# Cheap, worse quality foods you (sometimes) prefer to their superior counterparts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186 "2013-11-05T22:29:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/41 "2013-11-06T16:10:17Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > Kraft macaroni & cheese. \ Hey, it’s easy, cheap, and tasty. Perfect comfort food. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Screw that, you snooty fool. 😃 > > [I’m not kidding when I say I greatly prefer the cheap Mac and Cheese they sell at Aldi.](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BW3aDm7WASk/T_xTUKFV-LI/AAAAAAAAAqU/JhwaeRM2YFc/s1600/P1130641.JPG) Hell yeah! Although…I only buy the generic at my grocery store. I bought a box of Aldi’s a couple months ago and I’ve been afraid to try it. I think because I tried Betty Crocker brand once and realized that not all non-Kraft boxed mac is mad the same. What if I don’t like it?! I did get a box of Target’s house brand the other day. It was fine. Whew! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/42 "2013-11-06T16:16:32Z")
Aldi brand canned chicken and dumplings. They’re really good! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/43 "2013-11-06T16:59:04Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Sometimes, secretly, in the dark of night I buy and eat canned tamales. You have to have a can of chili to pour over them, you know. Shredded cheese and diced onion are optional, but the chili is mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/44 "2013-11-06T17:09:38Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I’m not sure how processed cheese got such a bad reputation. It has it’s place, and I remember hearing that from more than one high profile chef. I’m pretty sure most professional chefs would agree with that. Again, from _Modernist Cuisine_, processed cheese _is_ cheese. The bad reputation is the work of the other cheese producers. They successfully lobbied to force makers of processed cheese to use the term “cheese food”. That was the compromise - they _wanted_ “embalmed cheese”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/45 "2013-11-06T17:14:16Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Sometimes, secretly, in the dark of night I buy and eat canned tamales. I’ve seen those, they look so gross…I’ve thought about buying them just to try them. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/46 "2013-11-06T17:18:00Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Hell yeah! Although…I only buy the generic at my grocery store. I bought a box of Aldi’s a couple months ago and I’ve been afraid to try it. I think because I tried Betty Crocker brand once and realized that not all non-Kraft boxed mac is mad the same. What if I don’t like it?! > > I did get a box of Target’s house brand the other day. It was fine. Whew! Yeah, I’ve been burned by the house brand mac n’ cheese too, and I usually love house brands. My mom sent me a whole case of whatever Sam’s Club was carrying when I was in college, I had to spice it up a lot to be edible. Even then, it wasn’t. These days, I can spring the extra 40 cents or so a box for Kraft or the heavenly Velveeta versions. Yes! shelf stable process cheese sauce is an acceptable substitute for cheese powder! Though, I do eye the jar of pure cheese powder at the grocery store, wondering if purchasing it will lead to my own salty demise. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/47 "2013-11-06T17:23:06Z")
Sometimes grocery store Opaa! frozen Gyros hit a spot any authentic restaurant can’t match. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/48 "2013-11-06T17:41:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Though, I do eye the jar of pure cheese powder at the grocery store, wondering if purchasing it will lead to my own salty demise. I have not seen this product. Where do they keep it? And how does it taste on popcorn? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/49 "2013-11-06T17:50:44Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I have not seen this product. Where do they keep it? And how does it taste on popcorn? I’ve seen it near where the Kraft Parmesan (green cans) is. ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/50 "2013-11-06T18:11:25Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I have not seen this product. Where do they keep it? And how does it taste on popcorn? I don’t know about popcorn, but I’ve seen it added to bread dough in a bread machine and it was yummy… God I’m starving now, and my lunch hour is still 2 hours away. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/51 "2013-11-06T18:52:44Z")
[Cici’s Pizza](http://www.cicispizza.com/). It’s a pizza buffet chain, and you wouldn’t think that “all you can eat, plus all the soda you can drink, for about $8” could be any good, but man, I’m addicted to their Buffalo Chicken pizza. And their cheesy garlic bread. And their thin-crust 3-cheese pizza. I’m very sad that two out of the three locations near me have closed in the last few months; if the third one goes under, I may cry. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/52 "2013-11-06T19:43:12Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Again, from _Modernist Cuisine_, processed cheese _is_ cheese. The bad reputation is the work of the other cheese producers. They successfully lobbied to force makers of processed cheese to use the term “cheese food”. That was the compromise - they _wanted_ “embalmed cheese”. In particular, all they really do is mix cheese with an emulsifier- something like sodium phosphate or sodium citrate, in order to keep everything well-emulsified when heat is applied. You can duplicate this at home (again from _Modernist Cuisine_) by adding a little bit of sodium citrate to milk and cheese and using a stick blender to blend it all together. You end up with a cheese sauce that when applied to macaroni has about the same consistency as the velveeta shells and cheese pouch cheese, but the taste of the original cheese you started with. This works with cheeses that otherwise don’t melt well like Vermont white cheddar. (and FYI, sodium citrate is the resulting product along with CO2 and water of reacting citric acid and sodium bicarbonate, so basically lemon juice and baking soda) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/53 "2013-11-06T20:47:30Z")
There are exceptions but I usually find that I like greasy take out Chinese food more than find dining sit down restaurant Chinese food. Swanson TV dinners are probably the best Salisbury Steak and Fried Chicken I have ever had. I am sure there are others but I am drawing a blank. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/54 "2013-11-06T21:03:01Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’ve seen those, they look so gross…I’ve thought about buying them just to try them. Dooo eeet. Mucho greasy. And hot. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/55 "2013-11-06T21:44:45Z")
I like real, fresh cherries just fine, and sometimes they’re just the thing… But overall, I like artificial cherry flavor even better. No offense, **Ellen**. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/56 "2013-11-06T22:39:50Z")
Today I picked up some Stovetop stuffing- 2 boxes for $1.88 and Betty Crocker Loaded Au Gratin Potatoes- 2 boxes for $1.78. That’s the kind of junk/impulse stuff I go for. I have all kinds of potatoes and cheeses at home, too. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/57 "2013-11-06T22:56:31Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I used to love Chef Boy-Ar-Dee ravioli, too. Either my tastes have changed or the recipe has changed. > . I am pretty sure that they changed something in their flavor profile - it seems sweeter and less tomato sauce and more catsupy. Maybe they dropped the amount of italian herb flavor? And the meat paste inside has also gotten blander. Campbells has done something to their chicken broth in their noodle and rice chicken soups - it seems blander and almost metallic. Probably doing something with less sodium [and this is in the regular soups, not their low sodium healthier soup crap] and screwing around with the recipe in general. Oh well, I prefer making my own anyway - but I will miss that old childhood chicken noddle soup fix when sick. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/58 "2013-11-06T23:11:30Z")
I’ll admit to using, out of sheer laziness/pressed for time, Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes. Even when I have a bag of real taters sprouting away in the pantry. A scoop under something like stew is perfectly fine, bland, but better than no potatoes at all. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/59 "2013-11-06T23:24:43Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > [Cici’s Pizza](http://www.cicispizza.com/). It’s a pizza buffet chain, and you wouldn’t think that “all you can eat, plus all the soda you can drink, for about $8” could be any good, but man, I’m addicted to their Buffalo Chicken pizza. And their cheesy garlic bread. And their thin-crust 3-cheese pizza. > > I’m very sad that two out of the three locations near me have closed in the last few months; if the third one goes under, I may cry. I get the water, with that it only comes to $5 plus tax. Plus they either have specials or a coupon on the receipt where you can get the buffet for $4. The pizza is damn good for $5, and I wonder how they stay in business. Since a lot are closing I guess their business model might not be working. Their deep dish is great if you get a chance. Jalapeno pizza is also good. Sometimes they put out taco pizza which is worth trying. Even their breadsticks pizza is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/60 "2013-11-07T00:50:01Z")
I like imitation vanilla better than real vanilla extract. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186.md?page=4)