# Did the noodles in Kraft Mac & Cheese used to be ... bendier? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763 "2013-07-28T23:03:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/21 "2013-07-30T01:18:22Z")
As a kid (in the 80s), my brother and I used to say we were King Kong eating a bunch of tree trunks. So they were obviously tree-trunk shaped, i.e. straight, and our senses of scale weren’t so good. I occasionally did the “threading noodles on fork tines” thing, too. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/22 "2013-07-30T19:28:20Z")
I’d forgotten about the fork thing! I did that, too. So they haven’t changed shape over the years, but are the noodles themselves still technically elbow macaroni, even though the bend is minimal? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/23 "2013-07-30T22:03:52Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I occasionally did the “threading noodles on fork tines” thing, too. Okay, is there anyone who **didn’t** do this? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/24 "2013-07-30T22:05:19Z")
I ate Kraft Dinner in the late 80s/early 90s and the noodles were always a bit bent. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/25 "2013-07-30T22:59:27Z")
I remember noodles with about a 90 degree bend when I was a kid. I am not sure if it was Kraft or the store brand that we would get. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/26 "2013-07-30T23:06:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Okay, is there anyone who **didn’t** do this? I don’t do it any more with elbow macaroni, but **always** with penne. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/27 "2013-07-30T23:14:25Z")
Got a box of what I thought was enormous spaghetti the other day from a salvage store. Turned out to be Kraft Mac & Cheese noodles which were as long as spaghetti noodles. There was a hole in the middle of them, I mean, and they, noodle and hole, matched the diameter of KM&C. It was pretty cool. Went well with our Sherried Chicken. Of course, I don’t recall what they were called. Something ending in “i”, I’m pretty sure. 😉 Ah! Found it! [Perciatelli](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perciatelli.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/28 "2013-07-30T23:47:03Z")
The Golden Grain I remember cost a quarter and came in a little plastic bag, but it had regular elbow macaronis. I need to comment on the Spongebob link- does anybody really pay the absurd prices on Amazon for stuff like that? That’s $2.20 per box! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/29 "2013-07-31T00:04:07Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Okay, is there anyone who **didn’t** do this? I didn’t as I always used a spoon. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/30 "2013-07-31T00:08:40Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > I didn’t as I always used a spoon. Heretic. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/31 "2013-07-31T12:59:11Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Heretic. Nuh UH!!! If you use a spoon you get all the cheesey sauce goodness too! You can’t DO that with a stupid FORK!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/32 "2013-07-31T13:16:20Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > Nuh UH!!! If you use a spoon you get all the cheesey sauce goodness too! You can’t DO that with a stupid FORK!!! 😃 Uh-HUH! Only little kids use a spoon! Nanny-nanny-boo-boo! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/33 "2013-07-31T15:20:44Z")
I did find a [Kraft ad from the 70s](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/images/2008/02/29/mac_cheese_ad_1975_copy_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/2008/04/vintage-ad-fo-9.html&h=493&w=350&sz=281&tbnid=bqzPy118NvHL6M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=64&zoom=1&usg=__tsU_IJU6UJUXm5wCA50GWXifR7c=&docid=Q4GKi9bEpFy6kM&sa=X&ei=Pyr5UfXZDqiCyQH20IGQCQ&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAA&dur=811) that shows them as straight. However an earlier [ad from the 60s](http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=931&bih=466&tbm=isch&tbnid=cCch_iCYWqoq6M:&imgrefurl=http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/food-ads-1960s/4&docid=iR-FYZvrQSHXtM&imgurl=http://file.vintageadbrowser.com/23cxxiuph1g024.jpg&w=420&h=570&ei=pyr5UfaFFKLlyAH044HYBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=465&vpy=12&dur=827&hovh=262&hovw=193&tx=99&ty=136&page=2&tbnh=136&tbnw=111&start=12&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0,i:126) shows the elbow bends. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/34 "2013-07-31T19:58:19Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Ah! Found it! [Perciatelli](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perciatelli.jpg). Weird, I’ve always called that “[bucatini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucatini).” Turns out that noodle’s got two names! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/35 "2013-07-31T21:19:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Perhaps you’re thinking of the [Deluxe](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Deluxe-Dinner-Macaroni-Cheese/dp/B002UL1NJE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1375056903&sr=8-5) version. > > There are indeed different varieties. You can get it shaped like shells, spirals, [Spongebobs](http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Macaroni-Cheese-Sponge-5-5-Ounce/dp/B000E1FZ8C/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1375057019&sr=8-17)… But as far as I know, the basic, original version has always been straight. I just got some where the pasta was shaped like goldfish, don’t think it was Kraft. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/36 "2013-08-01T02:47:11Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Weird, I’ve always called that “[bucatini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucatini).” Turns out that noodle’s got two names! Oh, wow! I’ve never had it before, just picked it up because it was the only not-100% whole wheat pasta at the Amish salvage store. About half way through, I looked down at a piece I’d cut with my fork and went, “woah! These are super long Kraft Mac & Cheese noodles!” They’re good, I’ll probably seek them out in the future. Nice chew, if a little difficult to spin. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/37 "2013-08-01T04:06:53Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Weird, I’ve always called that “[bucatini](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucatini).” Turns out that noodle’s got two names! Learn something new every day. I’m also familiar with bucatini, but not perciatelli. That said, the bucatini I’ve had were never as big as Kraft noodles–more like thick spaghetti with a needle-sized hole through it. (You couldn’t really thread them on the tines of a fork.) But they do appear to be the same thing from the pictures I could find. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/38 "2013-08-01T14:58:50Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I did find a [Kraft ad from the 70s](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/images/2008/02/29/mac_cheese_ad_1975_copy_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/2008/04/vintage-ad-fo-9.html&h=493&w=350&sz=281&tbnid=bqzPy118NvHL6M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=64&zoom=1&usg=__tsU_IJU6UJUXm5wCA50GWXifR7c=&docid=Q4GKi9bEpFy6kM&sa=X&ei=Pyr5UfXZDqiCyQH20IGQCQ&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAA&dur=811) that shows them as straight. > However an earlier [ad from the 60s](http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=931&bih=466&tbm=isch&tbnid=cCch_iCYWqoq6M:&imgrefurl=http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/food-ads-1960s/4&docid=iR-FYZvrQSHXtM&imgurl=http://file.vintageadbrowser.com/23cxxiuph1g024.jpg&w=420&h=570&ei=pyr5UfaFFKLlyAH044HYBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=465&vpy=12&dur=827&hovh=262&hovw=193&tx=99&ty=136&page=2&tbnh=136&tbnw=111&start=12&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0,i:126) shows the elbow bends. Exactly. The second ad is an ad for the Deluxe Dinner. Note the can of cheese sauce - it used to come in little cans, not the pouches like today. The first ad is for the kind that uses the packet of power mix that you add butter and milk to. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763/39 "2013-08-01T15:03:39Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > I just got some where the pasta was shaped like goldfish, don’t think it was Kraft. [Pepperidge Farm?](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=goldfish+macaroni+and+cheese&sa=X&biw=1084&bih=467&tbm=isch&tbnid=hXqGH2Cb-OKaHM:&imgrefurl=http://rockinmama.net/how-did-it-taste-pepperidge-farm-introduces-goldfish-mac-cheese/&docid=bKSLETbydvWmsM&imgurl=http://rockinmama.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Goldfish-Mac-and-Cheese-1024x699.jpg&w=1024&h=699&ei=g3j6UafvFIzW9ASI4IGQCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=634&vpy=130&dur=4040&hovh=185&hovw=272&tx=178&ty=121&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=209&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:90) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-noodles-in-kraft-mac-cheese-used-to-be-bendier/664763.md?page=1)