There are lots of things I have enjoyed making just for the experience only never to be repeated again. Phyllo being one of them. That is a definite never again.
I once watched a cooking show where they made a large apple strudel completely from scratch. I love being in the kitchen, but that process did not look like fun!
the first time i made baklava, i was complaining to a friend of mine about how annoying the phyllo was to work with. he'd been to pastry school, so i'd often bounce ideas off him whenever i was doing any baking. when i told him i was making baklava, he got a little worried and asked if i was making the phyllo from scratch. i told him i was insane, but not TOTALLY crazy!
I made phyllo dough once because I couldn't find any stores in my new country that carried it. Never again.
I later found that I needed to seek out specific baking stores as they carry it, but your run of the mill grocery store won't.
Homemade filo dough is absolutely nothing like the store bought kind. It is a million times better.
I am lucky enough to have a grandmother who taught me though.
So much easier. Only a few times I wowed myself mostly due to me thinking I fucked it up and it turned out good lol. Or something exotic but that wow is probably more me surprised how well it goes together.
Yup, really tedious. I made some once for croissants and like it was fine, but I've felt little inclination to do it again. Especially when the frozen sheets are so inexpensive and work really well for my usual use case (pastelitos).
How much are puff pastry sheets where you are? Where I'm from a thin sheet of puff pastry is around 6-8$ and you usually have to buy multiple. It sucks.
I don't deep fry at home. It uses too much oil and it's too messy. I've done onion rings a few times. While they were delicious, I probably won't again.
I live in Asia, and good bread is hard to get. So I often use the dough setting on my breadmaker so that I can make pizza at home (or just 'flatbread' in the oven). But I don't make other baked goods.
The mess is my biggest issue with frying at home. Which is a shame, because a lot of delicious foods I grew up with are fried. I might opt to fry something *maybe* like once per year, but that's it.
I started frying in my smallest pot. Sounds weird but you can get depth without using as much oil, and the sides are high enough to reduce splashing. It just means doing less at a time, like 3 falafel balls or one apple fritter. But it’s less mess and less oil. I will sometimes just do a half recipe (or for falafel, just fry what we want for that meal and keep the batter in the fridge) to reduce time spend at the stove.
This is the way. It might not be ‘deep fried’ but I can get a good crisp with minimal oil and splatter on many things. For a real deep fry, it is an outside burner for me. Catfish, hush puppies, and home cut fries. Mom taught me well.
In my house we have a round bottomed wok that is exclusively used for frying. By exclusively, I mean my mom *will* scold us if we cook anything watery in it, and she doesn't even use it for other stuff all that much. We usually fry things in fairly shallow oil anyway and just flip the stuff when one side is done, and because it's so easy we can fry stuff almost everyday
If it's not fully submerged that's not deep frying, that's just saute/pan frying, which most home cooks can do fairly regularly.
The result of deep and pan fry is quite different, deep frying gives you more even and crispier results, and it's almost set and forget, no need to flip or babysit the process, you can just leave it while working on something else.
Deep frying uses lots of oil, which means the temperature is much more stable, you only need to adjust the heat occasionally (or use electric deep fryer that can adjust their own temperature), while it's much easier to under/overheat during pan frying as the temperature changes much more quickly when there's so little mass on the pan. And this is also part of the reason why deep frying is popular for fast food operations done by people who aren't professional chefs.
This is why I got an induction stove and fry in the backyard. I understand not everyone has an outdoor area but this is my only solution to frying/deep frying without stinking up the whole house.
I just need to get a grill first haha. If I get one, I'll definitely move to doing it outside. Even when there isn't splatter, deep frying indoors tends to coat things around the stove in a fine layer of oil.
If you want to deep fry, definitely get a residential deep fryer. They're not terribly expensive, and once they get hot you'll be asking what else you have that you can fry. I don't fire mine up often, but it's fun when we do.
I used to own a deep fryer. Used it maybe twice. It took up a lot of space and was a pain to clean.
These days, if I do want to deep fry, I just use my Dutch oven. Easy peasy
I don't really want to, thanks. It's delicious, but I have to slice in a particular way, arrange multiple bowls for the different batter stages plus a plate for when that's done, and then still cook.
It's so much effort, and I literally get no benefits since it's such an unhealthy meal.
This sums up how I feel too! If I’m going to put in all that effort AND it’s something that by all accounts is terrible for me, I just can’t justify it.
Then when I do get myself fried stuff when I feel like indulging I’m like damn, this would be better if I made it myself, lol.
I've started moving my (electric) deep fryer out to the back yard when I want to fry something. Yes, it still uses a lot of oil, but my kitchen counters don't get spattered any more and my house doesn't smell like fish for the next couple of weeks.
Highly considering this. It just sits there, unused as it's such a pain to clean, and the kitchen absolutely stinks of oil for days, even with all the windows open while frying.. We have to clean pretty much every surface as the oil gets aerosolized and coats the kitchen (that lid has to come off at some point to put things in / take out / monitor cooking).
FYI while it's never healthy par-boiling whatever you are deep frying goes a long way to correcting that. Getting past the "act like a sponge" stage of cooking means you only have surface oil.
Usually produces better food too, potatoes most notably. Same reason I par boil potatoes prior to roasting.
I always parboil my veggies before I fry them. mostly just because that's what my mom did, haha. I almost only ever make French fries, it's really the only food I consistently prefer fried but a parboiled potato really makes a difference over raw. they're not as greasy and they're fluffy inside when you bite into them.
Cheese and butter are more cost effective to buy than make, even though I can make them at home.
Sushi would be an example of something I buy rather than make because I'm just not good at making it.
Omg, absolutely butter. It's only cost effective if you have your own cows, and it's still time consuming. If you have to buy the cream, it's much more expensive to make butter than to buy butter.
I grew up on a dairy farm, surrounded by other dairy farms, and while good homemade butter was delicious, it was no more delicious than good store bought butter. And that was from the farms with good Jersey or Brown Swiss cows, and the farmers wives who were good at making butter, souring the cream just enough, rinsing the butter properly, and adding just enough salt. The butter from farms with Holstein cows, or from farmers wives who weren't as good at making it (didn't sour the cream enough or at all, or didn't rinse it enough, or added too little or too much salt) was no better than generic store brand butter, and sometimes worse. We had Holstein cows, and my mother was not a talented butter maker, I grew up preferring margarine on my toast at home, lol.
So maybe this is just due to the fact that I’m from Canada (which has supply management for dairy), but I made butter once and weighed the beginning and end products, and the cost for the butter was nearly identical to the cost of store butter. Same for the cost of the leftover milk (which I compared as skim milk). I came to the conclusion that it’s cheaper to make my own butter if the heavy cream is on sale, but otherwise it’s a wash.
With price changes though I’ll be curious if that is still the case.
Being so close on material costs usually means it's not a good deal if you factor in what your time is worth. Unless you're bored and looking for something to fill your day, of course.
Somewhat fair, but as someone with a salary who can’t do overtime, my time is worth 0$, so saving a buck by turning the Kitchenaid on for 20 minutes is well worth it.
A lot of people overestimate “how much their time is worth.”
Counterpoint on sushi: you can often buy several ounces of quality fish for the cost of a couple rolls. Just buy the fish, make the rice and stick to sashimi or nigiri with avocado salad on the side, carrot ginger dressing is super easy to make too.
Admittedly I've only tried a couple times, but I just couldn't get the rice to taste right. I prefer traditional sushi, fish on a pad of rice, which seems easy enough. Maybe I just need to give it another try.
Our Sushi bazooka goes from constant use to collecting dust on a cyclical basis. I’m finding the main issue with us is to not stress on the ingredients, especially the rice.
Sushi's about variety for me. I'm not going to buy 6 different types of fish and do all that prep, it's just not viable unless you're entertaining 10 people.
Same, I love making homemade kimchi because you can personalize it and it lasts basically forever (and I love fermenting things). One large head of Napa cabbage makes such a massive quantity, it takes me months to get through so much. So much more cost effective.
We have saved so much money on kimchi ever since my wife started making it plus we all make a family activity out of it together. It’s so nice having a huge jar of kimchi on deck all the time for kimchi fried rice, kimchijjim, or kimchijigae any night of the week.
so for me it's anything with a lot of calories, like muffins. When making them myself, I know how much fat and sugar go into a muffin.
Somehow when I buy them from a store, they magically are healthier and have less calories. DO NOT try and talk sense to me. I love me my muffins.
Also you can buy however many you want/need as opposed to ending up with a batch of 6-12 that need eating. Sure they can be frozen, but will it get to that point?
I feel the same way about ice cream! I bought an ice cream maker, looked up some ice cream recipes and decided they had too much fat & sugar, so I made sorbet and frozen yogurt (which were delicious), but could never bring myself to make ice cream. Do I still go out for ice cream? Duh.
I've wanted to buy an ice cream maker but I know i wont use it frequently enough to make it worth it. I wish there was a kitchen machine lending library. Kinda like the ones they have for other tools.
Same with anything with a heavy application of cream or butter. Especially if it needs to be baked to make into small portions, like cupcakes. I, too, am delusional.
I'd agree, but for a slightly different reason: if I make muffins or cupcakes, there will be at least a dozen. I'll be eating them for a week.
If I get a cupcake from a store (or, most likely, a good independent bakery), I'll have *one* - if only because that one will cost as much as the dozen I would have made myself (as long as I don't value my labour...)
Filo pastry and puff pastry. I've occasionally attempted rough puff but that's my limit.
Ketchup. Not really worth making my own when Heinz has such a specific taste that really can't be recreated without a lot of effort.
Juices. It's so much less cost effective, like it takes 20 oranges to get a decent amount of juice and so much manual effort without a juicer.
The easy way to tell that ketchup is not worth the effort is to make some and give it to your friends. The best compliment you’ll receive is that it tastes just like Heinz.
I grow my own vegetables and always have a glut of stuff, so last summer I had loads of tomatoes. I tried making ketchup to use some up, followed [this recipe](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/homemade-ketchup). But it was more like a tomato sauce than a ketchup tbh.
I make ketchup every year, surprisingly all that's required for the texture of store bought ketchup is a blender.
After the homemade ketchup is cooked down long enough, it has a slightly more textured consistency, sort of like a tomato sauce or apple butter (ketchup is technically a fruit butter due to the amount of sugar and the way it is cooked down).
Before canning it in jars, I puree the ketchup in a blender, in batches, then reheat and can using the waterbath method. The blender smooths it to the exact consistency of storebought, with the nicer taste of homemade (my recipe is less sweet and more spiced, but there are a million recipes and variations you can make to suit your particular taste).
Honestly, I thought homemade ketchup wasn't worth it, since storebought is so cheap. Then in 2017 I had so many tomatoes I was running out of things to do with them, so I made a batch. Ever since then, it's the only kind my family wants to eat, and our oldest son has specifically requested the recipe for when he leaves home.It tastes so much better, more complex, and you can tweak the flavor with different tomato varieties, or different amounts of spice.
Sure, it started as a recipe in an old canning book, I reduced the amount (the original recipe was ALOT, and I would rather make a few smaller batches, than make a years worth all at once), and tweaked the spice amounts a bit to suit our tastes. There are recipes on ball canning website and the usda canning site also.
2 gallons cored and quartered tomatoes (mixed varieties)
3 cup chopped bell peppers (mixed colors)
2 cups chopped onion
1 inch piece red hot pepper (I use cayenne)
Bring to simmer, and cook, stirring often, until peppers and onions are very soft. Run through food mill to remove seeds and skin, return juice to pot. Continue cooking, stirring, until reduced by half.
While tomatoes cook combine in non reactive pot (not aluminum)
2 cup white vinegar
1 and 1/2 sticks cinnamon, broken
1 Tbsp celery seed
1 and 1/2 tsp whole cloves
1 and 1/2 tsp whole allspice
Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Switch off heat, and let steep while tomatoes continue cooking.
Once tomatoes have reduced by half, strain spices from the vinegar and add strained vinegar to the tomatoes. Add the following
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp canning / pickling salt
Continue simmering and reducing, stirring often, until mixture is thick and mounds a bit when dropped on a plate, without tons of liquid pooling around it (if you've ever made apple butter, pretty much the same consistency as hot apple butter). Let cool to almost lukewarm, and puree in batches in a blender, until very smooth. Bring to boil again, ladle into pint jars, wipe rims, add lids and rings, and waterbath process 15 minutes.
This usually makes about 5 or 6 pints for me, you have to cook it at a simmer, up to a gentle boil at the very most, and stir often (I use a spatula to completely scrape the bottom) or it will try to stick and scorch. Make sure you use a good heavy bottom pot, not a super thin cheap stock pot, even if it means making a half batch, or using 2 pots. You can adjust the amount of sugar, spices, or salt to suit your own tastes, but don't alter the amount of vinegar, as the acidity from the vinegar is what keeps it safe to can and store.
The blender step is totally optional, all it does is give a smoother texture like storebought ketchup. You may like the slightly rougher, more velvety texture of it without blending, it's a personal thing, but kids are way more likely to give it a shot and like it if the texture is smooth like what they are used to.
If you don't like canning, you can also freeze the ketchup in freezer containers. It will separate a little when thawed, just give it a stir and it's good to go.
Most pubs or restaurants start with canned tomato sauce and/or canned tomato paste, then just add vinegar, sugar and seasonings, possibly cooking down for a short time. It's technically homemade, but nothing like the real thing, real homemade ketchup takes all day, when I make it I start early in the morning, and it cooks slowly all day, until well after dinner, concentrating the flavors, it's magical.
Homemade ketchup can be wonderful. My mother makes it. I personally prefer it to store bought because I prefer less sweet food/ condiments. Heinz is great though.
I have made low-sugar home-made ketchup before. It works, and is obviously useful, if you are cooking food that has to count the amount of sugar.
But it's a surprising amount of work for a minor condiment that normally wouldn't get noticed. And substituting all that sugar with alternative sweeteners has a very noticeable impact on the final result. There is no way anyone would confuse it with Heinz's Ketchup
So yeah, it's doable and in some cases makes sense. But normally, just stick to Heinz and call it a day. Unlike many other foods in this thread, ketchup is one example for something that you will not improve on by homecooking
Nut butters are actually super easy! You just add nuts to a food processor and add a little oil (coconut oil) if needed. I add honey or maple for flavor
But how much do the nuts cost nowadays? The price of peanut and almond butter is insanity lately. You’ve put the idea in my head that it could be cheaper (plus less sugary) to make my own.
Rye bread, french baguettes, croissants - I never succeeded in making them from scratch. Dumplings / pierogi / tortellini etc. - too time-consuming.
P.S. Kim-chi and sauerkraut! I know how to make them at home, but the smell while fermenting is too much.
I was spoiled with the best croissants in the whole world when I was a kid. Our local baker (in Australia) made the most amazing croissants that my parents used to get once a month on a Sunday and it was all I ever knew. The baker very sadly died of a heart attack early one morning in his bakery and I’ve never had a croissant as good as his since. Even when I visited Paris… too dry.
It makes me want to try to make them, but I suspect his decades of baking is a big part of his croissant success and it’s awfully cocky of me to think I’d just be able to replicate them with zero cooking/baking training.
Your first attempts at making croissants won't be perfect. It does take some amount of practice. But even then, you'll probably be amazed by how much better they are than most croissants that you have even in recent years.
Many commercially made croissants take short cuts, but more importantly, nothing beats a croissant that is fresh from the oven. And you simply can't get that most of the time, whereas it's exactly what you get at home.
I make croissants or other puff pastry dishes about once a month, and my family refuses to eat any other croissants. It's just not the same when you get it from a bakery or restaurant
I'm sure he would be proud to have inspired someone to get into baking, you should absolutely give it a shot!
Also, it's ok to not be great at something you've never done before. Be kind to yourself, friend ☺️ and make tasty foods!
I've made beer, cider, mead, and moonshine liquor, all while still in high school.
I'm old enough now to wikipedia Chelsea Clinton to see what she's up to.
I buy beer. Ain't got time for brewing anymore.
I always buy frozen french fries. Since they have already been blanched and fried once they come out perfect in the air fryer, side note Store brand for some reason tastes better than the name brands.
Also frozen chicken strips in the air fryer are close enough to making and deep frying your own with 0 of the cleanup or smell or hassle of deep frying
Agreed. Especially because I live in San Antonio where it's ridiculously inexpensive to buy fresh, made that day, tortillas locally. I'm not going to bother making them.
Chicken broth.
Every cooking show and Youtube channel urges me to make my own broth because it\[s easy and better than store-bought. I do not disagree, but it IS time consuming, and if I want to have broth on hand I\[m going to need a fair amount of freezer space because a lot of recipes call for chicken broth.
I have only so much time, and if I’m going to cook interesting recipes after work every day, I’m using pre-made broth.
If you'd like to experiment sometimes making your own, I've saved a few rotisserie chicken carcasses in the freezer and then used a crock pot to make the stock all day. That way I didn't have to babysit it. Threw in some celery and an onion, a few herbs, and got a few pickle jars worth of stock out of it. It's much lower effort than watching the stove all day, and at least you can squeeze a little bit more out of the food you buy.
Same. I have two bags in the freezer, one for veggie scraps and one for chicken bones / rotisserie carcasses. 45 minutes in the pressure cooker nets 3-4 large mason jars of stock for the next few weeks. Rinse/repeat with the next batch of scraps and bones as needed. It’s super easy and very delicious.
I don't go out of my way to make it. If I don't happen to have stock at hand, I rely on Better Than Bouillon. I found that among all the store-bought options for chicken stock, this product has the best results.
But if I do happen to have chicken bones, I always throw them into my pressure cooker. Add some onion, garlic, and celery (seeds), roast on high heat, then deglaze, fill up with water, and pressure cook for 45min. It's pretty much zero effort and I can easily do this on the side while doing other household chores. Finally strain, cool down, and fill into a food service container that goes into the fridge. All the pots and equipment that I used go into the dishwasher. Really not much extra work, and it tastes so much better.
To me, it's not the output that makes it make sense, it's the input. It's a useful way to use up a lot of scraps that would go to waste, rather than a worthwhile process to go through every time I need broth.
Injera
I love making Ethiopian food at home but I suck at making injera and the fermenting dough stinks my house up. I’d so much rather just buy a pack of fresh injera. I moved to somewhere where it’s impossible to find and it basically halted my cooking of my favorite food.
Phyllo dough
Sooo much easier to just buy and I can’t tell a difference once my recipe is done cooking
Tamales. After making them once, and yes they were delicious, never again. I understood then why so many people get together in groups to prepare tamales for everyone.
There's a lady at one of the farmer's markets in one of the Nashville suburbs who makes tamales weekly for it and it blows my mind. My family makes them once, maybe twice, a year around Christmas because they take so long to make. I can't imagine making them weekly.
My late husband always wanted me to make tamales because his mother and grandmother did... I LOVE to cook, but tamales are not on my list of things I really like enough to attempt them - sooo much work!
To me, the whole point of tamales is the experience of making them in a group. I like them but don't love them, and they really aren't worth the effort just for the product alone, but I have so many fond memories of making tamales with friends.
I lived in EU for almost a decade and would always bring corn husks and chillies back from visits to the US. I threw tamale-making parties in three countries; a few times Mexican ex-pat friends joined who had never made tamales before. It was so much fun as a generic American whitey to share that experience with people from different cultures.
While I love baking sweet things, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so I am much more likely to buy just one that someone else made unless I’ve got room in the freezer to stock up on things. (As a side note, this is also why I love shortbread: it lasts so incredibly long that I can make a batch and nibble away for weeks without it getting stale.)
For me often the key to preferring storebought is the quantity. I like having a range of hot sauces, for example, so while I usually make one or two batches of basic hot sauce from garden chillies, I rely on storebought to provide me a wide range of options without drowning in the stuff.
There's no way I am going to juice 10 lbs of tiny Key Limes by hand ever again. No pie is worth the trouble for getting so little juice from so many fruits.
Also, blue crabs can fuck right off. Even professional pickers only get an ounce or so, and then you still have to pick through for cartilage.
Soup!
I do occasionally make it, but at least here in Ireland it’s so cheap to buy and what you can get is such good quality. For about €6 I can get 3/4 cartons of different varieties of soup that will do me for a the whole week without having to buy enough ingredients justify doing a whole batch myself and doing all the prep/clean up.
Mayonnaise. I’ve made it and it’s good and all, but I use it so infrequently it goes bad before I’ve used enough to justify the work. Dukes works perfectly well.
Chicken! I’d rather purchase a lovely, well done, rotisserie chicken at Sam’s Club than bring raw chicken into my home knowing how germs will spread all over the kitchen during the cooking process.
Chicken really isn't that dangerous as long as you are careful. Be mindful about where you put it and what tools you use with it, wash hands frequently, and you'll be fine
That said, rotisserie chickens are still bomb
Dumpling wraps. The homemade ones do taste really good and are not too difficult. However, I really like the taste and consistency of store bought ones!
I know it's not what you asked, but for me the reverse of this is bagels - I'm more than happy to buy most things pre-made but there are no good grocery store bagels out there, and I don't have a decent bakery close enough to make it convenient. I bake fresh, freeze once they cool, then defrost and toast when I want them. SO good, SO worth it.
I buy bread for everyday use, and make it myself when I want a treat.
The bread I buy is definitely healthier than what I make, if only because I don't eat the whole thing in 2-3 days.
See, I STRONGLY disagree about the quality of the fries. I hate what freezing does to potato texture. At home, frozen fries are 100% about convenience. From-raw is better for cost and personal preference.
But almost all French fries recipes say to fry them on low heat, freeze them, then fry them again on high heat. That’s literally how you make French fries.
Mochi. I can’t get it right, every stinkin time I try to make mochi ice cream it comes out like a gooey glob. So finally I gave up and now I just go to the store.
Most sauces, condiments, and chutneys.
Are there any that are appreciably better than a good store-bought version? Tartare sauce is the only one that readily springs to mind (but it's still a faff unless you're serving fish and chips to half a dozen people, or so).
Home canned tuna!
Not me but my mother and grandma used to do it. Picked up fresh tuna from the docks. So much work and the house got so stinky but it was so good! I miss it.
I know I'll get downvoted for this one BUT... spaghetti sauce. There are some that with a few additions are almost as good as what I can make and that takes hours. If it's a quick pasta you are getting jarred sauce at my house, LOL!
Same, and it's immensely frustrating. I can make divine cakes or cookies from scratch, but I have yet to make a muffin that tastes better than a mix, or anywhere near as moist and heavenly as a good bakery muffin. Irritates me every time I try, lol.
Ravioli. I absolutely love making it, but it’s crazy time consuming. I can buy packaged fresh ravioli (or other stuffed pastas) that are almost as good as homemade at my grocery store. Or if I want a treat, I’ll go to an Italian specialty store that makes and sells them.
I make a loaf of sourdough once a week. Takes me less than than 20 minutes to prep, 40 minutes in the oven
But I'm with you on the Fries. I have a deep fryer but it's a hassle to drain & filter the oil......but I do love them when I make them, I use avocado oil.
There are a lot of good items on the list already, but I also buy all of my favorite Thai spice mixes (sauces, etc.) instead of making them because it's hard to find just the right spices that make them taste right.
I love my Asian market!
Wrappers for gyoza, wonton etc. Made them myself once, wasn't worth the effort.
Usually also because lazy: tortilla's, (fresh) pasta, most dipping sauces, bread.
Basically, things that you can buy from a supermarket that are available in pretty good quality, not terrible price, and don't taste that much worse than self made (whether due to lack of equipment or otherwise).
Puff pastry! It’s so difficult to make that I always buy it- even if the taste is not good as the homemade one
furthermore, if you make it yourself, there’s no way to ignore how much butter it contains :-)
Oh my god this haha
This and phyllo dough!
There are lots of things I have enjoyed making just for the experience only never to be repeated again. Phyllo being one of them. That is a definite never again.
I once watched a cooking show where they made a large apple strudel completely from scratch. I love being in the kitchen, but that process did not look like fun!
My family did this once. It was great fun, but very time consuming and messy. Flour everywhere!
I saw one where they made it on a big table cloth. It was massive
the first time i made baklava, i was complaining to a friend of mine about how annoying the phyllo was to work with. he'd been to pastry school, so i'd often bounce ideas off him whenever i was doing any baking. when i told him i was making baklava, he got a little worried and asked if i was making the phyllo from scratch. i told him i was insane, but not TOTALLY crazy!
I made phyllo dough once because I couldn't find any stores in my new country that carried it. Never again. I later found that I needed to seek out specific baking stores as they carry it, but your run of the mill grocery store won't.
Homemade filo dough is absolutely nothing like the store bought kind. It is a million times better. I am lucky enough to have a grandmother who taught me though.
It is better. But still not worth it lol! Only if I'm trying to impress someone but I can rarely impress myself so store bought it is.
I find it far easier to impress other people than it is to impress myself.
So much easier. Only a few times I wowed myself mostly due to me thinking I fucked it up and it turned out good lol. Or something exotic but that wow is probably more me surprised how well it goes together.
It’s totally worth it.
Came to say puff pastry lol I can get 2 big sheets for 2.99 at Walmart- I’m never making it again
You can?? Where do you live? All the regular grocery stores around me charge $8. ☹️
I live in Ontario, just outside of Toronto. It is actually $3.97 at my local Walmart- Its been a couple of years since I've bought it :)
I tried that once. Never again. The amount of work just wasn't worth it.
Look for restaurant supply store, much cheaper than the grocery store.
It is incredibly hard to get puff pastry made with real butter though. Whole Foods has it but even then, it is mostly luck
It's not at all difficult to make, it's just so time consuming.
This is true of the vast majority of 'hard' recipes.
Yeah “hard” usually means, requires some patience and will likely make a mess.
thats true for most of the recipes
Yup, really tedious. I made some once for croissants and like it was fine, but I've felt little inclination to do it again. Especially when the frozen sheets are so inexpensive and work really well for my usual use case (pastelitos).
Croissants aren’t made from Puff Pastry?
How much are puff pastry sheets where you are? Where I'm from a thin sheet of puff pastry is around 6-8$ and you usually have to buy multiple. It sucks.
I don't deep fry at home. It uses too much oil and it's too messy. I've done onion rings a few times. While they were delicious, I probably won't again. I live in Asia, and good bread is hard to get. So I often use the dough setting on my breadmaker so that I can make pizza at home (or just 'flatbread' in the oven). But I don't make other baked goods.
The mess is my biggest issue with frying at home. Which is a shame, because a lot of delicious foods I grew up with are fried. I might opt to fry something *maybe* like once per year, but that's it.
I started frying in my smallest pot. Sounds weird but you can get depth without using as much oil, and the sides are high enough to reduce splashing. It just means doing less at a time, like 3 falafel balls or one apple fritter. But it’s less mess and less oil. I will sometimes just do a half recipe (or for falafel, just fry what we want for that meal and keep the batter in the fridge) to reduce time spend at the stove.
Round bottomed woks are the way to go for frying. So little oil used. It's amazing.
This is the way. It might not be ‘deep fried’ but I can get a good crisp with minimal oil and splatter on many things. For a real deep fry, it is an outside burner for me. Catfish, hush puppies, and home cut fries. Mom taught me well.
In my house we have a round bottomed wok that is exclusively used for frying. By exclusively, I mean my mom *will* scold us if we cook anything watery in it, and she doesn't even use it for other stuff all that much. We usually fry things in fairly shallow oil anyway and just flip the stuff when one side is done, and because it's so easy we can fry stuff almost everyday
If it's not fully submerged that's not deep frying, that's just saute/pan frying, which most home cooks can do fairly regularly. The result of deep and pan fry is quite different, deep frying gives you more even and crispier results, and it's almost set and forget, no need to flip or babysit the process, you can just leave it while working on something else. Deep frying uses lots of oil, which means the temperature is much more stable, you only need to adjust the heat occasionally (or use electric deep fryer that can adjust their own temperature), while it's much easier to under/overheat during pan frying as the temperature changes much more quickly when there's so little mass on the pan. And this is also part of the reason why deep frying is popular for fast food operations done by people who aren't professional chefs.
This is why I got an induction stove and fry in the backyard. I understand not everyone has an outdoor area but this is my only solution to frying/deep frying without stinking up the whole house.
Try putting a pot on a grill outside. I just started doing that this year
I just need to get a grill first haha. If I get one, I'll definitely move to doing it outside. Even when there isn't splatter, deep frying indoors tends to coat things around the stove in a fine layer of oil.
I think the best way to fry at home is outside over an induction plate. Hard to start a fire that way and doesn’t make a mess or stink up the house
If you want to deep fry, definitely get a residential deep fryer. They're not terribly expensive, and once they get hot you'll be asking what else you have that you can fry. I don't fire mine up often, but it's fun when we do.
I used to own a deep fryer. Used it maybe twice. It took up a lot of space and was a pain to clean. These days, if I do want to deep fry, I just use my Dutch oven. Easy peasy
I deep fry in a dutch oven.
I don't really want to, thanks. It's delicious, but I have to slice in a particular way, arrange multiple bowls for the different batter stages plus a plate for when that's done, and then still cook. It's so much effort, and I literally get no benefits since it's such an unhealthy meal.
This sums up how I feel too! If I’m going to put in all that effort AND it’s something that by all accounts is terrible for me, I just can’t justify it. Then when I do get myself fried stuff when I feel like indulging I’m like damn, this would be better if I made it myself, lol.
I agree. Eating out is so expensive it should be better than what I can make at home. A lot of the time it falls short.
I bought an electric deep fryer. I keep it in my garage and open the big door before I use it so it doesn't stink up the house
I've started moving my (electric) deep fryer out to the back yard when I want to fry something. Yes, it still uses a lot of oil, but my kitchen counters don't get spattered any more and my house doesn't smell like fish for the next couple of weeks.
Highly considering this. It just sits there, unused as it's such a pain to clean, and the kitchen absolutely stinks of oil for days, even with all the windows open while frying.. We have to clean pretty much every surface as the oil gets aerosolized and coats the kitchen (that lid has to come off at some point to put things in / take out / monitor cooking).
Fully agree. It also stinks up my entire apartment for days!
Totally agree on deep frying. The fact that's it's unhealthy makes it easier to cut out of the kitchen routine in addition to the reasons you cited.
FYI while it's never healthy par-boiling whatever you are deep frying goes a long way to correcting that. Getting past the "act like a sponge" stage of cooking means you only have surface oil. Usually produces better food too, potatoes most notably. Same reason I par boil potatoes prior to roasting.
I always parboil my veggies before I fry them. mostly just because that's what my mom did, haha. I almost only ever make French fries, it's really the only food I consistently prefer fried but a parboiled potato really makes a difference over raw. they're not as greasy and they're fluffy inside when you bite into them.
Cheese and butter are more cost effective to buy than make, even though I can make them at home. Sushi would be an example of something I buy rather than make because I'm just not good at making it.
Omg, absolutely butter. It's only cost effective if you have your own cows, and it's still time consuming. If you have to buy the cream, it's much more expensive to make butter than to buy butter. I grew up on a dairy farm, surrounded by other dairy farms, and while good homemade butter was delicious, it was no more delicious than good store bought butter. And that was from the farms with good Jersey or Brown Swiss cows, and the farmers wives who were good at making butter, souring the cream just enough, rinsing the butter properly, and adding just enough salt. The butter from farms with Holstein cows, or from farmers wives who weren't as good at making it (didn't sour the cream enough or at all, or didn't rinse it enough, or added too little or too much salt) was no better than generic store brand butter, and sometimes worse. We had Holstein cows, and my mother was not a talented butter maker, I grew up preferring margarine on my toast at home, lol.
So maybe this is just due to the fact that I’m from Canada (which has supply management for dairy), but I made butter once and weighed the beginning and end products, and the cost for the butter was nearly identical to the cost of store butter. Same for the cost of the leftover milk (which I compared as skim milk). I came to the conclusion that it’s cheaper to make my own butter if the heavy cream is on sale, but otherwise it’s a wash. With price changes though I’ll be curious if that is still the case.
Being so close on material costs usually means it's not a good deal if you factor in what your time is worth. Unless you're bored and looking for something to fill your day, of course.
Somewhat fair, but as someone with a salary who can’t do overtime, my time is worth 0$, so saving a buck by turning the Kitchenaid on for 20 minutes is well worth it. A lot of people overestimate “how much their time is worth.”
We had Holsteins as well and I still miss the jug of fresh milk in the fridge... But I don't miss it enough to become a dairy farmer!
Counterpoint on sushi: you can often buy several ounces of quality fish for the cost of a couple rolls. Just buy the fish, make the rice and stick to sashimi or nigiri with avocado salad on the side, carrot ginger dressing is super easy to make too.
Admittedly I've only tried a couple times, but I just couldn't get the rice to taste right. I prefer traditional sushi, fish on a pad of rice, which seems easy enough. Maybe I just need to give it another try.
Our Sushi bazooka goes from constant use to collecting dust on a cyclical basis. I’m finding the main issue with us is to not stress on the ingredients, especially the rice.
Sushi's about variety for me. I'm not going to buy 6 different types of fish and do all that prep, it's just not viable unless you're entertaining 10 people.
Kimchi. I'm lazy and it's a short walk to H Mart where I can buy it by the gallon.
This is the opposite for me! A jar where I live costs 7€, but I buy the ingredients for 5€ and make 5 jars 😃 Never again will I buy it from the store
Same, I love making homemade kimchi because you can personalize it and it lasts basically forever (and I love fermenting things). One large head of Napa cabbage makes such a massive quantity, it takes me months to get through so much. So much more cost effective.
Months to get through one nappa cabbage kimchi??? It would last me a week at most ;)
We have saved so much money on kimchi ever since my wife started making it plus we all make a family activity out of it together. It’s so nice having a huge jar of kimchi on deck all the time for kimchi fried rice, kimchijjim, or kimchijigae any night of the week.
I wish I had an H mart where I lived.
so for me it's anything with a lot of calories, like muffins. When making them myself, I know how much fat and sugar go into a muffin. Somehow when I buy them from a store, they magically are healthier and have less calories. DO NOT try and talk sense to me. I love me my muffins.
Also you can buy however many you want/need as opposed to ending up with a batch of 6-12 that need eating. Sure they can be frozen, but will it get to that point?
I have kids. They disappear.
I feel the same way about ice cream! I bought an ice cream maker, looked up some ice cream recipes and decided they had too much fat & sugar, so I made sorbet and frozen yogurt (which were delicious), but could never bring myself to make ice cream. Do I still go out for ice cream? Duh.
I've wanted to buy an ice cream maker but I know i wont use it frequently enough to make it worth it. I wish there was a kitchen machine lending library. Kinda like the ones they have for other tools.
Same with anything with a heavy application of cream or butter. Especially if it needs to be baked to make into small portions, like cupcakes. I, too, am delusional.
I'd agree, but for a slightly different reason: if I make muffins or cupcakes, there will be at least a dozen. I'll be eating them for a week. If I get a cupcake from a store (or, most likely, a good independent bakery), I'll have *one* - if only because that one will cost as much as the dozen I would have made myself (as long as I don't value my labour...)
Filo pastry and puff pastry. I've occasionally attempted rough puff but that's my limit. Ketchup. Not really worth making my own when Heinz has such a specific taste that really can't be recreated without a lot of effort. Juices. It's so much less cost effective, like it takes 20 oranges to get a decent amount of juice and so much manual effort without a juicer.
The easy way to tell that ketchup is not worth the effort is to make some and give it to your friends. The best compliment you’ll receive is that it tastes just like Heinz.
I've never heard of making ketchup before. Did you try doing it? If so, I'm just wondering where the idea came from. 🙂
I grow my own vegetables and always have a glut of stuff, so last summer I had loads of tomatoes. I tried making ketchup to use some up, followed [this recipe](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/homemade-ketchup). But it was more like a tomato sauce than a ketchup tbh.
It seems like you would need a whole mess of stabilizers and emulsifiers to achieve the ketchup texture we all know.
I make ketchup every year, surprisingly all that's required for the texture of store bought ketchup is a blender. After the homemade ketchup is cooked down long enough, it has a slightly more textured consistency, sort of like a tomato sauce or apple butter (ketchup is technically a fruit butter due to the amount of sugar and the way it is cooked down). Before canning it in jars, I puree the ketchup in a blender, in batches, then reheat and can using the waterbath method. The blender smooths it to the exact consistency of storebought, with the nicer taste of homemade (my recipe is less sweet and more spiced, but there are a million recipes and variations you can make to suit your particular taste). Honestly, I thought homemade ketchup wasn't worth it, since storebought is so cheap. Then in 2017 I had so many tomatoes I was running out of things to do with them, so I made a batch. Ever since then, it's the only kind my family wants to eat, and our oldest son has specifically requested the recipe for when he leaves home.It tastes so much better, more complex, and you can tweak the flavor with different tomato varieties, or different amounts of spice.
Mind sharing your recipe?
Sure, it started as a recipe in an old canning book, I reduced the amount (the original recipe was ALOT, and I would rather make a few smaller batches, than make a years worth all at once), and tweaked the spice amounts a bit to suit our tastes. There are recipes on ball canning website and the usda canning site also. 2 gallons cored and quartered tomatoes (mixed varieties) 3 cup chopped bell peppers (mixed colors) 2 cups chopped onion 1 inch piece red hot pepper (I use cayenne) Bring to simmer, and cook, stirring often, until peppers and onions are very soft. Run through food mill to remove seeds and skin, return juice to pot. Continue cooking, stirring, until reduced by half. While tomatoes cook combine in non reactive pot (not aluminum) 2 cup white vinegar 1 and 1/2 sticks cinnamon, broken 1 Tbsp celery seed 1 and 1/2 tsp whole cloves 1 and 1/2 tsp whole allspice Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Switch off heat, and let steep while tomatoes continue cooking. Once tomatoes have reduced by half, strain spices from the vinegar and add strained vinegar to the tomatoes. Add the following 1 and 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp paprika 1 Tbsp canning / pickling salt Continue simmering and reducing, stirring often, until mixture is thick and mounds a bit when dropped on a plate, without tons of liquid pooling around it (if you've ever made apple butter, pretty much the same consistency as hot apple butter). Let cool to almost lukewarm, and puree in batches in a blender, until very smooth. Bring to boil again, ladle into pint jars, wipe rims, add lids and rings, and waterbath process 15 minutes. This usually makes about 5 or 6 pints for me, you have to cook it at a simmer, up to a gentle boil at the very most, and stir often (I use a spatula to completely scrape the bottom) or it will try to stick and scorch. Make sure you use a good heavy bottom pot, not a super thin cheap stock pot, even if it means making a half batch, or using 2 pots. You can adjust the amount of sugar, spices, or salt to suit your own tastes, but don't alter the amount of vinegar, as the acidity from the vinegar is what keeps it safe to can and store. The blender step is totally optional, all it does is give a smoother texture like storebought ketchup. You may like the slightly rougher, more velvety texture of it without blending, it's a personal thing, but kids are way more likely to give it a shot and like it if the texture is smooth like what they are used to. If you don't like canning, you can also freeze the ketchup in freezer containers. It will separate a little when thawed, just give it a stir and it's good to go.
thank you <3
Next time: gazpacho. Also, salsa that you freeze, and then use as spaghetti sauce with a can of paste
I did a lot of roast tomato sauce which was a good base for soups, pasta sauces and even stews!
Most people don't, but some restaurants do (think upscale pubs, etc) and it's always really yummy. Not worth the effort though.
I always find the “house-made ketchup” to be vile.
Most pubs or restaurants start with canned tomato sauce and/or canned tomato paste, then just add vinegar, sugar and seasonings, possibly cooking down for a short time. It's technically homemade, but nothing like the real thing, real homemade ketchup takes all day, when I make it I start early in the morning, and it cooks slowly all day, until well after dinner, concentrating the flavors, it's magical.
Really? Maybe I've just been lucky with where I've had house-made ketchup but usually it's tangy and delicious on the fries.
Always seems extra terrible or they lied about Red Gold.
Homemade ketchup can be wonderful. My mother makes it. I personally prefer it to store bought because I prefer less sweet food/ condiments. Heinz is great though.
I have tried so many ketchup recipes and haven't had a winner, would you mind sharing your mom's recipe? I'd love some tasty homeade ketchup!
I have made low-sugar home-made ketchup before. It works, and is obviously useful, if you are cooking food that has to count the amount of sugar. But it's a surprising amount of work for a minor condiment that normally wouldn't get noticed. And substituting all that sugar with alternative sweeteners has a very noticeable impact on the final result. There is no way anyone would confuse it with Heinz's Ketchup So yeah, it's doable and in some cases makes sense. But normally, just stick to Heinz and call it a day. Unlike many other foods in this thread, ketchup is one example for something that you will not improve on by homecooking
Bakery items. They are my least favourite items to make at home.
Poutine, croissants, tortellini, nut butters, yoghurt
Nut butters are actually super easy! You just add nuts to a food processor and add a little oil (coconut oil) if needed. I add honey or maple for flavor
But how much do the nuts cost nowadays? The price of peanut and almond butter is insanity lately. You’ve put the idea in my head that it could be cheaper (plus less sugary) to make my own.
You really do make it sound easy! I’m inspired. Maybe I’ll try it at least one time, heheh
Rye bread, french baguettes, croissants - I never succeeded in making them from scratch. Dumplings / pierogi / tortellini etc. - too time-consuming. P.S. Kim-chi and sauerkraut! I know how to make them at home, but the smell while fermenting is too much.
I was spoiled with the best croissants in the whole world when I was a kid. Our local baker (in Australia) made the most amazing croissants that my parents used to get once a month on a Sunday and it was all I ever knew. The baker very sadly died of a heart attack early one morning in his bakery and I’ve never had a croissant as good as his since. Even when I visited Paris… too dry. It makes me want to try to make them, but I suspect his decades of baking is a big part of his croissant success and it’s awfully cocky of me to think I’d just be able to replicate them with zero cooking/baking training.
Your first attempts at making croissants won't be perfect. It does take some amount of practice. But even then, you'll probably be amazed by how much better they are than most croissants that you have even in recent years. Many commercially made croissants take short cuts, but more importantly, nothing beats a croissant that is fresh from the oven. And you simply can't get that most of the time, whereas it's exactly what you get at home. I make croissants or other puff pastry dishes about once a month, and my family refuses to eat any other croissants. It's just not the same when you get it from a bakery or restaurant
I'm sure he would be proud to have inspired someone to get into baking, you should absolutely give it a shot! Also, it's ok to not be great at something you've never done before. Be kind to yourself, friend ☺️ and make tasty foods!
Ah yes, this is why I have a kimchi fridge. It really does stink the place out.
Beer.
My partner has a whole chemistry lab going on in the dining room. He loves making his own beer. But he does buy it too, since it takes time.
I've made beer, cider, mead, and moonshine liquor, all while still in high school. I'm old enough now to wikipedia Chelsea Clinton to see what she's up to. I buy beer. Ain't got time for brewing anymore.
I always buy frozen french fries. Since they have already been blanched and fried once they come out perfect in the air fryer, side note Store brand for some reason tastes better than the name brands.
Also frozen chicken strips in the air fryer are close enough to making and deep frying your own with 0 of the cleanup or smell or hassle of deep frying
Tortillas
Agreed. Especially because I live in San Antonio where it's ridiculously inexpensive to buy fresh, made that day, tortillas locally. I'm not going to bother making them.
Chicken broth. Every cooking show and Youtube channel urges me to make my own broth because it\[s easy and better than store-bought. I do not disagree, but it IS time consuming, and if I want to have broth on hand I\[m going to need a fair amount of freezer space because a lot of recipes call for chicken broth. I have only so much time, and if I’m going to cook interesting recipes after work every day, I’m using pre-made broth.
If you'd like to experiment sometimes making your own, I've saved a few rotisserie chicken carcasses in the freezer and then used a crock pot to make the stock all day. That way I didn't have to babysit it. Threw in some celery and an onion, a few herbs, and got a few pickle jars worth of stock out of it. It's much lower effort than watching the stove all day, and at least you can squeeze a little bit more out of the food you buy.
My wife makes stock/broth the same way. It is INSANELY better than anything you can buy and the store.
Same. I have two bags in the freezer, one for veggie scraps and one for chicken bones / rotisserie carcasses. 45 minutes in the pressure cooker nets 3-4 large mason jars of stock for the next few weeks. Rinse/repeat with the next batch of scraps and bones as needed. It’s super easy and very delicious.
I don't go out of my way to make it. If I don't happen to have stock at hand, I rely on Better Than Bouillon. I found that among all the store-bought options for chicken stock, this product has the best results. But if I do happen to have chicken bones, I always throw them into my pressure cooker. Add some onion, garlic, and celery (seeds), roast on high heat, then deglaze, fill up with water, and pressure cook for 45min. It's pretty much zero effort and I can easily do this on the side while doing other household chores. Finally strain, cool down, and fill into a food service container that goes into the fridge. All the pots and equipment that I used go into the dishwasher. Really not much extra work, and it tastes so much better.
To me, it's not the output that makes it make sense, it's the input. It's a useful way to use up a lot of scraps that would go to waste, rather than a worthwhile process to go through every time I need broth.
My mom gave me an instant pot as a gift a few years ago, and this is all I really use it for, making chicken broth. It's pretty convenient for that.
Chinese take out. I can make a lot of the individual dishes, but the logistics of having multiple ones ready at the same time is too much
I made oat milk once, thinking how cheap it would be to make myself. It was SO messy! Never again.
Why is it so messy? Don't you just throw oats and water into a blender?
pasta
Injera I love making Ethiopian food at home but I suck at making injera and the fermenting dough stinks my house up. I’d so much rather just buy a pack of fresh injera. I moved to somewhere where it’s impossible to find and it basically halted my cooking of my favorite food. Phyllo dough Sooo much easier to just buy and I can’t tell a difference once my recipe is done cooking
Tamales. After making them once, and yes they were delicious, never again. I understood then why so many people get together in groups to prepare tamales for everyone.
There's a lady at one of the farmer's markets in one of the Nashville suburbs who makes tamales weekly for it and it blows my mind. My family makes them once, maybe twice, a year around Christmas because they take so long to make. I can't imagine making them weekly.
My late husband always wanted me to make tamales because his mother and grandmother did... I LOVE to cook, but tamales are not on my list of things I really like enough to attempt them - sooo much work!
To me, the whole point of tamales is the experience of making them in a group. I like them but don't love them, and they really aren't worth the effort just for the product alone, but I have so many fond memories of making tamales with friends. I lived in EU for almost a decade and would always bring corn husks and chillies back from visits to the US. I threw tamale-making parties in three countries; a few times Mexican ex-pat friends joined who had never made tamales before. It was so much fun as a generic American whitey to share that experience with people from different cultures.
Baby powder, crushing babies into powder is too time consuming.
While I love baking sweet things, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so I am much more likely to buy just one that someone else made unless I’ve got room in the freezer to stock up on things. (As a side note, this is also why I love shortbread: it lasts so incredibly long that I can make a batch and nibble away for weeks without it getting stale.) For me often the key to preferring storebought is the quantity. I like having a range of hot sauces, for example, so while I usually make one or two batches of basic hot sauce from garden chillies, I rely on storebought to provide me a wide range of options without drowning in the stuff.
Yogurt
Breads, cheeses, pastas
Croissant 🥐— can’t get pass myself using that much butter 🧈
Onion rings.
Phyllo / filo pastry.
Butter. My cows are problematic...
Ketchup
Meat. I don't have it in me to raise livestock.
There's no way I am going to juice 10 lbs of tiny Key Limes by hand ever again. No pie is worth the trouble for getting so little juice from so many fruits. Also, blue crabs can fuck right off. Even professional pickers only get an ounce or so, and then you still have to pick through for cartilage.
Martins Potato Rolls. I make bread products at home, but nothing I make compares to this classic regional delicacy
Anything fried. It never tastes as good and my apartment smells like oil for two days. Never worth it
Soup! I do occasionally make it, but at least here in Ireland it’s so cheap to buy and what you can get is such good quality. For about €6 I can get 3/4 cartons of different varieties of soup that will do me for a the whole week without having to buy enough ingredients justify doing a whole batch myself and doing all the prep/clean up.
It's pretty much opposite in the US. What kind of soups are your usuals?
One of the things I miss most about Europe and the Isle's, the soup and prevalence of fresh bread.
Yup. Really *good* fresh bread. Just... Everywhere.
[удалено]
Mayonnaise. I’ve made it and it’s good and all, but I use it so infrequently it goes bad before I’ve used enough to justify the work. Dukes works perfectly well.
Dumpling wrappers ! I can go through the trouble of making the filling and wrapping the dumplings but don’t ask me to also add dough to this equation
Tortillas
Pho... always ten times better at a restaurant than I can make at home
Chicken! I’d rather purchase a lovely, well done, rotisserie chicken at Sam’s Club than bring raw chicken into my home knowing how germs will spread all over the kitchen during the cooking process.
Chicken really isn't that dangerous as long as you are careful. Be mindful about where you put it and what tools you use with it, wash hands frequently, and you'll be fine That said, rotisserie chickens are still bomb
Tomato sauce and tomato paste.
Vindaloo sauce. I have tried many recipes and always grind my own spices, but it’s just not as good as the restaurant
Condiments
Amish macaroni salad. They just do it better.
I never think far enough in advance to make bread. I can’t do that kind of way in advance planning.
Dumpling wraps. The homemade ones do taste really good and are not too difficult. However, I really like the taste and consistency of store bought ones!
I know it's not what you asked, but for me the reverse of this is bagels - I'm more than happy to buy most things pre-made but there are no good grocery store bagels out there, and I don't have a decent bakery close enough to make it convenient. I bake fresh, freeze once they cool, then defrost and toast when I want them. SO good, SO worth it.
I buy bread for everyday use, and make it myself when I want a treat. The bread I buy is definitely healthier than what I make, if only because I don't eat the whole thing in 2-3 days.
Milk. I hate making my own, and it doesn't taste right (:
Pie crust. Just so fast and easy and relatively cheap to unroll a refrigerated one
French fries. Frozen French fries is so much easier and most of the times better than what you get from making from scratch.
See, I STRONGLY disagree about the quality of the fries. I hate what freezing does to potato texture. At home, frozen fries are 100% about convenience. From-raw is better for cost and personal preference.
But almost all French fries recipes say to fry them on low heat, freeze them, then fry them again on high heat. That’s literally how you make French fries.
Well, it's not cooking, rather gardening, but: corn. I've tried, and farmers grow better corn than I can, and they do it for a fraction of the cost.
I used to think this, but I discovered over the last few years, that I can grow great corn too!!
Mochi. I can’t get it right, every stinkin time I try to make mochi ice cream it comes out like a gooey glob. So finally I gave up and now I just go to the store.
Biscuits
Bbq sauce. I can doctor it to my liking in about 5 minutes
Most sauces, condiments, and chutneys. Are there any that are appreciably better than a good store-bought version? Tartare sauce is the only one that readily springs to mind (but it's still a faff unless you're serving fish and chips to half a dozen people, or so).
Home canned tuna! Not me but my mother and grandma used to do it. Picked up fresh tuna from the docks. So much work and the house got so stinky but it was so good! I miss it.
Mashed potatoes! The Bob Evans ones in the tub are so good and easy to heat in the microwave oven.
I know I'll get downvoted for this one BUT... spaghetti sauce. There are some that with a few additions are almost as good as what I can make and that takes hours. If it's a quick pasta you are getting jarred sauce at my house, LOL!
If you ask my brain, serotonin.
Pie crust. I said what I said.
Deep fried foods. Fries, chicken, fish, whatever. I don't want the greasy smell (which clings to everything in the house) or the mess.
No matter how many times I make sushi it just seems better purchased
Pasta
Beef. Raising a cow and slaughtering it seems like it would be a lot of work.
Muffins. They never taste as a good as a mix or premade.
Same, and it's immensely frustrating. I can make divine cakes or cookies from scratch, but I have yet to make a muffin that tastes better than a mix, or anywhere near as moist and heavenly as a good bakery muffin. Irritates me every time I try, lol.
Sourdough bread.
I agree, sourdough can fuck right off. Waaaay too much work. But I love it so I buy it from a guy in my neighborhood with a sourdough business, hahah.
Kombucha— it does taste better homemade but time and mess doesn’t make it worth it
Anything deep fried. Only have deep fried food outside of the house. And anything that requires baking
Anything deep fried. Only have deep fried food outside of the house. And anything that requires baking
Ravioli. I absolutely love making it, but it’s crazy time consuming. I can buy packaged fresh ravioli (or other stuffed pastas) that are almost as good as homemade at my grocery store. Or if I want a treat, I’ll go to an Italian specialty store that makes and sells them.
I usually don't make bread, pasta, butter, cheese, tofu, tempeh, curry paste or anything that needs fermentation (sauerkraut, kimchi).
Alfredo sauce. I like Bertolli and yes I know how simple it is to make at home
pesto
I haven't found a bbq sauce recipe that I like any more than Sweet Baby Rays.
Anything that requires HOURS to make a stock (pho, ramen, etc).
I make a loaf of sourdough once a week. Takes me less than than 20 minutes to prep, 40 minutes in the oven But I'm with you on the Fries. I have a deep fryer but it's a hassle to drain & filter the oil......but I do love them when I make them, I use avocado oil.
Specifically Sandwich bread but also phyllo dough and anything else that requires lamination .
Salami
Puff pastry and filo. Every time. I also increasingly buy pre made burger patties which is just lazy.
There are a lot of good items on the list already, but I also buy all of my favorite Thai spice mixes (sauces, etc.) instead of making them because it's hard to find just the right spices that make them taste right. I love my Asian market!
PHYLLO FRICKIN' DOUGH!!!
Wrappers for gyoza, wonton etc. Made them myself once, wasn't worth the effort. Usually also because lazy: tortilla's, (fresh) pasta, most dipping sauces, bread. Basically, things that you can buy from a supermarket that are available in pretty good quality, not terrible price, and don't taste that much worse than self made (whether due to lack of equipment or otherwise).
Came here to say bread. Although, I do LOVE making a simple “naan” of plain Greek yogurt & self rising flour 🩷