What will you never economize on ??

[CooCooforCoCoPuffs]

Air conditioning.

 

[Jace]

Coffee and Tea!!

 

[Eupher]

real butter!

Me three! There is another person in this thread who won't compromise when it comes to butter. Fake butter just ain't butter and I will NEVER have that stuff in my house.

I will often use clarified butter in cooking. The flavor of sauteed food in clarified butter is heavenly.

 

[Eupher]

AH Chocoate..I refuse to buy cheap choklit....

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find ANY chocolate that's cheap these days. Even a freakin' Hershey bar is stupidly expensive any more.

 

[dusty]

I buy the absolute best of anything I buy that I can afford. I will not compromise on food.

 

[Joey]

Love!!??

 

[carouselsilver]

Me three! There is another person in this thread who won't compromise when it comes to butter. Fake butter just ain't butter and I will NEVER have that stuff in my house.

I will often use clarified butter in cooking. The flavor of sauteed food in clarified butter is heavenly.

We buy only Kerry Gold Irish butter. It is the absolute best tasting butter ever!

 

[OneEyedDiva]

Two adorable cats.

View attachment 406029

Awwww....the tabby reminds me of our Deja and the black cat is beautiful.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Everything is on the table.

Needs change, priorities change, it’s all a balancing act.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” - Theodore Roosevelt

 

[Tish]

My comfort, I work damn hard to keep it and save for when I actually retire.

 

[Lavinia]

Good coffee and the best hay for my pets.

 

[Capt Lightning]

Good wine and beer.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

I would never economize on ketchup-if it isn't Heinz ketchup, it isn't ketchup. Otherwise, I'm not big at buying no name stuff. I grew up in a home where off brands and store brands were "just as good". It took me a long time to find out they weren't just as good. Now, I buy the best I can afford.

 

[Paladin1950]

Coffee and Tea!!

I agree with tea. I don't spent a cent on the other!

 

[Eupher]

We buy only Kerry Gold Irish butter. It is the absolute best tasting butter ever!

I am less discriminating with butter and have no problem buying the store brand. If it meets USDA requirements to be called "butter", I'm good with it.

BUT, the next time I make clarified butter, I will try the Kerry Gold butter. Sauteed food in clarified butter is the absolute bomb. Will do EVOO, of course, but when a different fat with a flavor profile is needed, clarified butter rocks.

 

[Eupher]

Good wine and beer.

Good point about beer. I don't drink a lot of beer, but when I do it's never that typical American swill (anything from Budweiser, Miller, the list goes on).

I am partial to Belgian beers, brewed by monks in their monasteries, and Czech beers. German beers, too, but they've slipped in quality with the bastardization of a few years back of their Reinheitsgebot. Some American craft beers are good, especially from New Belgium out of Ft. Collins, CO.

I cook with wine a fair amount, but always a decent quality. I'm not too picky since I'm cooking with it about 99% of the time.

 

[Eupher]

I would never economize on ketchup-if it isn't Heinz ketchup, it isn't ketchup. Otherwise, I'm not big at buying no name stuff. I grew up in a home where off brands and store brands were "just as good". It took me a long time to find out they weren't just as good. Now, I buy the best I can afford.

I absolutely refuse to buy ANYTHING with the Heinz label on it. I will refrain from explaining why.

 

[againstthegrain]

I am less discriminating with butter and have no problem buying the store brand. If it meets USDA requirements to be called "butter", I'm good with it.

BUT, the next time I make clarified butter, I will try the Kerry Gold butter. Sauteed food in clarified butter is the absolute bomb. Will do EVOO, of course, but when a different fat with a flavor profile is needed, clarified butter rocks.

Using clarified butter is the wrong application to test butters with different levels of fat since clarified butter is simply the rendered butterfat, it will be 100% butterfat no matter which butter is used to make it. Kerry Gold has only 2% more butterfat than the minimum USDA standard of 80% butterfat so the additional expense of the KG only gets you 2% more clarified butter in the end.

In my experience the higher butterfat butters shine when used in browning, like french toast, where they do produce a slightly better, crispier exterior texture or in a croissant or other baked goods like phyllo dough, which take advantage of the extra fat and less water inside the product.

 

[Della]

I buy Kroger brand coffee and tea and I'm so glad those are the brands I started on, so that's how I think they're supposed to taste. During Covid they kept running out, so I would buy the elite expensive brands and they just didn't taste good to me.

My last can cost $6.99 for 225 cups.

Kroger was a coffee stand before it was a supermarket so I tell myself that makes it okay.

 

[Eupher]

Using clarified butter is the wrong application to test butters with different levels of fat since clarified butter is simply the rendered butterfat, it will be 100% butterfat no matter which butter is used to make it. Kerry Gold has only 2% more butterfat than the minimum USDA standard of 80% butterfat so the additional expense of the KG only gets you 2% more clarified butter in the end.

In my experience the higher butterfat butters shine when used in browning, like french toast, where they do produce a slightly better, crispier exterior texture or in a croissant or other baked goods like phyllo dough, which take advantage of the extra fat and less water inside the product.

Interesting comment.

Maybe it has something to do with the quality of the cream from which the butter is extracted (regarding the KG butter). I'll try it -- I'm a firm believer in experimenting. If I can't tell a difference, it'll be back to my store-brand butter, which I find to be totally acceptable anyway.

 

[againstthegrain]

Interesting comment.

Maybe it has something to do with the quality of the cream from which the butter is extracted (regarding the KG butter). I'll try it -- I'm a firm believer in experimenting. If I can't tell a difference, it'll be back to my store-brand butter, which I find to be totally acceptable anyway.

I tried the higher fat butters years ago and I don't think they produce results that justify the cost. Perhaps using them in puff pastry and croissants would test out differently though.

 

[Rakaia]

I don't economise on motorcycles or their maintenance. I have arthritic hands so I won't even adjust the chain anymore, fortunately I have a great workshop and casual employment. As the cliche goes, I ride to work and I work to ride. I missed out on a decade or so of riding because of under employment, feeding the kids and paying the mortgage. Now I'm making the most of the opportunity to ride for as long as possible.

 

[carouselsilver]

I am less discriminating with butter and have no problem buying the store brand. If it meets USDA requirements to be called "butter", I'm good with it.

BUT, the next time I make clarified butter, I will try the Kerry Gold butter. Sauteed food in clarified butter is the absolute bomb. Will do EVOO, of course, but when a different fat with a flavor profile is needed, clarified butter rocks.

That is what we use the Kerry Gold for, and it makes the best clarified butter.

 

[Rossana]

All of the above!

 

[Twostep]

I tried the higher fat butters years ago and I don't think they produce results that justify the cost. Perhaps using them in puff pastry and croissants would test out differently though.

Look at sauces and finishes.