What have you tried making yourself when the store bought would've been just as good if not better?

[buddhasbelly]

For me baking. Every time I think "oh yes I shall make a beautiful lemon drizzle cake, some ginger snaps" I remember all the 'incidents' .

The incidents of burned cake on top that's not set in the middle; the £ in ingredients, the time spent. And then go and buy something ready made.

Buying the butter alone for any baking makes me think christ this isnt some great money saving hack.

Yes I know it's supposed to taste better homemade. I know a lot of folk find baking a great hobby/stress relief. For me it just works out an expensive, time consuming thing.

What other things have you made yourself where you've realised you'd have been better off just getting it from the shops?

(I know my baking could rectified by going on some cookery course or other... I'm beyond help, I've made my peace with it).

@ThomasinaGallico

“Salt free stock when weaning DS. I had the Annabelle Karmel book and spent an afternoon using perfectly good veg to make a few hundred ml of veg stock, before a friend pointed out that you can buy salt free stock cubes that are just as suitable.”

Don’t talk to me about Annabel Karmel 🙄 and her recommendation of something called a ‘mouli’ to make pea puree with. Who has time for all that nonsense with two under three and no servants?

😂 I was determined to be all completely fresh, organic veg, no junk food type of a mum. I had multiple Annabelle Karmel and baby led weaning books.

It didn't last long... (about as long as it took to discover the stock cubes, in fact)

Christmas cake. I like it, I like baking, but it's really not worth making it myself with all the faff and the huge list of ingredients. My own tastes no better than a decent shop bought one, and I end up making one that's far too big. All other cakes are much better homemade.

@ThomasinaGallico

“Salt free stock when weaning DS. I had the Annabelle Karmel book and spent an afternoon using perfectly good veg to make a few hundred ml of veg stock, before a friend pointed out that you can buy salt free stock cubes that are just as suitable.”

Don’t talk to me about Annabel Karmel 🙄 and her recommendation of something called a ‘mouli’ to make pea puree with. Who has time for all that nonsense with two under three and no servants?

Have also made my fair share of salt free stock thanks to Annabelle Karmel. Mine were weaned on all her time consuming, expensive organic recipes.
It’s like a dagger to my heart when I see them scoffing a Maccies with gusto. 😂

@Lou1siana

Mayonnaise!

Just beyond me. I tried to make it the last two weeks in a row, then bought a jar of Hellman’s et voilà: lovely mayonnnaise.

A very ‘foodie’ BiL once insisted on making mayonnaise for the potato salad I was making for a big alfresco lunch, after I said I’d nip to the shop to buy some. They way he reacted at the mere idea of bought mayonnaise, you’d think I was talking about arsenic!

His mayonnaise was horrible, just tasted oily, no flavour. As a result, whereas my potato salad (with lemon juice and chives added) almost invariably vanishes PDQ, a lot was left over and eventually binned. 🙁

@isittheholidaysyet

Virtually everything.

I do make my own Bolognese, chilli etc. Shop jars are far nicer.

Baking, waste of time and money. Especially bread.

I get so depressed at how you can't reproduced shop-bought taste and texture at home.

I don't identify with this at all, there are very few things that I prefer to buy rather than make.

My local bakery makes amazing custard slices, I wouldn't attempt to make them......I also wouldn't bother to make flaky / puff pastry/croissants. I also wouldn't attempt to make Chinese crispy duck.

I prefer to make pizza, bolognaise, pies, soups, sauces and I'm teaching my daughter so that she can carry on eating her favorite food once she leaves home!

I've made mayonnaise in the past but I find that even if you start with just one egg yolk by the time you've added enough oil to get to the right consistency you have an enormous amount in the bowl. Not sure how long it would be safe to keep with a raw egg yolk as the starting point, whereas Hellmann's appears to keep for ages in the fridge (made with pasteurised egg, I assume). I like Hellmann's. Mostly I buy own brand but Hellmann's mayonnaise and Heinz tomato ketchup are my two big exceptions.

Pretty much everything

I tried making millionaires shortbread once and it totally ruined the pan, I had to throw it away. Tasted ok but not worth the hassle at all. Also much prefer shop bought mince pies and hot cross buns. Once made my own baked beans when I was weaning DC1 and wanted him to have homemade everything, much prefer Heinz .

Oh and I tried making custard once which was a total disaster. It’s like 90p a carton from aldi, just isn’t worth the hassle.

I have made butter before. Not to save money but as a way of using up cream before it goes off.

Totally not worth the hassle. It’s spectacularly messy, wrecks your electric mixer and you can never press all the liquid out.

Yorkshire puddings are such a gamble if you try to home make them. Aunt Bessie's all the way.

Panko calamari 😫
What a mess and the house stank for days!
Definitely be buying ready prepared from now.

@MrsPear

Right homemade lemon drizzle easy - you need scales, oven, loaf tin, grater, wooden spoon and a bowl. Put oven on 180 or 160 if your oven is quick - put shelf in middle. Rub spread all over a loaf tin 2lb size. Put bowl on scales press zero then put in 250g soft not fridge hard butter (1.50), press zero then 250g caster sugar (75p - you will have half left), then press zero add 250g self raising flour (60p and you will have loads left). Take off scale break in four eggs (1.50 2 left) and grate in zest of 3 lemons (80p). Now mix together no lumps. Put in oven 40 minutes. I personally press gently and it should spring back if cooked or stick in a metal kebab stick in middle and it comes out clean. For drizzle bit take the lemons you grated zest off, roll on work top a couple of times, cut in half and squeeze out juice and mix in 100g icing sugar (£1 loads left). While cake is still warm pour over top. Keep cake in tin and eat over the week or cut in half - freeze half and eat half.

My nemesis is bread - it is just heavy. Plus hummus - I can make it fine but it just doesn’t taste right.

Will come back to you tomorrow after I have tried this.....

Oh, roast parsnips! I always marvelled at my MILs - so crispy and tasty and soft in the middle! Mine are always either too soft or too hard or burned (despite being a good cook)

Eventually she confessed they they're Aunt Bessie's. I haven't looked back since.

@BattledoreAndShuttlecock

Yorkshire puddings are such a gamble if you try to home make them. Aunt Bessie's all the way.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't reliably make Yorkshire puddings (or toad in the hole). I use the same recipe that my mum uses, and where hers turn out huge, puffed up clouds of deliciousness, mine are sad and flat.

I have once managed to make a good toad in the hole - using Jamie Oliver's recipe - but I have no faith in my ability to repeat this feat.

We've only had one disaster with yorkshires since we were told it the heat of the fat that made the difference - and it was because fat wasn't hot enough it really does need to smoke.

I can't say however that the homemade are really superior to Aunt Bessie's - slightly nicer at best.

In one of the first meetings with MIL she talked about her better home made custard which I hadn't made myself then so was intrigued. It turned out she was talking about bird eye custard powder from tin made with milk on stove vs packet just add water custard by same company. It was nice but was my normal custard experience.

I have made custard from scratch since was easier than expected but best I've ever had - even with home made with meals out - was shop bought Tesco premium custard they used to sell in large pots - they stopped having it in local tesco metro

I have made custard from scratch since was easier than expected but best I've ever had - even with home made with meals out - was shop bought Tesco premium custard they used to sell in large pots - they stopped having it in local tesco metro sad

Yes, I absolutely love Tesco Finest custard! But they didn't have it in stock last time I added it to our delivery so you've got me worried that it's gone now...

Peas.

Home grown peas in pods. It's a bit of effort to grow them in the first place, then takes ages to shell them, you nibble a few which are delicious raw.

Cook them in any way and they are identical to frozen peas, you cannot taste the difference. Might as well save yourself all the agro and buy a bag for a quid!

Most other things taste much, much better home grown though. Home made pizza, with home grown tomato and basil on it... Mmm.