seen truly under roasted coffee from even marginally competent roasters, over roasted is far more common IME. @MarcelNL is certainly correct that some origins tend toward brighter, more acidic notes - I tend to associate that with Yemen, Kenya, Rwanda, some Ethiopian origins and some Central American coffees. Personally I have more issues with super light body rather than brightness. Coffee can be both bright and have a ton of body.


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## Rangen (Dec 25, 2021)

The home coffee roasting rabbit hole is deep, expensive, and utterly magical.


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## MarcelNL (Dec 26, 2021)

Home coffee roasting is cost effective though, I bought my Huky (roaster) used and save about 10Euro on each Kilo of good but not stellar beans that I roast when compared to buying them from a roaster.
Approx 150 Kilo's and three years into the game I hit break even, not counting some RTDs for more precision, at approx 1 kilo per week I now drink coffee no roaster near me can offer at the prices of the gunk supermarkets sell.


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## Tristan (Dec 26, 2021)

Justinv said:


> Coffee seems quite a problem to buy these days. I can’t stand sour coffee, and everyone is selling sour light roast these days. They even call it dark roast, yet beans are light brown. I had a new bag of coffee this morning with no labeling at all as to the roast, it was so light some beans were greenish. Why can’t the stuff get consistently labeled? Starbucks used to make coffee I liked but they have been overroasting and much is burnt these days.
> I have roasted my own coffee but its time consuming and finicky unless you buy expensive roasters. I did make some great batches but they were small (1/3lb). Roasting is stinky and I don’t like to do it outside in the winter. I’ve probably tried 40 different types of coffee from specialty roasters in the last year and haven’t found one I like. Its almost all been underroasted and sour. So coffee is a almost a new category: don’t want to make it, can’t buy anything good, but gotta have it.



Just buy a gene cafe roaster. They do 250-300g at a go (thats 17 stone or one kessel run for those that don’t do metric), you’ll recover the cost in roast savings within 12-18 months. Sooner if you have a coffee problem.

I avoid all bright light roasts cos I like milk in my espresso. Brazi/Columbian arabica never fails, 
Personal fave value for money beans are the daterra estate stuff. Not cheapest but great results.


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## BrewsWayne (Dec 26, 2021)

I completely disagree about beer. It takes time and some specialized gear, but you can make much better beer than most of what is on offer in your local stores.

Beer has a very short shelf life. It should not be sitting on warm shelves. It needsto be at one temperature for it's entire life.

Drinking beer where it is made is the best way to experience the full flavor it offers.

I have been making beer at home and professionally for over 30 years. It is my main hobby and former profession. I make 20 liters about every week.


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## stringer (Dec 26, 2021)

PeterL said:


> I’ve had similar experiences with store bought harissa. I’ve never made at it home though, what do you recommend recipe wise?



I don't really have a specific recipe in mind. I use fresh roasted red pepper as the base. I add several different kinds of chili powder (ancho, chipotle, paprika, cayenne, Anaheim, Mexican chili powder, etc (basically whatever I have available)). Fresh ground cumin, coriander, and black pepper.


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## LostHighway (Dec 26, 2021)

stringer said:


> I don't really have a specific recipe in mind. I use fresh roasted red pepper as the base. I add several different kinds of chili powder (ancho, chipotle, paprika, cayenne, Anaheim, Mexican chili powder, etc (basically whatever I have available)). Fresh ground cumin, coriander, and black pepper.



No garlic and/or caraway?


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## stringer (Dec 26, 2021)

LostHighway said:


> No garlic and/or caraway?


Yes on both.


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## Rangen (Dec 26, 2021)

BrewsWayne said:


> I completely disagree about beer. It takes time and some specialized gear, but you can make much better beer than most of what is on offer in your local stores.
> 
> Beer has a very short shelf life. It should not be sitting on warm shelves. It needsto be at one temperature for it's entire life.
> 
> ...



I completely agree that you can make much better beer than most of what you can buy at the local store.

You, being the guy who has put so much into the hobby. You can do that. 

Me, on the other hand? My home made beer sucked, after multiple tries. I still don't know why. And I won't get another chance, without a lot of persuasion. My wife still remembers when she came home to a sink clogged with malted grain. She doesn't drink. She's tolerant of my doing so, but less tolerant of my turning the place into an alcohol factory. I missed my chance to keep it under the radar.


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## Krisman (Dec 27, 2021)

Brian Weekley said:


> It is, ghee is reasonably easy to make but with butter running $7.50 a lb (454gms), it’s much cheaper and easier to buy it. Sad but true!


Here in the UK butter is £1.60 per 250g. I find that store bought ghee never smells that great but homemade stuff (at least mine) has a slight caramel scent. Lovely


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 27, 2021)

The Canadian government strongly subsidizes and protects the dairy industry in Canada. The result is that all Canadian dairy prices are very high and things like butter from grass fed cows was non-existent. Quality butter such as New Zealand butter was unobtainium until very recently. Even now, when you can find it, the price is sky high. Clarifying this butter into a quality Ghee is simply too expensive for me to consider. Reasonable quality Ghee can be purchased at less than half the price.


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## Justinv (Dec 27, 2021)

Brian Weekley said:


> The Canadian government strongly subsidizes and protects the dairy industry in Canada. The result is that all Canadian dairy prices are very high and things like butter from grass fed cows was non-existent.



Interesting. I have never considered buying ghee, I just make it about once a month. You can choose how long to cook it if you make it. I often cook if gently until the solids are rich brown to get a nice nutty brown-butter flavor. It works really well with holiday foods.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 27, 2021)

Agree totally but in Canada a quality ghee would cost about $25 a lb. or more to make. Purchasing a decent quality ghee is about $9 a lb. Ditto for free range organic eggs … as much as $9.65 a dozen. Regular white large eggs … $3.60 a dozen where I live. Costs are much higher in more rural and remote parts of Canada.


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## Rangen (Dec 27, 2021)

The commercial ghee I buy is not browned at all. That suits my taste. I just want butter that won't burn. I don't like browned butter anything. I suppose you could hide it in a dessert, and I'd like it fine, but those dishes like trout meuniere, that rely on a brown butter sauce, well, you can have my share.


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## J_Wisdom (Dec 28, 2021)

@Brian Weekley How much are Dungeness crabs where you are? I'm guessing readily available and not too expensive. Have to say that's one of my favorite crabs.

It's pretty easy to make clarified butter and take out the solids, but the couple of times I made Ghee and got it browned some, we thought it was good. It is a little time-consuming, though.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 28, 2021)

Live Dungeness crabs run about $15 each in the grocery stores … less from fish markets. Honestly, though, I don’t really know of anybody who buys them. They are very easy to catch because they are everywhere and close to shore.
Even without a little boat you can often catch what you want below any number of little piers using a can of tuna or chicken scraps as bait. You might get a kick out of this picture.







This picture is taken from the front balcony of my house. The ship is one of the Canadian Navy’s Frigates and the location is one of the prime commercial Dungeness crab harvesting spots. A couple of times a year one of these frigates will anchor in this spot for a day or so. … Just long enough to catch a bumper crop of Dungeness crab. I’ll bet these events coincide with an Admiral‘s party at the Esquimalt Navy Base which is located in Victoria. Posession limits … if they apply I doubt that they are enforced against a vessel with a 5 inch gun on the bow.

My favourite Dungeness crab treats are these.







Normally priced at $2.69 a crab cake the occasionally come on sale for as little as $1 each. The are made locally and are packed with Dungeness crab. Two cakes make the protein for a main and they are absolutely delicious cooked a variety of ways. They come frozen and not pre-cooked. 

I agree with the Ghee. Considering the very high cost of decent butter in Canada it’s really not worth putting the time into making your own.


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## J_Wisdom (Dec 28, 2021)

That is an awesome view and I get why you would just go catch them. Dungeness crabs are only available here frozen, and they skyrocketed in price this year. Last year, Whole Foods had them for $7.19 lb on sale, but those days are gone. A seafood market had them for $20 lb, which we bought, and they were excellent. I like the whole crab, because I find it heats better. I can peel crabs, crawfish, or whatever seafood pretty well. That works out, because my wife doesn't. But, even blue crab meat by the pound has gone up a bunch when you can find it. I only buy US blue crab, which makes it harder to find. Crab cakes are one thing we can make better than any I've had from a store, or even seafood market.

When I was a kid in Louisiana, we would catch blue crabs and boil them. You can catch plenty along that coastline, or at Grand Isle. Of course, Grand Isle got pummeled by the hurricane this year.

I haven't tried a lot of different butter, but I like President from France, and Kerry Gold is pretty good. On sale, I can get these for $4-$5 a pound, but I have not used either for clarified or Ghee. I've only attempted Ghee a few times.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 28, 2021)

Canada’s protectionist policies pretty well banned dairy imports until very recently. Even at that it’s reported that foreign dairy products are subject to tariffs up to 285%. Bottom line is that Canadian butter is pretty low quality and very expensive. $5 a lb and really suitable for only cooking, if that. My Kiwi friends when they visited wouldn’t believe that what we call butter was actually the real thing. There is some butter from grass fed cows showing up but it’s very expensive … on the order of $10-$15 a lb.


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## parbaked (Dec 28, 2021)

Brian Weekley said:


> My favourite Dungeness crab treats are these.
> Normally priced at $2.69 a crab cake the occasionally come on sale for as little as $1 each. The are made locally and are packed with Dungeness crab.



Nice view. We're lucky to get live Dungeness in Bay Area for a few months a year.
Recently the season been delayed because migrating whales get caught in the trap lines.
Fortunately we had fresh crab from Eureka CA in time for Xmas.

I tried to find your Mrs. Fridays crab cakes...but I only see ones made with snow crab and pollock.
I think that's why they are called "Seafood" crab cakes...





Mrs. Friday's® Unbreaded Seafood Crabcakes - King & Prince Seafood - Canada







www.kpseafood.ca


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## rmrf (Dec 28, 2021)

Puff pastry and phyllo dough. Chocolate souffle. The timing for dessert is hard. 



LostHighway said:


> Now making baguettes is something best left to those with equipment homes don't typically have, the huge number of really bad commercial baguettes in the USA not withstanding.


I disagree; baguettes aren't substantially harder than other bread without a dutch oven. You need to be more diligent with gluten development and final shaping to make sure the skin is tight. Depending on your oven, you might need baking steels to get the bottom to brown on time. You can also make whole wheat baguettes and porridge baguettes, something that is rather hard to find. 









These aren't the same batch (crumb shot is from Nov and the ear shot is from a batch baked monday), but are pretty characteristic of what I've been doing since ~August. 87% hydration, 72% whole wheat, 40% oat porridge. 500F for 40 min, steam for 20.

Of course, if you want a white flour baguettes hot from the oven for dinner 3 times a week, you probably can't make it yourself . If you really care about large uneven crumb, you might also have to work harder. I care, but uneven crumb and whole wheat + porridge is challenging for me.

I would vote for bagels being too hard but my favorite bagel shop changed ownership so now I think I'll have to make them one day.


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## Brian Weekley (Dec 28, 2021)

parbaked said:


> Nice view. We're lucky to get live Dungeness in Bay Area for a few months a year.
> Recently the season been delayed because migrating whales get caught in the trap lines.
> Fortunately we had fresh crab from Eureka CA in time for Xmas.
> 
> ...



Interesting because I noticed the name change with my most recent purchase. Will be interesting when I start into them if the product has changed. Could have been my imagination all along but either way, they were delicious.


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## demcav (Dec 28, 2021)

rmrf said:


> would vote for bagels being too hard but my favorite bagel shop changed ownership so now I think I'll have to make them one day.



Bagels really aren't too difficult, especially since you already make breads. Just make sure to limit the boil time to avoid killing the yeast.

Beautiful baguettes, BTW!


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## Michi (Dec 28, 2021)

rmrf said:


> I would vote for bagels being too hard but my favorite bagel shop changed ownership so now I think I'll have to make them one day.


Check out the New York style sourdough bagel recipe. They are not hard to make.


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## tostadas (Dec 28, 2021)




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## Brian Weekley (Jan 2, 2022)

I‘m obviously getting old. I mistook these for our locally made Dungeness crab cakes.

The Mrs Fridays Seafood Cakes are, imo, in no way comparable to what I was referring to. In fact they are, by comparison, disgusting to the point of inedible. 

Just setting the record straight.



Brian Weekley said:


> Live Dungeness crabs run about $15 each in the grocery stores … less from fish markets. Honestly, though, I don’t really know of anybody who buys them. They are very easy to catch because they are everywhere and close to shore.
> Even without a little boat you can often catch what you want below any number of little piers using a can of tuna or chicken scraps as bait. You might get a kick out of this picture.
> 
> View attachment 157982
> ...


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## scrappy (Mar 8, 2022)

A Big Mac. Who would have guessed that two gray patties, shredded lettuce, plastic cheese, and some vinegary goop in a bun would be so difficult to reproduce? The Devil is clearly in the details.


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## BillHanna (Mar 8, 2022)

twoallbeefpattiespecialsaucelettucecheese, picklesonionsonasesameseedbun!


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## scrappy (Mar 8, 2022)

BillHanna said:


> twoallbeefpattiespecialsaucelettucecheese, picklesonionsonasesameseedbun!


Hahaha. That was a truly inspired promotion. I have the T-shirt but I still can’t make one that resembles the real thing.


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## Rangen (Mar 8, 2022)

scrappy said:


> A Big Mac. Who would have guessed that two gray patties, shredded lettuce, plastic cheese, and some vinegary goop in a bun would be so difficult to reproduce? The Devil is clearly in the details.



Why on Earth would you want to reproduce that?


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## scrappy (Mar 8, 2022)

Rangen said:


> Why on Earth would you want to reproduce that?


Lol. I find the occasional one quite irresistible. I was probably born when the start were misaligned or my mother walked under a ladder when she was pregnant.


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## Rangen (Mar 8, 2022)

scrappy said:


> Lol. I find the occasional one quite irresistible. I was probably born when the start were misaligned or my mother walked under a ladder when she was pregnant.



Fair enough. I am not being highbrow -- I treasure the magic synthesis of the Sausage McMuffin With Egg. But I have never understood putting Russian dressing, or mayo of any kind, on a burger.


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## Michi (Mar 8, 2022)

scrappy said:


> A Big Mac. Who would have guessed that two gray patties, shredded lettuce, plastic cheese, and some vinegary goop in a bun would be so difficult to reproduce? The Devil is clearly in the details.



PS: I haven't tried this. I don't do Big Macs…


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## Zyxtmurf (Mar 8, 2022)

Marshmallows and croissants - the homemade versions aren't better enough to offset either the time involved or being reminded of what goes in them (well, my homemade versions at any rate).


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## M1k3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Michi said:


> PS: I haven't tried this. I don't do Big Macs…



Or are they called "Big Macca's" in your country?


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## rmrf (Mar 8, 2022)

Rangen said:


> But I have never understood putting Russian dressing, or mayo of any kind, on a burger.


This. Yes. Preach.

I am a sucker for a good dijon mustard on a burger though. Something with a little kick.



Zyxtmurf said:


> Marshmallows and croissants - the homemade versions aren't better enough to offset either the time involved or being reminded of what goes in them (well, my homemade versions at any rate).


I can't speak to marshmallows, but croissants are painful as f***. So much worse than puff pastry. I find homemade ones more delicious though because you can do it sourdough and get it fresh from the oven. Even a mediocre homemade croissant is better than most of the ones I've ever had store bought. For me, the problem is the quantity (the dough doesn't freeze well) and the headache-inducing smell.


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## scrappy (Mar 8, 2022)

Michi said:


> PS: I haven't tried this. I don't do Big Macs…



Thanks for this. I’m going to try this recipe. I only have a Big Mac maybe twice a year. When I do, I enjoy it a lot. I’m not entirely convinced by the special sauce in the video - was that Dijon mustard? - but I’ll give it a try. They’re completely right about the Big Mac being “mayo forward”, though. It is. And the cheeseburgers taste of ketchup, and the Filet-O-Fish tastes of tartare sauce. That’s why it’s so important for the special sauce to be spot-on. 

There’s also something about the meat-to-bread ratio of a Big Mac that feels just right. Although, it may be a case of less is more in the case of a sub-standard burger. I am reminded of my first experience of McDonalds in 1970s London. I pestered my mum for fries so much, she took it upon herself to cut thin ‘French fries’ by hand herself. I remember her frying them twice for extra crispness. Were they better than McDonalds? Undoubtedly. Did I enjoy them as much? No.

Anyway, as I said, I am going to follow this video and see what gives. Once again, thanks for the link. It is much appreciated


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## Michi (Mar 8, 2022)

scrappy said:


> Anyway, as I said, I am going to follow this video and see what gives. Once again, thanks for the link. It is much appreciated


Please report back! I'm sure I'm not the only one who is curious


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## scrappy (Mar 9, 2022)

Michi said:


> Please report back! I'm sure I'm not the only one who is curious


I will do. I’m away till next week, but when I get home, I shall document my efforts and report back!


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