Hark! I heard Steve Wertz > say:
> On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 22:07:23 GMT, (j.j.)
> wrote:
>
> >Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they're not close to expiring,
> >just that the company has more than it can sell to regular retail
> >stores.
>
> When's the last time you've seen an expiration date on a bottle of
> spices?

Never thought about it, but I don't trust those printed expiration
dates, be it eggs, drugs, or spices. What I meant was that the
spice company knows which items have been on the shelf a bit too
long, and it is possible (just possible, mind you) that they dump
those at the Dollar store.

> I would much rather roll the dice with the Dollar Store than
> buy one of those ancient bottles from the grocery store (for 10X the
> cost).

Well, sure. But I think we were talking about Dollar stores vs. an
outfit like Penzey's. At least that was my take on it, I could be full
of crap too... ;-)


--
j.j. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~
...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

(j.j.) writes:

Some chronically cheap ******* warbled:
>>
>> I would much rather roll the dice with the Dollar Store than
>> buy one of those ancient bottles from the grocery store (for 10X the
>> cost).
>
>Well, sure. But I think we were talking about Dollar stores vs. an
>outfit like Penzey's. At least that was my take on it, I could be full
>of crap too... ;-)

I doubt that. I've been buying spices from Penzeys since their inception, in
fact I am the one that initially brought Penzeys to the attention or rfc. I'm
probably slated within their first 20 customers. And in all this time and with
all the orders I've placed, I've not even once received any product that was
not 100% fresh and far superiour to anything from any other source I've ever
tried, and yes, I've purchased el cheapo spices inbetween but none were worth
even as much as their containers, in fact most I tried once and tossed in the
trash. Yoose want to spend your money on shit spices that's your beeswax, but
anyone announces how they buy from the Dollar joint I can only imagine the shit
quality food they regularly eat.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

In rec.food.cooking, Taffy Stoker > wrote:
> On 11 Dec 2003 17:03:29 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:


> >Many spices can be expensive...

> Not if you buy them at dollar stores with a high inventory turnover
> like I do.

But the reason they're at the dollar store in the first place is because
they are old and/or poor quality.

--
....I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

On 15 Dec 2003 00:12:31 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:


> but
>anyone announces how they buy from the Dollar joint I can only imagine the shit
>quality food they regularly eat.

Fresh salmon (had 2 fillets for dinner tonight), tuna, scallops,
sardines, mackeral, lobster, crab, shrimp, beef, pork, lamb, fresh
greens for salads and vegetables on a daily basis (excluding anything
starchy) and fresh fruits from time to time and if I am particularly
peckish I will have a homemade protein shake from my own recipe.

Once in a while I have sushi
and I drink tea twice a day and drink water the rest of the time.

Got a problem with that Sheldon? Hmmmm?

On 14 Dec 2003 22:42:15 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:


>The Tijuana donkey-girl crowd ain't much interested in your looks.


You don't even know what I look like you dork.

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 16:29:12 -0600, "Rona Yuthasastrakosol"
> wrote:


>If you were to do a taste-test of dollar store spices and Penzey's (for
>example), I doubt you would find them equally flavourful.

You *can* buy fresh spices and herbs in other places besides dollar
stores and Penzey's.

I also have many fresh spices and herbs bought from other places but
for things I use most frequently I prefer picking them up at the
dollar store. An example is chili powder or seasalt.

Taffy Porno Stoker writes:

>(PENMART01) wrote:
>
>>but anyone announces how they buy from the Dollar joint
>>I can only imagine the shit quality food they regularly eat.
>
>Fresh salmon (had 2 fillets for dinner tonight), tuna, scallops,
>sardines, mackeral, lobster, crab, shrimp, beef, pork, lamb, fresh
>greens for salads and vegetables on a daily basis (excluding anything
>starchy) and fresh fruits from time to time and if I am particularly
>peckish I will have a homemade protein shake from my own recipe.
>
>Got a problem with that Sheldon?

Seems you raided a restaurant dumpster... and eating all that you must be
600lbs of quivering shit.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

On 15 Dec 2003 11:43:53 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:


>Seems you raided a restaurant dumpster...

Try a *grocery store* honey...and btw if you ever come to my neck of
the woods I will be happy to give you a tour of it. You would be
surprised at how clean and well managed it is and amazed at the
freshness of the food sold.


> and eating all that you must be
>600lbs of quivering shit.

Coming from a guy who knows *so well* what porn stars look like
I am not surprised you said this.

I'd send you a pic but I am not going to waste my time.

Anyway nice chatting with ya......*plonk*.

Taffy Porno Stoker > writes:

> (PENMART01) wrote:
>
>
>>Seems you raided a restaurant dumpster...
>
>if you ever come to my neck of the woods I will
>be happy to give you a tour <S>of it</S>.<---uneducated hillybilly.

Sorry, I don't do sideshow freaks or trailer parks.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

wrote:


> But the reason they're at the dollar store in the first place is because
> they are old and/or poor quality.
>

I'm finding this discussion amusing. The most recent issue of Cooks
Illustrated has an article comparing different kinds of Vanilla (real
and imitation) side by side. They had Penzeys of course, and the normal
grocery store kind, they also had one of those drugstore bottles you
find for 1.50.

The winner? The imitation from the drugstore. I was surprised, but I
guess its one of those things, dont knock it till you try it.
Thats not to say I'm giving up my double vanilla from the spice house.


Seattlejo

"Seattlejo" > wrote in message
...

>
> I'm finding this discussion amusing. The most recent issue of Cooks
> Illustrated has an article comparing different kinds of Vanilla (real
> and imitation) side by side. They had Penzeys of course, and the normal
> grocery store kind, they also had one of those drugstore bottles you
> find for 1.50.
>
> The winner? The imitation from the drugstore. I was surprised, but I
> guess its one of those things, dont knock it till you try it.
> Thats not to say I'm giving up my double vanilla from the spice house.
>

Sure, but drugstore and dollar store are two very different markets. The
latter has consistently poor quality products for sale while the former can
have both good quality and not-so-good quality products.

Not only that, but herbs and spices have very different shelf lives from
extracts. Extracts, IIRC, have alcohol which helps preserve their flavour
(I'm sure someone will correct me, probably in a not-so-friendly way, if I'm
wrong :-)). If you look at Cook's Illustrated tests for herbs and spices
(which are what the OP was looking for), the cheaper dollar store-type
products rarely if ever finish near the top.

rona
--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

Seattlejo > writes:

wrote:
>
>
>> But the reason they're at the dollar store in the first place is because
>> they are old and/or poor quality.
>>
>
>I'm finding this discussion amusing. The most recent issue of Cooks
>Illustrated has an article comparing different kinds of Vanilla (real
>and imitation) side by side. They had Penzeys of course, and the normal
>grocery store kind, they also had one of those drugstore bottles you
>find for 1.50.
>
>The winner? The imitation from the drugstore. I was surprised, but I
>guess its one of those things, dont knock it till you try it.
>Thats not to say I'm giving up my double vanilla from the spice house.

Vanilla is not a spice, it's a flavoring... aint that amusing, eh. With modern
technology imitation vanilla flavoring is produced where it is
indistinguishable from real vanilla in all cases where the ingredient is
heated, such as in baking. Where the product is not heated, such as whipped
cream, real vanilla beats imitation by a mile. There is nothing new about this
fact, it's been known for about 15 years, but the purveyers of real vanilla are
for obvious reasons not going to divlulge this information.

So, Seattle Babe, wanna amuse us by getting back to spices.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."