Why do people like Costco so much?

[nakedfrog]

- I was using sea salt at my wife's insistence for ages. Ran out one day and used some iodized Mortin's instead and was amazed at how good and actually salty it tasted.

Sea salt has a sort of subtle/gentle saltiness to it, while Morton's has a nice sharp salty quality that really pairs well with "big dumb flavor" foods like burgers and fries (i.e. if the delicate flavor of the food is supposed to be the star of the show, use sea salt, but if the saltiness is supposed to be the star of the show, use table salt).

I've been secretly using it on my cooking days and getting consistent compliments from the family on my cooking...

Yeah, I use Morton's iodized for burgers, but kosher for steaks, that sort of thing.

 

[JEDI]

I've been secretly using it on my cooking days and getting consistent compliments from the family on my cooking...

to make food taste better, add more salt

 

[GodisanAtheist]

to make food taste better, add more salt

- Chefs hate this one trick...

 

[Brainonska511]

- I was using sea salt at my wife's insistence for ages. Ran out one day and used some iodized Mortin's instead and was amazed at how good and actually salty it tasted.

Sea salt has a sort of subtle/gentle saltiness to it, while Morton's has a nice sharp salty quality that really pairs well with "big dumb flavor" foods like burgers and fries (i.e. if the delicate flavor of the food is supposed to be the star of the show, use sea salt, but if the saltiness is supposed to be the star of the show, use table salt).

I've been secretly using it on my cooking days and getting consistent compliments from the family on my cooking...

Not the salt's fault. It sounds like you just weren't using enough salt for the type you were using. If the salt crystals are bigger, like kosher salt, you need to use more than you would with a fine grained table salt.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Not the salt's fault. It sounds like you just weren't using enough salt for the type you were using. If the salt crystals are bigger, like kosher salt, you need to use more than you would with a fine grained table salt.

-So they get you on the upfront cost and then go for the double penetration by forcing you to use a larger volume for the same taste?

 

[Zorba]

We don't have the Ivar's new England clam chowder by me, we have the legal sea foods brand clam chowder, which I find pretty darn good. I just don't buy it often because it's not very healthy and I'll eat one container in one sitting.

Gotta keep my figure svelte

My wife and I split a container for lunch. Still a bit high on the calories and didn't really keep me full until dinner. I think it'll be a once in a while thing for us.

 

[JEDI]

I picked up a bag of Food Should Taste Good multigrain tortilla chips in the Costco chip aisle instead.
Not organic but I think it's easily the equal of Late July for taste. Probably won't get to snag it on sale, but it is what it is... yesterday $5.99 for 28.8 ounce bag. No other chip at Costco looks to compete right now if you want healthy and tasty. Almost the equal to Late July for sodium (75mg/ounce-of-chips). Most chips have AT LEAST double that.

your chips are on sale next month.
and i'm guessing that ramen on sale is HIGH in salt

 

[Muse]

View attachment 56557

your chips are on sale next month.
and i'm guessing that ramen on sale is HIGH in salt

Cool!!! I'm gonna stock up... the way I did with Late July. I am pretty sure I prefer these FSTG, but wish they were likewise organic.

Seems that for some reason I didn't get the mailer yet. Says Feb. 2 -->, which starts in one week. Usually I'd have that mailer by now. Well, my schedule has me going to my local Costco on Feb. 4!

It's awesome that packaged foods are required to post sodium content, and etc.

 

[MrSquished]

My wife and I split a container for lunch. Still a bit high on the calories and didn't really keep me full until dinner. I think it'll be a once in a while thing for us.

Yep. I'm at my best weight in like 5 years, and I want to keep it that way. New England clam chowder is great but it's too rich, and it's just too easy to consume when you can buy a pretty good version of it at Costco.

A little bit of discipline is all it takes though.

 

[Muse]

to make food taste better, add more salt

My mom would always do that when we ate out, us kids looked on with something like disapproval. Of course, she developed HBP eventually, as did my dad.

My experience is that after reducing salt (voluntarily, I've never been aware of an issue with salt for me, but I figured HBP just happens if you don't reduce your sodium intake from what you'll get if you just eat whatever in the USA) I find that foods that used to taste good now taste too salty! Thus, reduced salt foods taste plenty salty enough. Win, win!

 

[nakedfrog]

My mom would always do that when we ate out, us kids looked on with something like disapproval. Of course, she developed HBP eventually, as did my dad.

My experience is that after reducing salt (voluntarily, I've never been aware of an issue with salt for me, but I figured HBP just happens if you don't reduce your sodium intake from what you'll get if you just eat whatever in the USA) I find that foods that used to taste good now taste too salty! Thus, reduced salt foods taste plenty salty enough. Win, win!

My understanding is that it's not a universal thing (more salt = high blood pressure), but it does affect some people.

It's Time to End the War on Salt

The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science

www.scientificamerican.com

Common High Blood Pressure Myths

The American Heart Association debunks the common myths and misconceptions about high blood pressure.

www.heart.org

Myth: I don’t use table salt, so I’m in control of my sodium intake and my blood pressure.

In some people, sodium can increase blood pressure. But controlling sodium means more than just putting down the salt shaker.

High blood pressure: Sodium may not be the culprit

Over recent years, salt has been labelled as a hypertension-causing monster. A new study asks whether this accusation might be somewhat overblown.

www.medicalnewstoday.com

I know it was the common narrative for decades, though.

 

[JujuFish]

My understanding is that it's not a universal thing (more salt = high blood pressure), but it does affect some people.

I consume way more than the recommended amount of salt daily, but I don't seem to get high blood pressure. My last measurement was 104/60.

 

[JEDI]

Yep. I'm at my best weight in like 5 years, and I want to keep it that way. New England clam chowder is great but it's too rich, and it's just too easy to consume when you can buy a pretty good version of it at Costco.

A little bit of discipline is all it takes though.

for me, serving size = 1 container, no matter how much is in it.
i stopped buying stuff in the candy isle.

40oz tub m&m's gone in 3 days.
the only reason i stopped on days 1+2 is when i became sick of chocolate

 

[Aikouka]

I don't mind Costco, but I do have some thoughts...

One thing that I'm not a fan of is that while the store is kept fairly orderly, they don't do a good job at removing items that are far, far too close to their expiration date. I find that this is even more important when you're dealing with bulk items given it takes longer to go through them. A great example is how I bought that huge double-pack of Cello Parmesan cheese. I think the first time I got it, it lasted for 8-12 months, and I had no issue with freshness/mold. After that ran out, I got another one, and it lasted for 2-3 months until both bags had spoiled. (The opened one spoiled before the sealed one.) What I didn't realize is that the expiration date was way too close for something as sparingly used as Parmesan (it was maybe one month after I had purchased it).

The other thing is that Costco direly needs a way for people to post comments on food. Now, I've thought about doing this myself as I'm tired of spending more on bulk items to just find that they don't taste good. You know... a website like "CostcoRatings.com" where you can post reviews/ratings on products. Costco does have ratings on their standard website, but plenty of items aren't listed on the website because Costco Online is not entirely the same entity as Costco the warehouse. (I ran into that problem when they shipped me a garbage disposal instead of a sous vide cooker.) Anyway, a good example of this is when I bought this double pack of white queso dip. Now, I really like Tostito's white queso dip, but this stuff from Costco was incredibly bland (probably needed salt ) and just... not good. I bought some salsas recently from the store, and none of them were bad (so far), but out of the two tomato-based ones, one of them was definitely better than the other. I can't recall the names, but the one on the standard shelves in a glass jar (not Kirkland brand) was definitely better than the one in the fridge section in the plastic container.

 

[Muse]

The other thing is that Costco direly needs a way for people to post comments on food. Now, I've thought about doing this myself as I'm tired of spending more on bulk items to just find that they don't taste good. You know... a website like "CostcoRatings.com" where you can post reviews/ratings on products.

I'd go there plenty and I'd think it would get plenty traffic. Great idea.

There's a bunch of sites that review or recommend some Costco offerings but evidently nothing set up for their actual customers except for at costco.com for online specific offerings, which like you say is just a subset of the offerings at warehouses.

 

[Muse]

Could be a regional offering, but it was the Bavarian Meats Seattle-style smoked sausage.

The jalapenos were much more prominent flavor-wise than the cream cheese or bacon, IMO.

They don't have the cracked pepper one here, they do have the pineapple & bacon, which I tried as a sample, so I knew I wasn't into it. Generally, chicken sausage is always pretty "meh" to me.
The andouille variety is a mainstay in my fridge, best andouille I've found in standard grocery stores.

Didn't see any Andouille at Costco, didn't expect to, either. The only sausage I've been buying for a few years is from my local indy supermarket, being Dibrova Andouille in 16oz packages. I really like it. I was there about a week ago and saw they have Aidelle's Andouille (12oz, costing more than the 16oz Dibrova) and bought a package of both.

So, I ate both varieties different nights this week and determined that the Dibrova is way more delicious. It's also way less fatty. So, I'll stick with the Dibrova. Both companies have many sausage offerings in the store, but I haven't tried other than the Andouille.

 

[IGBT]

Do the math on membership expense and similar. Their variety isn't what it used to be and they made a move towards massive amounts of frozen junk food optimized for microwave cooking. Tons of "seasonal" items of which are "one off" items. They seem to be buying close out bulk clothing and similar items and marketing them as "seasonal". Do the math. Costco isn't for everybody...

 

[JEDI]

Do the math on membership expense and similar. Their variety isn't what it used to be and they made a move towards massive amounts of frozen junk food optimized for microwave cooking. Tons of "seasonal" items of which are "one off" items. They seem to be buying close out bulk clothing and similar items and marketing them as "seasonal". Do the math. Costco isn't for everybody...

i got the membership for the cheap gas. (at least .10/gal cheaper than anyone else near me, and is only 2miles from house)

i drive 20k miles/yr.
$60/yr membership pays for itself on gas savings alone.

everything inside the warehouse is gravy

 

[Muse]

i got the membership for the cheap gas. (at least .10/gal cheaper than anyone else near me, and is only 2miles from house)

i drive 20k miles/yr.
$60/yr membership pays for itself on gas savings alone.

everything inside the warehouse is gravy

I use the CC for travel and dining for the 3% discount. I've been driving less than 1500m/yr (under 1000 during pandemic), so the gas discount isn't a big deal, but I don't gas up anywhere else. It's the warehouse trips that make the $60 membership worth it. I'm probably spending around $2500/year in there and a lot of the stuff I get is cheaper there than anywhere else. Plus there's the one-stop-shop advantage. What Costco doesn't have I pick up at Trader Joe's on the way home (lately Costco doesn't have organic green peppers, and I HAVE to have those, plus some stuff at Trader Joe's is just better... cheaper too, and in lesser quantities, which sometimes suits me better).

Do the math on membership expense and similar. Their variety isn't what it used to be and they made a move towards massive amounts of frozen junk food optimized for microwave cooking. Tons of "seasonal" items of which are "one off" items. They seem to be buying close out bulk clothing and similar items and marketing them as "seasonal". Do the math. Costco isn't for everybody...

Like most stores, I don't even look at most of the stuff, it's not for me. I use my microwave a lot but rarely for something as is from the store, I MW stuff I make, i.e. from scratch. I try to stay away from processed food.

I usually ignore their clothing. I've bought a few really good things there in clothing but usually I don't even look at all that stuff. I'm right now wearing convertible pants (wish they'd stock those again), and a down vest that's great (so great, and "reasonable" I bicycled back there next day and bought another, it was several years ago).

 

[JEDI]

I'm right now wearing convertible pants (wish they'd stock those again),

wha?
they turn into shorts if you rip off the legs? ala Magic Mike?

 

[sdifox]

wha?
they turn into shorts if you rip off the legs? ala Magic Mike?

Zippers. You must live in a cave if you don't know about this. They were popular in the mid 80s.

 

[JEDI]

Zippers. You must live in a cave if you don't know about this. They were popular in the mid 80s.

there's a reason why the lamchop sideburns of the 80s are no longer in style

 

[Captante]

Zippers. You must live in a cave if you don't know about this. They were popular AROUND in the mid 80s.

Not sure they were ever "popular" lol....

 

[sdifox]

there's a reason why the lamchop sideburns of the 80s are no longer in style

I am not saying you should wear them, but you should be aware of them.

 

[highland145]

We went this AM. Half way through the store and the cart is still empty. YEAH!

Then we hit the cold/frozen section.

$270 at the checkout.

Granted, I did get 6 bags of coffee.