Best of the best. What brands will you not compromise on?

[froggibabey]

There's not much that I'm super tied to, but it has to be Charmin Ultra Soft, Bounty for the one or two rolls of paper towels we use a year, and Herrs Sour Cream and Onion Chips.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It's kinda icky if you think about what it really means. It means they put in 93% meat scraps (which includes a decent amount of fat naturally) and then they toss in 7% pure fat.

Sorry, but I don't see how this is possible.

American cheese - Land o Lakes -- I don't care about the brand, but I don't buy the wrapped cheese slices

Yeah, sorry, I meant deli cheese.

 

[easyas123]

I loved a good beef burger, but after years of eating very lean venison a lot (in various recipes, ironically not really in burgers cause it's to dry( I really can't eat beef burger anymore. So I stick to turkey and lamb for burgers.

 

[MrsPete]

Sorry, but I don't see how this is possible.

Yeah, it's true. I learned it in Nutrition for Teachers, which was a required course in college -- and an excellent class. I remember that day's lecture -- we were all rather amazed.

If you buy ground beef that's 80/20, it is 80% meat with 20% pure fat added. Several times we've bought "half a cow", and the ground beef that comes with that purchase is blended with NO added fat. The difference is significant.
We don't eat much ground beef because of this.

http://fabulousfoods.com/articles/957421/how-to-choose-the-right-ground-beef
A paragraph from that site: Those numbers, then, refer to the ratio of meat to fat. So in 80/20 beef, you have 80 percent meat to 20 percent fat. In other words, if you bought 100 pounds of 80/20 beef, you would expect to have 20 pounds of nothing but pure fat. Normally, the fat comes from the ground meat itself, but if you are buying ground hamburger (as opposed to ground beef) some of the fat might have been added to reach the proper ratio. It goes without saying that that 85/15 is leaner than 80/20, 90/10 is leaner still and so on.

There's not much that I'm super tied to, but it has to be Charmin Ultra Soft, Bounty for the one or two rolls of paper towels we use a year, and Herrs Sour Cream and Onion Chips.

Okay, you just reminded me of another one: I only buy Bounty Choose-a-Size paper towels. We don't use many, but I want good quality paper towels, and I almost always use a small size.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Normally, the fat comes from the ground meat itself, but if you are buying ground hamburger (as opposed to ground beef) some of the fat might have been added to reach the proper ratio. It goes without saying that that 85/15 is leaner than 80/20, 90/10 is leaner still and so on.

Not trying to convince you to eat ground beef at all. The initial claim still doesn't make sense to me.

 

[2China2009]

I am a 100% Addi’s girl. I have never bought 1 thing that we did not like. All of my OTC drugs are generic and work great. If you compare the ingredients to generic vs brand name they are identical. I love all of the speciality cheeses and wine at Aldi’s. Our produce is amazing and always fresh. I love my Diet Coke.

 

[easyas123]

f you buy ground beef that's 80/20, it is 80% meat with 20% pure fat added. Several times we've bought "half a cow", and the ground beef that comes with that purchase is blended with NO added fat. The difference is significant.
We don't eat much ground beef because of this.

That has been our experience with our local butcher as well when we've done a cow.
When we do our own mean grinding, especially sausage, my husband buys pork fat especially for that purpose, and adds it in to create the right combo.

 

[barkley]

Milk?! How can milk be different?

if as a kid you were raised on northern california's own stornetta's milk no other milk tasted as good. at christmas we could get their bottled milk with the thick layer of cream at the top and their bottled rich and decadant egg nog. nothing matched them. the highlight of every 3rd grader's school year was our trip to stornetta's (local to us) where we got to see the cows, learn how they were milk, how the milk was processed and were gifted with a school sized carton of their rich, sweet chocolate milk. many of us continued to use the ruler and multi color pen gifted to us at the end of the tour well into junior high.

up here in eastern washington the go-to milk is dairygold. the stuff is ultra pasteurized so it's shelf life is 60 plus days. it's excellent quality milk, and in the dead or winter or during times of desiring to limit travel (like now) it's great to be able to stock up on milk that can sit and wait upwards of two month just fine.

 

[tvguy]

if as a kid you were raised on northern california's own stornetta's milk no other milk tasted as good. at christmas we could get their bottled milk with the thick layer of cream at the top and their bottled rich and decadant egg nog. nothing matched them. the highlight of every 3rd grader's school year was our trip to stornetta's (local to us) where we got to see the cows, learn how they were milk, how the milk was processed and were gifted with a school sized carton of their rich, sweet chocolate milk. many of us continued to use the ruler and multi color pen gifted to us at the end of the tour well into junior high.

up here in eastern washington the go-to milk is dairygold. the stuff is ultra pasteurized so it's shelf life is 60 plus days. it's excellent quality milk, and in the dead or winter or during times of desiring to limit travel (like now) it's great to be able to stock up on milk that can sit and wait upwards of two month just fine.

Dairygold makes the best chocolate milk I have every had. Walmart here carries it.
I grew up with Crystal Dairy Products which used to be exclusively from Jersey cows and was all local. They used to advertise that all the milk came from cows within 30 miles of the dairy. Their egg nog was amazing too, not made from egg nog base that many dairies us, but made from scratch, with the use of buttermilk, which made it taste amazing. Crystal closed and sold all their equipment to Hood Dairy to make coffee creamer........and a few years later sold the name Crystal to Foster Farms to dropped Foster Farms from their products and started using the Crystal name.
I am familiar with the stornetta name. I've never had milk that was not-homogenized. My mom grew up on a farm with a cow for milk for the family, and so she was delighted as an adult to buy homogenized store milk that didn't need have the cream float to the top and have to be mixed back in. So we never bought non-homogenized milk. And she and her siblings were not allowed to "steal" the cream off the milk, that all was saved to make butter.......yes my grandmother had a cream separator and a butter churn. I think my Grandmother threatened the Santa wasn't coming if any of the kids stole the cream off the milk.

 

[maxiesmom]

Miracle Whip. Not a mayo family. I only buy mayo if I'm making a dip that calls for it.
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup to put on ice cream. No other brand tastes the same.

I'm more worried about cost than brand for most things.

 

[JennP78]

Diet coke
Boar’s head turkey
Pretzels and crackers
Ice cream

 

[JeanfromBNA]

Skippy super chunky peanut butter
Unfrosted strawberry pop tarts
Original Velveeta cheese
Bluebell ice cream
Only Crocs at WDW, which is a thread unto itself

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

Ketchup-has to be Heinz or Hunts. That's it.

I only use brand name cleaners, except for bleach.

Workout clothes (and casual wear, really). I only go to Lululemon. My job requires me to be in workout clothes, and these last, plus if anything happens, they replace it. Cheap workout clothes, like from TJMaxx or whatever, don't cut it for me. A lot of times you can get items on mega sale too.

 

[dvc at last !]

Mayo - Hellmann's
Laundry - Tide
Fabric Soft - Snuggle, Bounce, Downy
Shampoo and Conditioner - Matrix Biolage Color Last
Dove - Body Wash
Dove - deodorant
Toothpaste - Colgate Optic White
and the list goes on for makeup products...

 

[dvc at last !]

Pepsi

 

[MOPNB]

Only Crocs at WDW, which is a thread unto itself

I need to know more about this

 

[dvc at last !]

At the kitchen sink - Dawn

 

[dvc at last !]

I am a 100% Addi’s girl. I have never bought 1 thing that we did not like. All of my OTC drugs are generic and work great. If you compare the ingredients to generic vs brand name they are identical. I love all of the speciality cheeses and wine at Aldi’s. Our produce is amazing and always fresh. I love my Diet Coke.

I love Aldi produce prices, too.

 

[needsomesun]

Coke Zero and Philadelphia cream cheese. I think that's pretty much it. Lots of generics in our house.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I thought you were the Canadian expert!
Did you miss the huge outcry about the milk exports?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/usmca-milk-hormones-1.4849423
On top of the that we absolutely notice a difference between brands. We only buy Lucerne.

Milk?! How can milk be different?