Some Foods Don’t Look Normal anymore

?a reply to: JAGStorm

You kind of contradicted yourself here. You say don't buy from Costco but you buy your meats from Costco...usually. Then you go on to say chickens should be small but you know how to butcher larger meat, that you get from Costco. So why are you complaining? Seems a lot of your threads are just to complain to complain lately.

I had a half gallon of 1/2 and 1/2 spoil recently. It surprised me. I dont buy much ground beef, nor ham. My local market has Angus London Broils (Chateau Briand) on sale this week for $3.99 a lb. I had the butcher open a fresh giant London Broil and cut me four 2" thick massive Flintstone sized steaks. It came out to just under 60 bucks. I freeze them on a tray in the deep freezer, then vac lock them in commercial grade vac lock bags. In a chest freezer they will last for years. I found one that was 3 years old in my freezer last year and thawed and marinated and barbequed it. I couldn't believe how good it was after all that time. I do the same with Lamb, chicken, muscles, scallops (both sea, and bay size), crab, assorted fish, and pork ribs and fillets. Thats like money in the bank. It may very well be very valuable before too long.

As for ground beef, I found an antique Climax hand grinder at a garage sale 30 years ago. I prefer to grind my own cuts of meat, like fresh Chuck roast when it is on sale. Ground beef tends to discolor when it is vac locked, so its best to just thaw a steak and fresh grind it right before you need it for a recipe.

One thing I do stay away from is farm raised fish and shrimp. I think the shrimp are genetically modified, and fed some real garbage, especially in asia. I have many pounds of uncooked frozen wild jumbo shrimp caught off the Texas coast. Dont eat that junk from asia.

Organic pasture raised chicken and eggs should be a much better quality. Same with Organic milk

originally posted by: Katatonik
?a reply to: JAGStorm

You kind of contradicted yourself here. You say don't buy from Costco but you buy your meats from Costco...usually. Then you go on to say chickens should be small but you know how to butcher larger meat, that you get from Costco. So why are you complaining? Seems a lot of your threads are just to complain to complain lately.

I meant I buy all meat but Chicken because they sell that in the same kind of bag as the tenderloin mentioned.

Costco sells in large quantities so some of it you do have to butcher down.

Yes I agree, I have been in a complaining mood lately. I see a lot of things going wrong. I see a lot of things being done under our noses. Sometimes I wonder if it is all over or just local/ or one region.

a reply to: visitedbythem

One thing I do stay away from is farm raised fish and shrimp. I think the shrimp are genetically modified, and fed some real garbage, especially in asia. I have many pounds of uncooked frozen wild jumbo shrimp caught off the Texas coast. Dont eat that junk from asia.

I’ll have to find the video but some shrimp in Asia is fed actual feces…
Thank goodness I hate shrimp!!!
I cook it about once a year for my son that likes it, but I only buy US wild non farmed raised! It looks very different.
Who knows, it might be just as bad, but at least I tried!

This is a tilapia one, but there was a shrimp one floating around (excuse the pun)

a reply to: JAGStorm

That's fair. I don't disagree there's an obvious interruption in the food supply and quality issues, but just the way it came off to me seemed contradictory to what you were trying to express.

I see you mention American stores, from an English point of view i would say i have noticed exactly the same thing.

I shop at Asda (British Walmart) 90% of the time (no choice but too), but as soon as the milks open its got 2 days max, and it's not my fridge. I now pay the same price for 2 litres as i was for 4 litres maybe 2 year ago. Price gone up, quality gone down.

Same with cheese, they are now putting a shorter best before date on and charging more for less.

As for food not looking right, some stores freeze the fruit veg at some point so when it goes to shelf it'll already be rotting.

Doesn't help that the government subsidise farms to grow nothing and leave fields empty



.

Also, I'm getting a strong chemical taste in a lot of foods. For example, I bought some frozen meatballs (same brand I always buy) and they were so "chemical tasting" I threw them out.
There have been a few other items, I can't recall right now, but it seemed to me there might be less actual food ingredient and more chemical ingredient in it's place (I'm speaking about ultra-processed type foods. Fruit loops is one example that just came to mind. Also a bag of frozen french fries. Tasted more like chemicals than potatoes).

a reply to: visitedbythem

I hate to be the bearer or bad news, but, london broil is not chateaubriand. London broil is usually a top round steak. Its a tough cut of beef but if cooked properly can be tender and has good flavor.

A chateaubriand is the chateau section of a primal tenderloin. Its the front section of the primal at the top and joins the heel, or, muscle-on roast. It stays pretty much the same diameter throughout the entire section. Below that is the filet mignon. Below that is the tail where the tenderloin begins to taper down to a point. This is usually cut into tips, along with the chain meat, for use in other recipes like stroganoff. You can cut the chateau into individual filets but most people trimming their own tenderloin will likely keep it in one piece.

When I buy tenderloin its usually the whole primal which I trim myself. Its worth the time and effort but with prices as they are now, it won't happen often. More recently I switched to whole prime rib, which I also trim and portion out as steaks. Its less expensive than buying pre-cut ribeyes and I have more control over the trim.

Also, for a real treat, if I find one with a generous cap portion I remove it from the roast and cook the roast as one piece instead of cutting it into steaks. The ribeye cap, the spinalis dorsi muscle, is the most tender and flavorful piece of beef you can get. Once removed from the roast and trimmed, cut it into 1.5" sections, roll them into pinwheels and tie them with butcher twine, and cook as you would a fillet. Its amazing.

originally posted by: AOx6179
Also, I'm getting a strong chemical taste in a lot of foods. For example, I bought some frozen meatballs (same brand I always buy) and they were so "chemical tasting" I threw them out.
There have been a few other items, I can't recall right now, but it seemed to me there might be less actual food ingredient and more chemical ingredient in it's place (I'm speaking about ultra-processed type foods. Fruit loops is one example that just came to mind. Also a bag of frozen french fries. Tasted more like chemicals than potatoes).

I gave up Mcdonalds a few years ago (pre-covid) due to that chemical taste.
The food literally tastes like chemicals/poison to me, especially the hash browns. Those used to be my favorite.
Now I can’t even take one bite.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Ham doesn’t look like ham anymore. I don’t care for ham one way or other but I know what it “normally” looks like.
Now it looks super pale and fake.

COLOR CHANGES
It's normal for ham to be pink, even if it's fully cooked.
This rosy color stems from the curing process that involves injecting the meat with sodium nitrate -- done to preserve freshness and improve moisture content. You'll notice that fully cooked ham is the same sort of pink as an uncooked ham. If you opt for uncured ham instead, it'll be a paler pink, almost beige color. When it starts changing to a different color, it's a sign that the ham could be starting to turn. Gray, brown, black or green tones aren't typical. If you see these colors, it's likely time to toss the ham.

(my bold)

How to know when ham has gone bad

I don't eat the stuff any more unless it's naturally cured ham. I saw a documentary about the injection process and that did it for me. If I find it I'll post it.

a reply to: JAGStorm

All the good stuff is being reallocated to the bunkers and dumbs.

a reply to: Katatonik




,

Some Foods Don’t Look Normal anymore

If possible we always shop locally at the farmers mkt. All the produce looks fresh, they also have a small selection of staples, beans, rice, eggs, milk, bread, tortillas and beer and wine. Prices are up a bit.

We only shop corporate for discounts and specials. We also volunteer at the village pantry's for seniors citizens; often we get out of date can goods or packaged food for free if the seniors don't take them.

I’ve noticed that cheese seems greasier than it used to be. And the cheddar seems drier too, with white splotches like it is no longer mixed with the anato seeds to make it orange.

Weird that cheese on hand is greasy (just let it come up to room temp) and drier (your cheese shouldn’t crumble when cutting off a hunk).

Lately, everything tastes sweet to me, like sugar has been added. I don’t remember granola tasting like a candy bar but that is what it tastes like to me! I rarely drink soda but the last cup I had I wondered how someone can drink it supersized!

Are [we] left scrounging for seeds to grow our own without chemicals sprayed over it all?

Almost makes one want to eat your Chia pet before it blooms!!

🙂

PS - I have resorted to ground bison for a “clean” protein. I wonder how long that will last?…

If people knew the whole truth as to many, many seafoods….
Well, we did discuss it to a limited degree some time ago if you remember.
There is plenty of great seafood out there, you just need to know what you are looking at, the seasons and where it comes from.
One simple rule.
When looking at fish, scallops etc etc etc, if the pan it sits in (which is often tilted towards you)is full of what looks like milk, a watery white fluid it has been heavily bathed in preservatives and other chemicals that make it take on water weight.
When out Scalloping we fill the new-muslin 50 lb. bags between 3/4 + 7/8 full. By the time we hit the fish house dock the bags are tight as drums.
All seafood sucks up fresh water, and anything dissolved in it like crazy.

Cheers Jag!

PS. Here is some useless? knowledge? maybe, maybe not.
At sea we can only leave the hatch covers to the fish hold open for very short periods.
Salt air and especially fog devours fresh water ice.
Leave a 4’x4’hatch open for an hour, the ice levels will drop 6 inches in the right weather.
Next time fog rolls in over your snow in the yard, watch how much faster fog eats it than rain….kinda weird.

Again, Cheers Jag, I hope all is well with you and yours!

PSS. Stories coming, I’ve been working hard and been teal fussy with details, interactions, storyline.
Maybe the middle of March. The first one is killer…..
Family and friends who I’ve let read some of them are driving me nuts to finish…



a reply to: JAGStorm

My fav is a good, Yankee Pot Roast.
No other beef roast has such flavor.
On the other hand, beef tongue is like a mouth orgasm.

Wanna have a cook off? LOL
I do absolutely killer surf and turf with many diff. cuts of beef and seafood.

Cheers!

PS, you made my mouth water…👍

a reply to: Vroomfondel

a reply to: JAGStorm

Next year there will be a thread claiming bugs aren't crunchy anymore like it was a normal thing

Hi olaru.

a reply to: olaru12

The Sarge just now walked in the door from the food pantry we help with at a local WMCA that was a massive dairy farm when I was a kid.
Monday is set-up. Items available change weekly. Tuesday is when the lines form.
Some of the food stuffs come from as far away as the Boston Food Bank.
She just told me they served 607 cars today.

Link…. You can see how big Gulf Hill Dairy used to be.
It was slated for demo but $$ interests saved it and now it’s a very successful WMCA location.

m.youtube.com...

2022.. m.youtube.com...



.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Guess companies are trying to scrimp in every way possible….

That's not a guess. That is a 6-Sigma absolute truth .
What they do is cut their costs down to a bare minimum without any concern whatsoever for the consumer.
Then they charge more to build a "profit margin"
If a consumer purchases 1 product and , due to quality , never purchases another they don't care. They sold 1 .
And , if the amount of companies producing the equivalent process is low , consumers HAVE to purchase from the original company .
Making money off of a cesspool quality product that folks have to buy due to little or no competition . And at a severely inflated cost.
Started years ago , but really took off during COVID with the other companies shutting doors.
I hope that clears it up for folks .
/End Rant. "You must have touched a nerve"

a reply to: PiratesCut

A good Yankee pot roast is hard to beat.

I love a good cook-off! I never turn one down. If I win - yay me. If I lose - yay me, I learn something. :-)

originally posted by: AOx6179
I've noticed this a lot as well. A lot of food items seem different, and that's not including the fact that everything is getting smaller in portions.
One weird one is milk. The milk I've been buying the last year or so is expiring way before the expiration date. I've wondered if anyone else was noticing it or not.

I think that one is due to supply chain issues still. It may be getting there, but it's not getting there as promptly as it used to.