# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/121 "2022-07-21T23:43:23Z")
I’ll see what I can do. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/122 "2022-07-21T23:59:14Z")
Gummy bears and the like. I found them absurdly easy to make, but I don’t see any reason to do it again. Gummies are not high on my snack list ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/123 "2022-07-22T01:39:59Z")
Gelatin. Have you ever boiled bones, like your great-grandmothers used to do? ---
**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 22, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/124 "2022-07-22T01:51:41Z")
I’ve always bought chicken or beef stock. I remember the smell of boiling bones in my grandmother’s kitchen. It’s not pleasant. ---
**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 22, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/125 "2022-07-22T14:19:00Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > I’d be interested in a recipe. I always buy hot pretzels where available; maybe I’d be up for making them at home. The secret to pretzels is the alkaline solution bath they get before baking. You can use baking soda, baked baking soda, or lye. If you’re up for it, I definitely recommend getting some food-grade lye and doing it right. The process is well documented here: > **[How to Make Pretzels | Soft Pretzel Recipe](https://handletheheat.com/how-to-make-pretzels/)** > > How to make the BEST Homemade Pretzels! Traditional Bavarian-style pretzels with a deeply browned exterior & chewy texture. Easy to make! I always wear safety glasses and gloves when working with that stuff. I haven’t followed that specific recipe, but it looks like it covers the lye process well. If that’s too much for you, definitely do the “baked baking soda” over plain baking soda. It just takes a little thinking ahead and will improve your results. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/126 "2022-07-22T21:21:55Z")
I linked Alton Brown’s soft pretzel option back in #51, which uses the baking soda, and I think works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/127 "2022-07-22T22:04:54Z")
Isn’t that also how true bagels are made? I vaguely remember high-gluten flour and simmering in alkali water before baking. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/128 "2022-07-22T22:23:02Z")
Similar, perhaps? In that yes, you briefly (around a minute) boil the bagels prior to baking, but no lye/baking soda involved. I also find bread flour a must for bagel making, while soft pretzels are fine with AP. Regarding the OP though, my homemade bagels are good, but not as good as the specialty store bagels (better than grocery store chain brands though), so while I can make them, I still don’t. 🙂 ---
**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 23, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/129 "2022-07-23T20:30:50Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > > [@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 Cultured'](https://www.wonkette.com/lady-who-tried-to-cancel-everyones-bread-baking-is-so-mad-she-got-cancel-cultured) The Wall St. Journal has a current op-ed along these lines, though its author is proud of cornering the market instead of berating others who got there first. Alexandra Samuel also has exquisite tastes that must be satisfied, pandemic or not. “You know those go-with-the-flow people who will eat whatever you put in front of them?” “I am not one of these people.” “Much to my horror, I am the exact opposite. I follow a very restrictive ketogenic diet that means I am pretty much unable to order from any menu without adding a half-dozen special requests. I’m extremely particular about an extraordinary range of consumer purchases, from my macadamia nuts to my chocolate to my kitchen spray to the one kind of garbage can the dog can’t get into. My children are even pickier than I am.” Ms. Samuel’s solution is to “create her own supply chain”. This means hoarding special goodies for her special family, though she insists it’s not hoarding. [How to Deal With Product Shortages: Build Your Own Supply Chain - WSJ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/building-supply-chain-prevent-shortages-11658154080) ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/130 "2022-07-23T22:39:20Z")
but I make my own using canned diced potatoes and canned corn beef ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/131 "2022-07-23T23:47:30Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Mayonnaise Mayo specifically takes like 2 minutes to make with ingredients that everyone always has around and you get a far superior product. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/132 "2022-07-24T00:45:16Z")
My grandmother was a Wisconsin farm wife; I spent a lot of time with her as a child. In California, where my grandparents relocated to be with their grandchildren, she loved being able to grow every kind of fruit you can think of, and always had a huge vegetable garden. She made her own bread, her own soup stock, and froze and canned her produce, as well as wild-foraging. Her elderberry syrup I remember vividly, and once she went way up the mountain and found a source of pinon pine cones. She filled her trunk with them and us kids sat around shelling them with hammers. We also shelled walnuts, almonds, cut apricots and dried them, and many other things. And this was just the stuff she wanted to do herself. She came to the hippie farm I was living on at twenty, and helped us butcher our pig, clean the intestines to make sausage casings, made blood sausage, rendered the lard and made soap … she also knew how to make her own yeast cakes, wild sourdough … she made clothes and quilts – I still have one of her flour-sack quilts. I don’t have her energy (few do) but I still have the skills she taught me. I do some of the things some of the time. ---
**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 25, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/133 "2022-07-25T14:05:00Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Mayo specifically takes like 2 minutes to make with ingredients that everyone always has around and you get a far superior product. Possibly with a side-order of salmonella. I eat runny-yolked fried eggs, and taste the cookie dough, but somehow the idea of intentionally making something with raw egg yolks and without any cooking whatsoever always seems a bridge too far for me. Also, I’m not sure I like it. I’ve had homemade a few times and it always seems runny and wet to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/134 "2022-07-25T14:55:55Z")
Some restaurants now use the word “housemade” instead of “homemade.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/135 "2022-07-25T15:03:21Z")
Poached eggs, like for eggs Benedict. Very easy to make, but few people do. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/136 "2022-07-25T15:05:16Z")
Most people don’t make their own: - peanut butter - sausage - cheese I have made all three. You can make peanut butter in a food processor, although it tends to come out a bit grainy. Sausage can be a lot of work, especially if it’s stuffed into a casing (i.e. it isn’t bulk sausage). Also, cured or aged sausage requires nitrites or nitrates (often in the form of Prague powder), which most people don’t have at home and which you can’t get at most supermarkets. Mozzarella isn’t hard to make, although it does take time. The one time I tried it, I concluded that there isn’t enough difference between home made and store bought to make it worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/137 "2022-07-25T15:12:38Z")
I wouldn’t understand “making ramen yourself” to be boiling the noodles in water and adding the flavoring packet - that to me is the equivalent of adding boiling water to any other sort of [dried](https://www.heb.com/product-detail/lipton-cup-a-soup-instant-soup-mix-chicken-noodle-with-meat/122562) soup and saying you “made the soup yourself”. ---
**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 25, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/138 "2022-07-25T15:20:08Z")
Throughout this thread, I’ve often been confused about where to draw the line between what does and does not count as making something for oneself (as opposed to “pay professionals to cook for them”). Certainly, making something completely from scratch falls on one side, and getting it ready-to-eat from a restaurant (or food truck or similar source) falls on the other, but there’s sometimes a lot of gray area in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/139 "2022-07-25T15:44:01Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > - sausage My wife has been after me to make up another batch of sausage. I’ve promised to get on it when the weather cools down some. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-everyday-foods-that-consumers-generally-dont-make-for-themselves-and-instead-buy-professionally-made-product/968158/140 "2022-07-25T16:01:54Z")
I am not 100% sure of exactly where the line is , and I suppose there might be some gray area if for example, I assemble a pizza using dough I bought and sauce I bought and cheese I bought - but in my mind, if all I do is add hot water ( or put a box in the microwave or oven) , it is not gray at all. It is very definitely all the way over on the “not made by yourself” side. [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=6) [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=8)