I came across this great post the other day about whether it was cost effective to make several pantry items from scratch, or if it was better to just break down and buy them.
I have always believed that it is better to make something than to grab it at the store. Imagine my wife’s fun when her crackpot husband decides to make ketchup! There is the point. Some things are just better to buy, and not waste your time.
Gasp! You DID hear me right. What it boils down to is the time that you have. Making ketchup is not my idea of fun on my day off. Playing with my son is. Do I make the Korean BBQ sauce, or do I just buy it? How full is my fridge anyway? Anyone who knows my mother-in-law knows that her fridge is full of bottles – condiments, to be exact.
My rule is: if I can make it without too much sweat, then I will do so. My time is worth a lot to me, so if purchasing something makes my life easier and gets me out of that kitchen, then so be it. Take meat sauce… I would never buy that crappy bottled stuff. I make mine with a lot of love and passion. Wait a sec there though, I DO use canned tomato sauce. What?
Hey! I would rather have it on hand just in case, so that I can round out the taste of the sauce. Besides, why would I want to make two sauces?
Don’t roll your eyes man. Do you make your own tomato paste? How about marshmallows?
Here is a list of what I think is cool to make, decide for yourself:
- Pita Bread
- Alton Brown’s Vanilla Ice Cream
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Popcorn
- Microwave Popcorn
- Meat Sauce
- Tzatziki
- Pizza
Are there any recipes for DIY cooking that you use that needs to be up here? Let me know!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Beer. Beer. Beer. Did I mention beer?
I’ve made some amazing homebrew beer. Lemon infused pilseners, smoked porters, spiced beers, low alcohol, high alcohol. Even non-twist beers are so much better than commercial equivalents.
Beer is the new wine, I’ve had beer tasting evenings that go down great. There are so many more varieties and subtle flavours out there than most people would believe. If you don’t have the time or inclination to make your own (lots of sterilisation) at least support your local microbreweries.
Excellent point Tony! I once had a teacher, Pat Ryan, who told us, “You have infinite varieties of beer, so you need to taste them all! You must hurry though; life is short, so taste them all before you are done!”
Now, making your own seems like it would be cost effective, and fun trying out what works best for you. Certainly Well Done! Chef! approved!
Just out of curiosity, what did Pat teach?
Pat Ryan taught the serving class in my Professional Cooking program. We would start up the class everyday with a tasting of Scotch, or beer, or wine. A great class. Even if I do not remember much…
Sounds like something that would be better left at the end of the class, but I digress. Did he talk about beer styles as complementing certain dishes or anything? Cause you can really notice the effect, though not many people seem to acknowledge it. Dry porter with 7yr old tasty cheese is my favourite.
Thanks for all the links man! I have four little ones (ages 4 months to 6 years) so time is precious! I tried homemade PB, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the outcome, I think I will try a few more recipes before I totally give up on it though, because it really is so simple. Other than that I do like to make my own spice mixes, like taco seasoning, or ranch seasoning, etc. And bread too! But I’m still working on that process as well, not that we’re trying to do whole grains.
<
Cassandra
Cassandra ~ I am always glad to be of service! One thing you might try with your peanut butter is adding a small amount of butter to your mix at the end. I find it smoothes out the taste and texture. I got the idea from Tom Colicchio’s book ‘wichcraft. I hope that helps out in that respect!