# What Are Some Everyday Foods That Consumers Generally Don't Make For Themselves (and instead buy professionally-made product) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [July 18, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158 "2022-07-18T17:58:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/21 "2022-07-18T18:54:45Z")
I’m nominating ice cream. I’ve made a lot of ice cream at home and it’s better than even the premium store bought brands. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/22 "2022-07-18T19:07:24Z")
You can add me to the 3. I have foraged blackberries from our local streams and trails for the last few years. This year was a disaster for some reason and not worth the effort, but usually I can get several lb of fresh blackberries for free (other than the time collecting them, and the purple fingers) and the one morning spend jarring them. We use a half-sugar recipe that allows the fruit to really pop in the resulting jam - it’s really good (especially on buttered sourdough, with coffee) and not possible to find something that good at the store. We call it “blackberry caviar” due to the appearance and texture. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/23 "2022-07-18T19:08:08Z")
For the record, I have made: - Bagels - Ice Cream - Ramen (I even made my own noodles once) - Spaghetti Noodles (Several times. It was terrible every time.) - Pasta Sauce - Mayonnaise - Pickles - Fried Chicken - French Fries - Beer - Corned Beef Hash - Lemonade - Doughnuts - Jelly - Sushi For most of these, I prefer homemade, but don’t generally have the time. These I usually make at home: - Bread - Tortillas - Pizza Making mayo makes me nervous that I’m going to give myself salmonella, so I’d rather have the pasteurized product from the store. > [@commasense](#): > > Something I made just yesterday is fresh lemonade, and I remembered why I don’t make it more often: with a simple hand juicer, it’s messy and a pain in the butt to get all the seeds out. (I’ve ordered a stainless steel squeezer.) Frozen concentrate is easier, and tastes almost as good, and powdered is even easier, and much cheaper. We always have a bottle RealLemon. Super simple (lemon juice, sugar, water, shake). Obviously fresh-squeezed is far superior, but it will be at least as good as any commercial lemonade and vastly cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/24 "2022-07-18T19:13:17Z")
Candy It’s easy to make fudge and peanut brittle. Hard candy isn’t that hard with a little practice. Clothes basic shirts and pants can be sewn at home. It was only a couple generations ago that our great grandparents sewed. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/25 "2022-07-18T19:16:53Z")
I actually did my first foraging run of the year today. I have a kilo of wild plums ripening off a bit in the garage. j ---
**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:** [July 18, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/26 "2022-07-18T19:20:45Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > plus if you forage fruits, it’s extremely cheap. Except for the cost of the jars. And especially the lids, which aren’t usually re-usable. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Clothes basic shirts and pants can be sewn at home. It was only a couple generations ago that our great grandparents sewed. I’m pretty sure that the only reason Mom didn’t/doesn’t make most of the family’s clothes is that you can find gently-used clothes for less than the cost of the fabric. In fact, it often goes the other way: She buys used clothes just so she can repurpose the fabric into something else, like a quilt. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/27 "2022-07-18T19:24:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > > > plus if you forage fruits, it’s extremely cheap. > > Except for the cost of the jars. And especially the lids, which aren’t usually re-usable… Granted I did have to buy a dozen jars on one occasion, but that’s the only time and they weren’t desperately expensive. Friends will always save used jars for you if they think one might be coming back to them filled. It’s a nice arrangement. Share the bounty! And I’ll re-use a lid several times without problems. j ---
**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:** [July 18, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/28 "2022-07-18T19:25:57Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > About the only thing I could think of was bread, which can be made at home but few people do. Except for the first two months of the pandemic in 2020, when large numbers of Americans suddenly decided to bake bread at home – partially because it gave them something to do at home, and partially because the bread aisle at the supermarket was often bare. This, of course, then led to sudden shortages of baking flour and yeast. 😛 > **[The Great Pandemic Bake-Off May Be Over](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/16/877479936/the-great-pandemic-bake-off-may-be-over)** > > The price of baking flour has fallen along with the price of eggs, suggesting an easing in the baking craze that gripped hungry and housebound consumers in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/29 "2022-07-18T19:30:45Z")
It was largely thanks to the Great Pandemic Lockdown that we started baking at home. It was a necessity at first, but as our knowledge and skill of baking has increased, we’ve gotten to the point where we bake almost everything at home, simply because it’s 1) fun, 2) frequently better than commercial baked goods, and 3) really not _that_ time consuming. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/30 "2022-07-18T19:31:31Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Except for the first two months of the pandemic in 2020, when large numbers of Americans suddenly decided to bake bread at home – partially because it gave them something to do at home, and partially because the bread aisle at the supermarket was often bare. This, of course, then led to sudden shortages of baking flour and yeast. 😛 That reminds me of this story from early in the pandemic… > **[Lady Who Tried To Cancel Everyone's Bread Baking Is So Mad She Got 'Cancel...](https://www.wonkette.com/p/lady-who-tried-to-cancel-everyones-bread-baking-is-so-mad-she-got-cancel-cultured)** > > Does it count when the only thing you are famous for is being an asshole? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/31 "2022-07-18T19:44:54Z")
The fact that woman’s name is “Caren” is perhaps the ultimate Karen feature of her personality. The irony is delicious. I am blessed with a “Karin” here who is “speshul” that way too. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/32 "2022-07-18T19:49:21Z")
We have at least a half-dozen walnut trees on the property which drop a ton of nuts every year. After last year, when I laboriously harvested and processed the crop, I decided that if I want walnuts, I’ll buy a bag at the supermarket. I buy ready-to-make ground coffee in bags. It just seems like excess effort to try to start a small coffee plantation so I can harvest and roast the beans. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/33 "2022-07-18T19:50:44Z")
Is it though? I’m no Iron Chef, but I have a little home fryer, and make French fries, chicken, etc in it that come out pretty good. I’ve never made a donut though. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/34 "2022-07-18T19:59:10Z")
Most condiments, especially mayonnaise. Bagels - we also tried them once, with no success. Pastrami, and nearly everything which needs hours upon hours of prep. My wife used to bake bread, and even sold some to local restaurants, but then she got busier. Hers is better than what we can buy, but not enough better to be worth the effort. Something not on our list is sushi. Though we eat it out, we also make it. It helps to be near Asian groceries with sushi quality fish and all the components. We’re not as good as sushi chefs, but it’s not bad, a lot cheaper, and better than regular grocery store sushi. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/35 "2022-07-18T20:05:10Z")
I’ve never had an oven that regulates well, but I think I’d enjoy making bread. We have a bread machine but it’s dedicated gluten-free. I’ve made a number of condiments in order to remove specific ingredients without much hassle–ketchup, mustard, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/36 "2022-07-18T20:05:55Z")
Haha! When I told my coworkers that I had bought two loaves of bread in the last year and baked about 150 loaves at home, they looked at me as if I was an idiot. So you must be right. This was pre-COVID. In the last two and a half years I’ve bought bread only when on vacation. I haven’t bought a supermarket (packaged or “fresh”) loaf of bread since about 2010. Don’t tell my employer. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/37 "2022-07-18T20:06:37Z")
Coming at this from the other end, what does it mean when a restaurant/store advertises something as “Homemade”?! Someone LIVES there? 😃 ---
**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 18, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/38 "2022-07-18T20:07:42Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I was watching a video about ramen and the host said that most Japanese don’t make ramen themselves – the process is apparently time-consuming and labor-intensive – and just prefer to buy it from ramen shops where it’s cheap and abundant. Ironically, ramen is just about the only hot food I can think of that I’ve _only_ made for myself and never bought professionally made. Then again, to me “ramen” means those ultra-cheap packages of noodles that you boil in water and sprinkle the flavoring packet into. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/39 "2022-07-18T20:11:02Z")
My pet peeve. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/40 "2022-07-18T20:12:14Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Coming at this from the other end, what does it mean when a restaurant/store advertises something as “Homemade”?! Someone LIVES there? 😃 More and more it means “We microwaved it at this store, not elsewhere”. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158.md?page=3)