Do I really spend to much on food?

ceridwen

crux wrote: »

Really, really jealous of your OH having a butchers lesson! I would love to know how they get the knives so sharp just for a start

Chris

I dont eat meat - but I'd also love to know how to have good sharp kitchen knives. I just cant hack into a pumpkin/squash no matter what I do - and have to resort to buying the odd chunks of it - and even then I struggle to slice through it:(

zippychick

Actually that whole per 100g/kilo etc thing really winds me up. It's timely enough looking at the price per x quantity in its tiny writing, but then add the variants in, and you're standing there for even longer trying to figure it out.

I know I've tried to explain it to my Mum but she just couldn't get her head round it . I remember watching Anne Robinson on some consumer show in the last few months discussing the very same thing with someone of importance (can't rem who - maybe someone from Sainsbugs?), and even the big important executive couldn't work out at a glance which was cheaper. I wish i could remember more details to look it up as I'm not explaining terribly well !:o

Does make being savvy even harder:mad:

ceridwen

Kimitatsu wrote: »

Do you know this makes me SO cross! I was shopping yesterday and there was this lovely old man who was puzzling over the price of broccolli and which was cheaper - the prepacked or the loose because the prices were in different formats! The prepacked was almost TWICE that of the loose, and as he said he only wanted a small bit because he was a pensioner. So I got the shop to cut the big bit in half so that he could weigh it, it was 88p rather than £1.89 :eek: Its really not fair to the more vulnerable groups tbh.

It demonstrates though that all supermarkets make it confusing for people to really compare prices - perhaps we should start an MSE campaign for plain pricing somewhat like the plain english campaign :rotfl:

I've noticed that trick and that does sometimes lead to me standing there for a while "translating" product B into same measurements as product A:mad: - keep forgetting to take a calculator with me for any shopping I do in supermarkets because of this little trick of theirs:(

Whilst mentioning "plain pricing" - another thing I find annoying is not having scales to hand near the fruit/veg that customers can use - so that one doesnt have to stand there thinking "Those tomatoes are that price per pack and those are that price per pack and they dont even mention how much either pack weighs - so I'll weigh them on the scales to find out, so I can compare price per gram" - and then finding out that they havent put any scales there. Small greengrocer shops do the same thing - sometimes I'm there after an exact quantity of something for a recipe (eg mushrooms) and I have to trail to and fro between the goods and getting them to weigh the item for me on their scales (rather than just being able to do it for myself right by me and keep adding a bit on or taking a bit off until I get that exact quantity I want).

I certainly think a campaign for Plain Pricing would be a very good idea. I recall a couple of hundred years back that apparently goods were priced by shopkeepers according to "how much of a mug the would-be customer looks" and it took a campaign by a group of Quaker shopkeepers who insisted on charging the same price to every customer regardless for that to be dealt with (<cough - though there has been some backtracking in recent times by some retailers on this.... - cough>). It is time that campaign was brought back into action - and extended to this unit pricing of food.

MrsE_2

zippychick wrote: »

Actually that whole per 100g/kilo etc thing really winds me up. It's timely enough looking at the price per x quantity in its tiny writing, but then add the variants in, and you're standing there for even longer trying to figure it out.

I can, but my mental maths is **** hot (it should be I work in finance).

But you do need to have good mental maths to figure it out. Fruit & veg is the worst, some packs don't even have the weight on them, just the quantity:mad: So I weight them in the scales & work out the per kilo price myself;)

But I totally agree, its not transparent.
They make a show of being seen to offer pricing breakdowns & then use different formats to muddy the water:mad:

MrsE_2

ceridwen wrote: »

I've noticed that trick and that does sometimes lead to me standing there for a while "translating" product B into same measurements as product A:mad: - keep forgetting to take a calculator with me for any shopping I do in supermarkets because of this little trick of theirs:(

Whilst mentioning "plain pricing" - another thing I find annoying is not having scales to hand near the fruit/veg that customers can use - so that one doesnt have to stand there thinking "Those tomatoes are that price per pack and those are that price per pack and they dont even mention how much either pack weighs - so I'll weigh them on the scales to find out, so I can compare price per gram" - and then finding out that they havent put any scales there. Small greengrocer shops do the same thing - sometimes I'm there after an exact quantity of something for a recipe (eg mushrooms) and I have to trail to and fro between the goods and getting them to weigh the item for me on their scales (rather than just being able to do it for myself right by me and keep adding a bit on or taking a bit off until I get that exact quantity I want).

Mobiles have calculators;):D


:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:great minds & all that.

While I'm happy to pay for good stuff, I still want the best value for my £££:D

crux

ceridwen wrote: »

I dont eat meat - but I'd also love to know how to have good sharp kitchen knives. I just cant hack into a pumpkin/squash no matter what I do - and have to resort to buying the odd chunks of it - and even then I struggle to slice through it:(

I do a half decent job of the knives, I have a sharpening wheel thing that I got for xmas one year, has two stone wheels inside a plastic housing, you use the course stone first, then the fine stone, and then I use a sharpening steel just to hone the edge. Works ok, but it's not like Chef or butcher quality.

I suspect my sharpening stones are not as effective as a real sharpening block and my edging steel skills are probably not as good as a pro's either :rotfl:

I have to say I have always doubted the value of buying the most expensive mega sharp knives, like those Japanese ones that often get touted as being the best. Unless you can actually keep the edge sharp then it's does not matter what quality the steel is.

Unfortunately, once you really blunt a knife it needs to be re-ground to ever hold a properly sharp edge again.

zippychick

ceridwen wrote: »

I dont eat meat - but I'd also love to know how to have good sharp kitchen knives. I just cant hack into a pumpkin/squash no matter what I do - and have to resort to buying the odd chunks of it - and even then I struggle to slice through it:(

Sharpening knives - mentions a good few OS ways including an outside step

SunnyGirl

crux wrote: »

I do a half decent job of the knives, I have a sharpening wheel thing that I got for xmas one year, has two stone wheels inside a plastic housing, you use the course stone first, then the fine stone, and then I use a sharpening steel just to hone the edge. Works ok, but it's not like Chef or butcher quality.

I suspect my sharpening stones are not as effective as a real sharpening block and my edging steel skills are probably not as good as a pro's either :rotfl:

I have to say I have always doubted the value of buying the most expensive mega sharp knives, like those Japanese ones that often get touted as being the best. Unless you can actually keep the edge sharp then it's does not matter what quality the steel is.

Unfortunately, once you really blunt a knife it needs to be re-ground to ever hold a properly sharp edge again.

Just to add my bit My Dad got a terrific set of Sabbatier knives as a retirement present 11 years ago and uses this company to have them sharpened every few years. They are very helpful and certainly don't charge through the nose for it. Dad has since bought a steel from them to keep the knives sharp and, along with the advice from the company at which angle to hold the knife etc, is doing great.

Hope this helps.

ceridwen

crux wrote: »

I do a half decent job of the knives, I have a sharpening wheel thing that I got for xmas one year, has two stone wheels inside a plastic housing, you use the course stone first, then the fine stone, and then I use a sharpening steel just to hone the edge. Works ok, but it's not like Chef or butcher quality.

I suspect my sharpening stones are not as effective as a real sharpening block and my edging steel skills are probably not as good as a pro's either :rotfl:

I have to say I have always doubted the value of buying the most expensive mega sharp knives, like those Japanese ones that often get touted as being the best. Unless you can actually keep the edge sharp then it's does not matter what quality the steel is.

Unfortunately, once you really blunt a knife it needs to be re-ground to ever hold a properly sharp edge again.

Well...theres a thought....it had never struck me that learning how to sharpen a knife would be part of the Great Reskilling (Transition Town terminology for needing to re-learn traditional skills) - but it seems it is:)

EDIT: Just checked out Sabatier knives on Amazon and now confusing myself as to what the difference is between forged steel ones (lifetime guarantee) and stainless steel ones (25 year guarantee)......

I'll study that knife company some more. Knife steels - I remember my father used to use one of them....

jackieglasgow

I'm a bit worried the thread is getting off track from OP's original post, which is how these things end up getting merged.

Crux, can I suggest a change of name for your thread to "How to have a high quality diet and reduce the cost" or something along those lines, then it is sure to stay as a standalone thread, and will show exactly what direction you are aiming for? As I said before, I think it's an excellent thread which stands on it's own merits, but I'm worried it will become involved in another heated debate, which would be a shame, as the thread would lose it's focus, and the help you are getting will end up becoming diluted and harder to find amongst all the off topic stuff, for anyone else reading who'd like to find this stuff out.

I am a vegetarian, and of course find your menu plan too meat heavy, but would like to also suggest that everyone chips in with cheaper alternatives to your favourite ingredients. For example, I'm sure you probably buy finest quality Buffalo Mozarella, but I have found some of the own brand ones almost as good. I was very surprised with the Tesco one I bought last week for 42p, it was delicious - I have a tomato and mozarella salad, too! This would be an idea, you could, each week, focus on the items you want to downgrade for the following week, post them, and invite substitutes - we can see what we can find for you!

Just a suggestion, but as I said before, I think this thread could be a real breath of fresh air to the board, and would be sad to lose it, I would also like to see where you end up with your budget, and what changes it brings to your family's diet / lifestyle, if any. I think it's good experiment, and a much more sensible way of doing things than Economy Gastronomy!

Sorry, didn't mean to go on there!

Jackie X