to automatically ignore value brands

[somedayma]

I probably am BU because I could definitely do with saving some cash on my grocery shop. But I've had some v bad tesco value items in the past (soft rice crispies, plasticky tasting chocolate etc).

I was looking at value chicken breasts today, thinking 'they're probably going to taste the same as the other slightly more expensive ones once it's in a stew anyway'. but for some reason bought the more expensive ones anyway.

Value ready salted crisps taste the same as branded ones. Just FYI

Value chicken?!?!?! I'd rather eat my own spleen.

Value bread sticks to the roof of the mouth. Value meat has been intensively reared, cramped, chicken pissing on their own legs, sitting on dead mates etc. yum. Anyone fancy a chicken sandwich?

Sainsbos basics tortilla chips are vastly superior to Doritos.

Sainsbos basics chopped tomatoes are great.

Agree with other posters that value meat should be avoided though

I buy a lot of sainsbury's basic stuff and it's usually as good as the full price or branded stuff.
I'm cooking the basic chicken today in my fajitas and it will be fine!

If you are buying "from concentrate" juice then value is no different to regular - it's just in a less fancy carton that you have to open yourself without the benefit of a twisty cap.

For a stew, you should be using drumsticks or thighs, as they have more flavour and when stewed long enough the meat just falls off the bone.

Some value stuff tastes absolutely fine. Value bran flakes are so less sweet that Kellogg's, which is what I prefer. Most of Aldi's food is great - they just sell one type of everything, which they think offers good value and tastes great. There's just the odd thing I dont' like. With a lot of value items it's just down to personal taste.

Tesco value chocolate is vile. I've tended to use it for cooking, but have recently discovered that the similarly priced Aldi chocolate is really good, especially the white chocolate, which tastes more like Milky Bar than the cardboard-like Tesco version.

Agree with you tardisjumper - DH does love his 9p jars of curry sauce though

• probably reminds him of his student days when he'd get chips and curry sauce from the local chippy every night Also I think he loves a bargain, bless him

Ooh, I'll have to look out for the basics tortilla chips Manatee, that sounds like a good tip

I like the Value Shower Gel from Tesco - but then I don't have a knob :o it's a little thin but fine for everyday non-hairwashing days.

Tesco Value Washing Powder is/was lovely - £1.39 for 3kg and gave clothes a lovely fresh smell - however it's currently unavailable - sob. Everything else (yes, even from Lidl) is about twice the price and I really resent paying lots of money for such a dull item.

Trial and error is the only way, really. Be choosy - I don't buy value meat (except occasionally a value beef roasting joint, which can be very good) but most household essentials for dishwasher etc, everyday biscuits, cooking ingredients are fine.

Some of it is personal taste too - I don't like Tesco Value frozen peas, for example, but DD prefers them.

Beans I agree are not much good - too watery. Tinned soup likewise.

Give value items a fair try bit by bit and you are almost certain to find many things are absolutely fine in value version, saving money where it doesn't matter without compromising on the things that are important to buy in good quality.

Sainsburys Basics fromage frais has less sugar than branded ones. Basics rice is fine. Basics kidney beans are fine.

The only own brand peanut butter I like though is Sainsburys organic, their normal one has a horrible, sweet aftertaste.

If I need fancy continental deli stuff for a special occasion I go to Lidl, salami, cream cheese stuffed peppers etc are much cheaper. I'm going to try some of their wines and beers next visit too. We like Bavarian Hellas-type beer so any recommendations gratefully accepted.

I would never buy value meat or eggs. Buy joints when on offer and use it for several meals. One £7-£8 free range chicken from Sainsburys can make at least two dinners and one day's sandwiches for me, DH and DS. Roast pork used in stirfry is delicious.

I think I would prefer to go without meat than do the value - am not being a snob am really not. Have had it in the past and it is tasteless and not pleasant, veg is fine as it is just ugly but meat concerns me, how animals are kept, what drugs are pumped into them etc etc. If I can I go to the butcher as when I cook one of his chicken breasts it could feed a family of four as it doesn't shrink. Others all become the size of a peanut!

Bad "value" items
tinned plum tomatoes are like water
tea bags- just NO.
Tinned baked beans- sauce isn't the same.
sausages-yuk, God knows what's in them to make them even cheaper.

Good "value" items
tinned kidney beans- rinse and put in a chilli
Custard creams- taste identical, not matter what cheapo brand I buy
Fruit and veg
Dishwasher tablets
liquid hand soap from Lidl or Aldi- cheaper than anywhere and smell gorgeous.
Chocolate- got to Aldi or Lidl
Asda instant custard at 6p a sachet!
Smart Price dried fruit- once it's in a cake- who cares?
Tesco Value Basmati rice- excellent.
Frozen veg- Smart Price frozen sweetcorn is identical to all other sweetcorn and much cheaper, same with brocolli, cauli and peas.

Value tinned tomoto for using in sauces etc are fine. The tinned peaches are fine too.

Tesco value orange juice (in the carton) is my favourite, I prefer it to Tropicana etc.

I started doing the bulk of my shopping at Aldi, their baked beans are fine even on toast, their cumberland sausages I love and are 98p for 8! They have a great selection of cheese and yogurts. The cereals are brilliant as are the baked goods.

I've been using their Almat non-bio liquid and softener for clothes washing and it's as good as fairy but about a pound less per bottle.

Potatoes are always a bit iffy, they all seem to suffer quite badly from blight.

Can anyone recommend a good value washing gel (as in clothes)?

I use value chicken breasts all the time, especially Morrisons, nothing wrong with it in the slightest. Stories about the conditions of the animals dont bother me, if they did I would become vegetarian.

Its trial and error I agree, some value products are fine, others arent. I would never buy value sausages or fizzy juice but tinned tomatoes, jam, peanut butter I find are all fine.

Sainsburys basics laundry liquid is fine by me.

Aldi does a great washing gel. Does bio and non bio. £2-£3 I think, not exactly sure but it's fab and I use it all the time.

Not value as such, just the laundry gel they sell.

Wow,duckdodgers, in a long life, I have never actually heard anyone say explicitly that that don't care about the welfare of the animals we eat!

we used to ignore them too, until i learned about the 'Golilocks principle' which basically means that you will pick something in the middle because the others are too cheap or too expensive.

i didnt even used to register the cheapo brands - now they make up 90% of my shopping. no noticeable difference, but then there are some savings that really arnt worth making...

Telco value basmati rice, lemon and orange squash, fizzy water, tinned chopped tomatoes all fine. As someone said tottered, the less processed, the likelier they are to be ok.

Did someone see a programme a year or two ago where Jay Rayner looked at nutritional values of various veg? IIRC, value stuff was vastly lower in nutrients, which put me off tbh b

Asda smart price beans are lovely IMO - I hate heinz very hard and acidic. Waitrose own beans are horrid (bullets) as are Tesco (taste like perfume).

Tinned tomato's are tinned tomato's -they all come from Italy.

By cheapest tortilla chips 25p as opposed to Dorito £1.50) and cover them in chillis (50p for 3) and a bit of cheese (not value but always on offer) and plonk in microwave for nibbles with friends. Mixed spanish meats good from Aldi but better from Waitrose (but £3 more!)

Well theres a first for you seeker

Tottered?! Upthread!

It depends on the shop, I find. A Waitrose value chicken is head and shoulders above the most expensive ones from other shops. Bacon too.

I wish we had a Waitrose near us as Ive heard a lot of good things about their value range, but they are practically non existant in Scotland.