# 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:** 4
**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 7, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/61 "2013-11-07T00:53:07Z")
> [@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 the salt/spices at the grocery store. As I said, I’ve never bought it, because I’m sure my lack of self control will end up making inedible atrocities. It looks just like the powdered cheese they put on every processed product that’s cheese flavored, so I imagine it would do nicely on popcorn duty. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/62 "2013-11-07T01:06:51Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Sometimes, secretly, in the dark of night I buy and eat canned tamales. One time I found canned \*dolmas \*(stuffed grape leaves) at Big Lots. They were delicious. ---
**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 7, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/63 "2013-11-07T01:41:48Z")
I’ve never seen deep-dish at our local Cici’s, but they make a macaroni-and-cheese pizza that’s far better than it has any right to be. I think our buffet is $6, though. ---
**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 7, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/64 "2013-11-07T01:48:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > 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) You mean I can make _any_ flavored velveeta substance I want? :eek: Smoked Coastal Cheddar macaroni and cheese is in my future! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/65 "2013-11-07T02:18:37Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > You mean I can make _any_ flavored velveeta substance I want? :eek: > > Smoked Coastal Cheddar macaroni and cheese is in my future! Absolutely! [http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/sodium-citrate-creates-silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/](http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/sodium-citrate-creates-silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/) [Sodium Citrate](http://www.amazon.com/Grade-Sodium-Citrate-Molecular-Gastronomy/dp/B00BLPNMYY/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top)’s pretty cheap- $13 for an entire pound, which is enough to make 41 batches of mac & cheese at 11 grams per batch. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/66 "2013-11-07T02:45:36Z")
I keep instant mashed potatoes in my pantry. Sometimes I just want something fatty, salty, hot, and fast. Dump ingredients, 4 minutes in the microwave, and done. I haven’t had it in many years, but I used to buy Dinty Moore Beef Stew, add enough Club crackers (had to be the Club ones) to soak up all the gravy, add a little butter, and have that for dinner. Usually resulted in a sodium laced coma soon after. And you can pry the Lawry’s Seasoned Salt from my cold, dead hands. It goes in the mashed potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/67 "2013-11-07T04:03:55Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I’ve seen it near the salt/spices at the grocery store. As I said, I’ve never bought it, because I’m sure my lack of self control will end up making inedible atrocities. It looks just like the powdered cheese they put on every processed product that’s cheese flavored, so I imagine it would do nicely on popcorn duty. You can order a large range of flavors online. [http://www.kernelseasons.com/shop/6-popcorn-seasonings](http://www.kernelseasons.com/shop/6-popcorn-seasonings) ---
**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 7, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/68 "2013-11-07T06:40:14Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > 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. Heh. So it’s not just me for these two items. I used to love the chicken & rice soup, too, but found it’s changed, and not for the better. I now like Lipton Noodle Soup, which is a fairly tasty freeze-dried soup with noodles. There’s a variety that has freeze-dried chicken bits in it too. > [@scabpicker](#): > > 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. Sometimes house brands are great. Sometimes they are clearly knock-offs that have been formulated by people who are not familiar with the original branded product. And I guess that I should thank those people who have told me where to find temptation in the form of salty death. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/69 "2013-11-07T06:52:23Z")
Cod “cheeks” are better than the fillets-they taste like scallops. Pity-you usually only get them at a dockside place where the fish are cleaned. Artificially flavored licorice (black) tastes better than real licorice “(and is healthier-natural licorice can harm your liver). And artisan” dark chocolate is often rancid and bitter (milk chocolate is better). Veggy burgers taste like crap-and they cost more than real beef hamburgers (plus they have more fat)-who do people eat them? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/70 "2013-11-07T07:11:53Z")
I was addicted to those bizarre Jack In The Box grease tacos, you can’t even tell if they are beef or beans! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/71 "2013-11-07T14:38:54Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > You can order a large range of flavors online. > [http://www.kernelseasons.com/shop/6-popcorn-seasonings](http://www.kernelseasons.com/shop/6-popcorn-seasonings) I would caution you, I haven’t tried these particular popcorn seasonings, but any cheese-flavor in a little shaker that I’ve tried in the past is mostly very finely ground salt. To get any real cheese-y taste, you naturally want to dump more on, but that is offset by so much salt your popcorn is inedible. The orange powdered cheese which is similar to the mac and cheese in a box is the kind of popcorn cheese you would want. Some grocery stores sell it in little plastic deli containers near the popcorn or in the dairy section. It’s available online, I am going to order some from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/72 "2013-11-07T14:59:38Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I **was addicted** to those bizarre Jack In The Box grease tacos, you can’t even tell if they are beef or beans! Then you stopped smoking dope? 😛 ---
**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 7, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/73 "2013-11-07T15:04:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **ralph124c** : > > Cod “cheeks” are better than the fillets-they taste like scallops. Pity-you usually only get them at a dockside place where the fish are cleaned. I don’t think those are “worse quality”, though: I’d always heard that the cheek was a delicacy. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/74 "2013-11-07T15:10:20Z")
I think foie gras is kind of insipid, compared to regular old chopped liver. ---
**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 7, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/75 "2013-11-07T15:15:57Z")
Hey you Cici lovers — the outlets here do a lot of fundraisers for school, so if you must eat there, do it when they’re donating money to school groups like band or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/76 "2013-11-07T19:15:03Z")
I’ll second the comments about Chef Boyardee ravioli, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box tacos, Kraft mac & cheese, and Dinty Moore beef stew. To add a few of my own; - I don’t always drink standard American lager beer (I’m more of an IPA man myself), but when I do, I greatly prefer Olympia and/or Rainier over Bud/Coors/Miller/the other national macrobrew lagers. - Albertson’s brand French onion dip is, for some reason I can’t put my finger on, infinitely better than any name brand onion dip, powder mix, or even made from scratch. - Banquet pot pies - Much tastier than any other brand I’ve tried, and a fraction of the price. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/77 "2013-11-07T22:35:08Z")
Sometimes those microwave burritos that are like 10 for $2 at the grocery store really hit the spot. Especially on cold winter days. ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/78 "2013-11-07T23:01:21Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Oh man, I forgot, I’ve been going through a Totino’s pizza phase lately. > > I’ve discovered that if you cook them on a preheated cast iron skillet and cook them for 1.5 - 2mins longer than the directions on the box tell you to, the end result is a wonderfully crispy pizza. How exactly does one stumble upon this frozen pizza cooking method?! ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/79 "2013-11-07T23:16:00Z")
> [@bump](#): > > What a waste of a good pork jowl; they really should be made into guanciale! Looking at a photo I can understand why you say that. Yum. But, Old Pete the butcher, was from Denmark and mom’s folks came from Norway. And we didn’t know from _guanciale._ In fact the only Italian food I ever ate until I was about thirty and met an Italian-American was Chef-Boy-ar-dee pizza and canned basketti. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186/80 "2013-11-07T23:50:24Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Looking at a photo I can understand why you say that. Yum. > > But, Old Pete the butcher, was from Denmark and mom’s folks came from Norway. And we didn’t know from _guanciale._ > > In fact the only Italian food I ever ate until I was about thirty and met an Italian-American was Chef-Boy-ar-dee pizza and canned basketti. But pork cheek and pork jowl are different. Cheek is mostly sweet pork meat. It’s typically quite lean. Jowl is more like pork belly with the amount of fat it has. Regardless, pork cheek is considered quite desirable, anywhere from about $6-$20/lb. Jowl is quite nice, too, for guanciale, smokes pork jowls, or just general pork fat purposes, , but fetches far lower prices. I think last time I bought jowl, it was about $2/lb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-worse-quality-foods-you-sometimes-prefer-to-their-superior-counterparts/673186.md?page=5)