What ingredient will you not cheap out on?

rawn

Keenan Silly Sentence wrote:

Potatoes, get the good shtuff....

Do you mean types of potatoes or actual name brands? I only buy Maris Pipers if I can help it

Space Dog

Pasta. Usually buy De Cecco, Barilla at a push.
I also stick to certain brands of cheese.
Kewpie mayonnaise.
Oh and bread, I get sourdough bread from the local market, it's expensive but I can't stand the breads sold in supermarkets anymore (will make an exception for pretzels from LIDL though!).

Dial Hard

Eggs. I would rather go without than buy or eat a battery one. We get ours delivered from the allotments up the road.

I think the only branded items in the kitchen are Heinz beans (that's my sister, I'd happily eat the own-brand ones), Frank's Red Hot Sauce and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and if Lidl or Aldi did their own versions of those I'd happily give them a spin!

Deleted User wrote:

Pasta(Always fresh pasta, no more dried for me!)

Just on this, fresh isn't necessarily always better. Very much depends on what sauce you're planning to have it with.

gandalf

Garlic can't stand the insipid tasteless mass produced ones the supermarkets push. Also good dry aged thick rashers or black pudding.

Loon E. Tick

gandalf wrote: »

Garlic can't stand the insipid tasteless mass produced ones the supermarkets push.

Chinese garlic is the tasteless one. Spanish garlic is the one full of flavour. For proper garlic you need to buy it in Supervalu. Their fruit and veg is much better quality than Aldi or Lidl although they only have a very small organic section in my local one.

noel100

Milcano or alzzera coffee as instant
Hellman's lighter than light mayo
Connaught gold butter
Digetive coffee thins ( addictive)

Will buy food from all supermarkets but I'd say these are the 4 constant items we buy and wouldn't deviate from.

B0jangles

Dial Hard wrote: »

Eggs. I would rather go without than buy or eat a battery one. We get ours delivered from the allotments up the road.

I think the only branded items in the kitchen are Heinz beans (that's my sister, I'd happily eat the own-brand ones), Frank's Red Hot Sauce and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and if Lidl or Aldi did their own versions of those I'd happily give them a spin!



Just on this, fresh isn't necessarily always better. Very much depends on what sauce you're planning to have it with.

I'm 90% sure aldi do an own-brand hot sauce for wings and I saw a new own-brand worcestershire sauce in Lidl only a couple of days ago

Only stuff I 100% buy the branded version of is imported chinese sauces because I quite frankly don't trust the knock-off versions. Aldi ketchup is very nice - nice and flavorsome + made from fresh tomatoes and spices. Lidl's is awful and is based on tomato puree so it's very stodgy and dense.

Day Lewin

Olive oil, eggs, coffee, butter, and fresh tomatoes: they should smell like a greenhouse in summer-- bad ones are like snowballs. Ditto peaches, apricots...they must be good or not worth the money.
Oh and cheese - cheap cheese is like candle-wax. Wine, of course..

Hell what can i say - I love my food!

Dizzyblonde

Ketchup (Heinz, although the mention of Chef earlier makes me want to try that again), mayonnaise, stock cubes, beans, milk and butter - the branded ones all taste better to me than Aldi's versions. Recently I've stopped buying frozen cauliflower and broccoli in Aldi too because the quality isn't as good as, say Green Isle.

BailMeOut

Tilda Basmati Rice. It is double cost than the other rice at Supervalu but always worth it.

Buying cheap pasta is also a silly thing to do, example Roma pasta which is dire. Always get De Cecco or SuperValu sell some excellent Italian pastas which again are at least double cost than say Roma but always worth it.

rubadub

rawn wrote: »

Here's the real question - Heinz or Chef?

I love Chef ketchup myself, I find Heinz far too sweet, Chef is more... tomatoey

They are very different products in my mind, I would see it more like mayo vs salad cream. Chef is very vinegary, I like it on chips for that reason and heinz or heinz-type ketchups on other things. So I would not limit myself to one, I used to have loads of various ketchups in my press, just like I do not stick to just 1 curry sauce, chocolate bar, or beer.

Years ago own brand ketchups were pretty poor, nowadays it is rare I find one I do not like. I think people just grow up with one and are stubborn to change. If everybody grew up with hellmans ketchup and there was never heinz on the market, then if tesco suddenly brought out a "value ketchup" which was actually heinz but sold cheaply and in a nasty bottle I imagine many would baulk at it.

People need to do blind tastes on this, many do not want to appear to have "cheap taste" and so their mind is often made up before tasting.

In the examiner hellmans came out top marks at 9/10. I imagine many would be thinking "hellmans have a ketchup?"

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandlife/dietandfitness/top-8-tomato-ketchup-tested-279603.html

Not sure when it was released, I only noticed it a few years ago. Heinz etc have been around donkeys years. It makes sense that a well established company like hellmans with rakes of chefs & food scientists could come along and make loads of types of ketchup and test them on large amounts of people, and quite easily find several that would score better in blind tastes.

McDonalds ditched heinz a while back making their own brand.


Which? did a survey in the UK and Heinz did very badly.

Red-faced: Heinz ketchup comes BOTTOM in taste tests after being beaten by cut price supermarkets

LEAGUE OF THE BEST
1. Sainsbury's
2. Marks & Spencer
3. Tesco
4. Co-op
5. Branston
6. Kania, Lidl
7. Morrisons
8. Waitrose
9. Asda
10. Hellmann's
11. Bramwells, Aldi
12. Heinz
13. Daddies

molly09

For me it would have to be chef ketchup, batchelors beans, tayto cheese and onion crisps and Brennan’s bread

philderbeast

Olive Oil, Beans, Butter and Chilli Doritos, The cheap ones don't compare

fussyonion

I have tried a LOT of Aldi/Lidl/supermarket own brand versions of the items I buy and a lot have tasted just as good if not better, but there are some that just didn't cut the mustard.

Doritos-I have tried Lidl and Aldi's offerings and they taste of bland cardboard.

Lyons tea-Again, have tried McGrath's by Aldi and Lidl's version too but just didn't like 'em.

Cafe Noire (or L'Or, is it now?)- I don't drink coffee often but this is the only brand I like.

Cheese-Has to be Kilmeadan. Nothing else compares.

Esse85

Kerrygold butter
Knorr gravy

Gloomtastic!

Got to agree that the branded goods I buy are because they are not available in Aldi/Lidl as generics. Interesting to hear Lidl now do a Worcestershire Sauce as it’s on my shopping list at the moment.

Aldi’s Reserve Blend Tea will beat any brand IMHO.

rubadub

fussyonion wrote: »

some that just didn't cut the mustard.

Speaking of which I still buy French's mustard. I have not found any cheaper one remotely like it. I see these "american" mustards, or deli or hotdog mustard but they are nothing like it. French's has no added sugar or oil, lots of these cheaper mild ones have sugar and/or oil in them. I have seen some branded ones which might be like it but never bought as they are often dearer than it.

While with djon or english mustard many of the own brands are fine.

SB_Part2

Mayonaise is probably the only thing. I'm sure I'll think of more.

LirW

Kikkoman low sodium soy sauce or nothing. Especially because you can buy it quite reasonable when you need large amounts.

Maldron salt.

Heinz ketchup.

Skuxx

I'm fairly similar to most here, happy to spend money on good pasta and olive oil. The tinned tomatoes is an interesting one, I'd usually buy supermarket own brand but recently got Mutti brand on offer and I have to say that I really noticed a difference, so much nicer and not as watery!

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Teyla Emmagan

Butter. Kerrygold or nothing.

RasTa

Awful lot of people sold on Heinz.

Maybe it's time to do a blind taste test. Only time I have it with chips is when I'm in Bunsen but the Aldi stuff does the job.

Rated number 1 in Guardian's own brand taste test!

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/25/tomato-ketchup-the-best-and-worst-taste-text

the beer revolu

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Butter. Kerrygold or nothing.

I'd love to challenge branded butter fans to a blind taster test.

I switch between Tesco and Lidl Irish creamery butter. One is slightly harder than the other but to my palate taste the same as Kerrygold or any other Irish butter.
Maybe I'm just a butter philistine.

dxhound2005

the beer revolu wrote: »

I'd love to challenge branded butter fans to a blind taster test.

I switch between Tesco and Lidl Irish creamery butter. One is slightly harder than the other but to my palate taste the same as Kerrygold or any other Irish butter.
Maybe I'm just a butter philistine.

You are correct. The ingredients of butter are cream and salt, nothing else. There is no point in paying €3.30 when you can get the same product for €2.19. The only difference is the name on the foil wrapper.

dxhound2005

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If you are doing a search a couple of posts mentioned Maldron Salt. I think that should be Maldon.

nkav86

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dxhound2005 wrote:

If you are doing a search a couple of posts mentioned Maldron Salt. I think that should be Maldon.

If its this one you're looking for I've found it in tesco. Comes in a box with a plastic lining/bag inside if I'm not mistaken(?)

Teyla Emmagan

nkav86 wrote:

If its this one you're looking for I've found it in tesco. Comes in a box with a plastic lining/bag inside if I'm not mistaken(?)

Yeah, that's it. Comes in a box.

dxhound2005 wrote:

You are correct. The ingredients of butter are cream and salt, nothing else. There is no point in paying €3.30 when you can get the same product for €2.19. The only difference is the name on the foil wrapper.

Brand loyalty!

ellejay

dxhound2005 wrote: »

You are correct. The ingredients of butter are cream and salt, nothing else. There is no point in paying €3.30 when you can get the same product for €2.19. The only difference is the name on the foil wrapper.

Interesting thread!!
Had to have a good look but Brennans bread and Bisto gravy are the only branded items I'd do without rather than buy an alternative.

I find the Tesco own brand butter very greasy.
The taste isn't as noticeable on bread but awful on toast.
I think Lidl's own brand is the best, then Supervalu, then Aldi.

Intersting about the Tomatoes.
I usually just buy the cheapest in Aldi but I picked up the more expensive offering accidentally, and they genuinely were nicer.
I'll splash out and try the Roma next time!!

Annoyingly I've found Tesco do the best Rooster potatoes.
So I always buy them there, the big 7.5kg bag..!

Sauces, beans, everything else I don't mind.
Mr Lj is a diehard Lyons Tea drinker and I'm a diehard Barry's Gold Blend drinker.
But I've tried Bewleys tea and actually it's very nice.
I wasn't mad about alai's tea but haven't tried Lidl yet.

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