Why do people like Costco so much?

[Muse]

Bulk buying has always turned me off and no kids.
I’m pretty sure I’ve had Costco chicken a long time ago. I think my grandfather used to pick one up occasionally.

I have been shopping 95% Costco for food since fully vaxxed (i.e. late March). I'm no kids no mate, i.e. solo. The bulk thing doesn't bother me. I seldom toss food as well, I'm really good at this. Freeze, fridge, large containers for things that keep well (e.g. rice, beans, pasta). I know tricks to keep a couple dozen bananas for 2 weeks and ripen them just when and like I prefer. Frozen bag of organic blueberries (3lb). I know the ins and outs of Costco, been going there since ~1990, probably earlier. Back then I had no car... I was the ONLY person I ever saw going there with a bicycle. One day I brought home OVER 100 LB. ON MY BIKE, 5 miles the trek home... NO LIE!

My fridge is always pretty full, less so before my every 2 weeks Costco run (I'm going today!).

I decided the rotisserie chicken is great! Thanks, @Kaido.

So many deals I've gotten at Costco. Not all food, of course, but most times lately I get all food, maybe some supplements, if I'm low. I keep data on what I get, the price, the date, that kind of thing. I'm really good with data, have been database programmer/administrator.

 

[Muse]

The purpose of roasting the bones is to add flavor. Pretty much, just get a parchment sheet (I buy the pre-cut ones, soooo convenient) & put it on a rimmed baking sheet, then roast at 400F for 20 minutes. Then dump the pan juices & roasted bones into your Instapot.

I mainly use stock, broth, and bone broth for flavoring for soup, chili, pasta, rice, etc. Try this rice recipe out with your broth: (I recommend Jasmine rice)

The Best Instant Pot Rice

Want to learn how to make the best Instant Pot rice? Give this recipe a try! People will be asking for seconds.

www.saltandlavender.com

Also if you don't have a rice-rinse bowl, I highly recommend getting one:

Amazon.com

Just wash the rice until the water runs clear (helps prevent the cooked rice from being gummy) & then add the drained, washed rice to your Instant Pot!

Hmm. The rice I have on hand (a LOT) is the organic brown and the basmati white they sell at Costco. Lately, I have been making the brown. I was alerted to the arsenic problem with rice a few years ago, so I simmer my rice for a couple minutes and rinse before cooking. That removes a significant proportion of any arsenic that might be in the rice (rice absorbs arsenic from the ground it grows in). Some grow areas are pretty high in arsenic, is the issue. IIRC, say, Texas... look it up.

The basmati I buy (India grown, I believe) and the organic brown short grain (CA grown) are presumably less concern for arsenic, but I figure any rice is suspect for it, so I do the simmer/rinse. I eat a LOT of rice sometimes, is why. I cook my rice in my IP.

 

[Muse]

Used to do Costco years ago but now the closest one to us is a 2 hr round trip…with good traffic. Just not worth it.

Yeah, common problem. I found out about Costco one day when I rode my bicycle past the nearest one (Richmond, CA, about 5 miles from my house) around 1988 or so, probably coming home from a temporary job, which is how I survived for ~12+ years, i.e. multifarious temp jobs! IIRC, I stopped and checked it out -- got a temporary day pass, went inside and shopped. I wound up joining and have been a member ever since. Just saw this:

Costco isn't owned by China and never has been. The company has always been American and was founded in the 1970s in California. Costco has been a huge success in China.

 

[TXHokie]

The Costco rotisserie chicken is very versatile for our family multi meals and we get one for every trip:
- sliced meat directly onto Costco croissants and salad for quick sandwich
- shred the meat and mix with taco powder for chicken tacos
- make soup/soup stock with leftover bones as indicated above
- cube the left over meat for chicken pot pie, chicken salad
- if you have rice cooker, prior to cooking the rice toss all the bones and left over meat on top of the rice, sprinkle some soy sauce and press cook. The rice cooking process will absorb all the flavor to make killer chicken rice (easy to remove all the bones as any meat will fall right off after it's all cooked)

 

[bigi]

Costco has gone to shit with some products that used to be quite good. Milk, Mozarella, Crossaints for instance got replaced very quitely and are total crap.
People are lazy and don't care is one thing. Not much alternatives is another.

There are still good prices for booze, detergents, etc. Seasonal items are fine too.

After shopping there for 25+ years, I've considered dropping it for good.

 

[JEDI]

But I did get a really good deal on loungers, a laptop, and a Dyson stick vac. So I think the membership can pay for itself if you are selective, but there are definitely items that aren't any cheaper.

yeah I noticed that too.
But Costco says max profit on any item is 15%.
So that means other places are selling less than 15% profit.

And I think much less than 15% profit since I don't think most places can match Costco's purchasing power that results in thier lower buying costs

 

[Zorba]

The Costco rotisserie chicken is very versatile for our family multi meals and we get one for every trip:
- sliced meat directly onto Costco croissants and salad for quick sandwich
- shred the meat and mix with taco powder for chicken tacos
- make soup/soup stock with leftover bones as indicated above
- cube the left over meat for chicken pot pie, chicken salad
- if you have rice cooker, prior to cooking the rice toss all the bones and left over meat on top of the rice, sprinkle some soy sauce and press cook. The rice cooking process will absorb all the flavor to make killer chicken rice (easy to remove all the bones as any meat will fall right off after it's all cooked)

I don't get the chicken thing, every grocery store around here sells them, including walmart.

Edit: I mean I don't get why that is a selling point of Costco.

 

[MrSquished]

I don't get the chicken thing, every grocery store around here sells them, including walmart.

Costco sells them for $4.99 - and they are large chickens compared to pretty much any other grocery store rotisserie chicken I've ever seen. It's a loss leader for Costco.

 

[sdifox]

I don't get the chicken thing, every grocery store around here sells them, including walmart.

Edit: I mean I don't get why that is a selling point of Costco.

their loss leader apparently.

 

[Zorba]

Costco sells them for $4.99 - and they are large chickens compared to pretty much any other grocery store rotisserie chicken I've ever seen. It's a loss leader for Costco.

The store down the street from me sells them $6, but they are on the small side. I haven't looked at the size of he Costco ones.

 

[sdifox]

The store down the street from me sells them $6, but they are on the small side. I haven't looked at the size of he Costco ones.

they are huge. and pretty juicy.

 

[ponyo]

The store down the street from me sells them $6, but they are on the small side. I haven't looked at the size of he Costco ones.

Costco ones are large. It would cost you more to buy the raw whole chicken than to buy Costco rotisserie chicken.

That said, I buy the rotisserie chicken like once or twice a year. Just not my thing.

 

[spacejamz]

Also nice if you have gut issues (food poisoning, IBS, etc.) because you're not (TMI) making yourself raw from using too much TP. I'll never go back to not using a bidet. Warm seat + warm water + much cleaner = winning! Again, it's a weird topic to talk about, but people need to KNOW! lol

I got a bidet from amazon before my colonoscopy last summer...on prep day, when you you take the stuff that flushes your insides out, the bidet was life saver for this reason...

 

[Kaido]

I got a bidet from amazon before my colonoscopy last summer...on prep day, when you you take the stuff that flushes your insides out, the bidet was life saver for this reason...

Been there done that, 1000% worth it for just that lol. Did they give you the salted lemonade stuff?

 

[spacejamz]

Been there done that, 1000% worth it for just that lol. Did they give you the salted lemonade stuff?

Had two doses...a sports drink flavored one and I don't remember the other flavor...that stuff was horrible...

 

[shortylickens]

Oh yeah thats the other thing. Costco has had way too many food poisoning cases reported in the news. They are very bad about moving around inventory and sometimes fruits and meats sit out in 75 degree air for way too damn long.

 

[Muse]

Costco has gone to shit with some products that used to be quite good. Milk, Mozarella, Crossaints for instance got replaced very quitely and are total crap.
People are lazy and don't care is one thing. Not much alternatives is another.

There are still good prices for booze, detergents, etc. Seasonal items are fine too.

After shopping there for 25+ years, I've considered dropping it for good.

I used to get my nonfat dry milk powder there but they stopped carrying it. I buy that at Walmart online now, free delivery. It's really the same stuff, as long as you don't buy the stuff that's too finely powdered, which doesn't dissolve nearly as easily. I never buy anybody's croissants. Mozarella? I think I have some I bought there but I seldom eat it, have a little in the freezer. What I buy at Costco regularly in the way of cheese is their Coastal British cheddar (excellent), the Jarlsberg, some gourmet bleu, cream cheese, cottage cheese. All just fine. I'm liking their bagels the last few years. Those runs give me a chance to stretch out my car, which is otherwise mostly unused.

 

[Muse]

Oh yeah thats the other thing. Costco has had way too many food poisoning cases reported in the news. They are very bad about moving around inventory and sometimes fruits and meats sit out in 75 degree air for way too damn long.

I inspect everything carefully that I put in my cart... much much more than most people. I also look at the expiration dates. The only time in my life that I knowingly suffered food poisoning was after eating at a restaurant in Klamath Falls, OR, after eating the Chicken Cacciatore . Nobody else in my family got sick, so they attributed it to my bad eating habits during the 2 week trip, a jaunt through several of the most famous western national parks when I was 14. That was a tough night for me.

 

[JujuFish]

Over the last two years, I've tried Costco, Sam's, and BJ's. They're all a 25-30 minute one-way drive from me, and none of them stand apart in my experience.

And they all have $5 3-lb rotisserie chicken.

And Costco easily has the worst app and website of them all.

 

[nakedfrog]

Food, sure. But it makes sense for things you constantly have - energy drinks, water bottles, tp, etc.

Obviously though the membership cost is more worth it the more people you're buying for. Which, admittedly, does suck for anyone single vs. family of 5 buying much more qty in general.

However, they also just have tons of good quality household items. computer chairs, furniture, kitchen goods, etc.


Edit: Also clothes, medicines/bath items.... Yadda yadda.

Only chumps buy energy drinks and bottled water.

 

[JujuFish]

Only chumps buy energy drinks and bottled water.

I'm a chump for Monster Ultra. I'll admit it.

But at least I don't do bottled water. Filtered tap is good enough for me.

 

[MrSquished]

I'm a chump for Monster Ultra. I'll admit it.

But at least I don't do bottled water. Filtered tap is good enough for me.

Yeah bottled water is so wasteful on multiple levels. I did used to buy bottled water on the go multiple times a week. But then I got a slim hydro flask that fits in my cupholder to keep water cold, and now I buy bottled water rarely. Cut my consumption in that category by at least 90%.

Good for picnics too. I fill one insulated bottle up with Negronis and one with water.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

The store down the street from me sells them $6, but they are on the small side. I haven't looked at the size of he Costco ones.

Since this thread started I did some reading. Costco chicken are 6lbs basically the max size that can fit in industrial roasters. They wanted to go bigger for chicken when they opened their Costco chicken farm thingy but it wasn’t possible to roast larger birds without making major changes.
Typical grocery store birds are 3.5 to 5lbs most are smaller (I think the weight number is correct I kind of forgot) birds in regular grocery stores are getting bigger because America’s appetite for chicken has grown and growers are producing bigger birds because that is what consumers want.

 

[Zorba]

Since this thread started I did some reading. Costco chicken are 6lbs basically the max size that can fit in industrial roasters. They wanted to go bigger for chicken when they opened their Costco chicken farm thingy but it wasn’t possible to roast larger birds without making major changes.
Typical grocery store birds are 3.5 to 5lbs most are smaller (I think the weight number is correct I kind of forgot) birds in regular grocery stores are getting bigger because America’s appetite for chicken has grown and growers are producing bigger birds because that is what consumers want.

Yeah, a 6# one is definitely bigger than most. I'll have to check it out next time I'm there.

 

[Muse]

I'm a chump for Monster Ultra. I'll admit it.

But at least I don't do bottled water. Filtered tap is good enough for me.

I don't even filter my tap water. If I can believe EBMUD, our water is pretty pristine. Who knows?????

The only bottled water I buy I never drink. It's for preparation for the monster earthquake, the most devastating one in US history that's expected any minute on the Hayward Fault, which runs not so much as 1.5 miles from my house.

I have maybe 1/2 dozen gallon plastic unopened bottles of water here and there on the property. One in my car, at least one in the garage, a few in the house. I should buy some more. I don't think I can trust what's in those bottles. I did buy purification tablets and a camping filter recently.

Water and electricity might be scarce for a while around here. I figure I should buy a generator, it's on my short list...