Yes, they’re just saltines. But I have become somewhat of a connoisseur, since I generally get these for free with my soup or salad, and save them for snacks. There are 4 brands I regularly get, with my feelings on each:
Atlantic Cracker Co: the yeastiest of all. On top of the yeast, they’re a bit bready, and slightly softer and less brittle than the others. Slightly salty.
House Recipe: A bit sour (almost off-puttingly so). Not very yeasty, slightly bready. Soft but still brittle, and not very salty.
Zesta: The blandest. Very little flavor of any kind. Moderately hard but very brittle.
Nabisco Premium: My favorite. Good combo of moderate yeast, moderate breadiness, and moderate saltiness (except the “unsalted tops” variety, which is much less salty). The sturdiest cracker – it’s the least likely to break in the little plastic wrapper, and when it does, it’s a clean break that still leaves it edible (as opposed to a shattered crumble like the others).
I am one who cannot eat soup or chili without a piece of cracker in almost every bite and I will second the nomination for Nabisco Premiums. Just the right balance of saltiness and firmness/crispiness. Grocery store brand crackers might cost 60 cents less a box, but when one takes quality into account are not much of a bargain.
What I hate is when we run out of soda crackers at our house and have to resort to hitting up the Club or Ritz crackers. They may be ideal for hors d’oeuvres, but fail miserably at being decent soup crackers.
Premium, above all else, always. (Sam’s has the 12-packs for about $5.)
I do long for the days when the wrappers could be opened easily and resealed, with the easy-split folded seam and the little red clampy thing. The current plasticized, indestructible wrappers that go from sealed to exploded unless you’re very careful or use scissors drive me nuts - but that’s true of all food sealing these days. Hate it.
And the Nabisco Minis are very nice. They don’t toss in the mouth as nicely as oyster crackers, but they are perfect for swiping through the cream cheese. If you want to try some other brands, visit an Asian market. They usually carry some brands from the Philippines, Skyflake is the only one I have tried. Nice, but no Nabisco in my book.
For soup only, yes. And those brands vary, too, from kinda chalky/crumbly to the nice crunch of Premiums.
I stay with Premiums as a regular stock item for soup and chili, eating by themselves, and with cheese and odd things like canned kippers. The very “plain” taste goes better with extras, for me, than buttery or cheesy or grain-y crackers. I only have fresh oyster crackers on hand from time to time, but I pounce on them in restaurants.
I used to prefer the cheapest, they seemed to have more salt on them. Used to snack on them, but they have become damnably expensive considering what they are. Ritz downsized their tubes, they can never be forgiven for this. They don’t taste quite right anymore, they’ve probably switched to reclaimed diesel oil or something.
Cheez-its are only a shadow of their former self, along with Chicken-in-a-Bisket.
I rarely want a soda cracker, but when I make chili I MUST HAVE THEM. Yes, Nabisco Premium. I wish I could buy smaller boxes around here, but all that’s available is the four-stack, which for me is a year’s supply.
Does anyone remember about, oh… 30-ish years ago, when “generic” products appeared in grocery stores for a while? There were cans and boxes of regular products (cereal, canned beans, detergent, etc.) but the labels were white with stark black lettering: CORN, DISHWASHING LIQUID… stuff like that. No pictures on the labels and no color.
During that era, the generic saltines were THE BEST! They were a little bit overbaked… a smidgen of a shade darker than the brand name saltines, and they had a nice toasty flavor. They were thin and crispy. I really liked them. Then they went away forever. The end.
When Kroger first put out a house brand, low fat, saltine, they were weirdly good - flaky and layered (you could separate them into top and bottom easily), very crispy, plenty of salt. I loved 'em. So if course they changed them, and they are no longer any good at all. It was back to Nabisco for me.
Not much of a saltine/soda cracker eater but now I think I know why mom only buys Nabisco Premiums. She even has one of the old anniversary tins that she stores them in. She just removes the flaps from the cardboard box and slides it in the tin.
I was working at the grocery store the other day and a lady grabbed some Zesta because apparently, according to her son (or son-in-law), they are the bomb.
I prefer the store brands to Premium. Premiums taste OK, but as said upthread they have less salt on them. Plus, they seem to go stale right quick. My all time fave was Kristy, by Sunshine. I lived expat for a while and Krispys were the only thing I had to have sent, care package-wise. Haven’t seen them around in a long time. Miss em.
Anyone remember when saltines used to come quad-ply, as in 4 small (now standard) squares attached together to make one large square? Miss that too.
Andy, next time you’re in Lotte Mart or one of the other large Asian supermarkets, pick up a pack of “Cream Crackers”. IIRC they’re from Malaysia. Sturdier than saltines, kinda like a cross between a saltine and a Ritz.
