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It's Better To Buy In Bulk

Chris Amirault

By Chris Amirault
in Kitchen Consumer

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Chris Amirault

Chris Amirault

Posted
Posted

I'm not one to buy things in bulk, generally, but lately I'm changing my tune. The Whole Foods bulk corn flour is perfectly milled for my pancakes, grittier than any other corn flour I can find, and their beans turn over fast enough that the basics (pintos, kidney, etc.) are pretty high quality. Thank you, vegans: never thought I'd say that.

Anyway, it's making me realize that there's a lot I don't buy in bulk. What am I missing out on?

Chris Amirault

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Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

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Genkinaonna

Genkinaonna

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Anything leguminous in a Middle eastern store. I get my red lentils for lentil soup for .89 cents a pound. And they go through a lot so they're pretty fresh, although I think they have a pretty long shelf life anyways. Winco (a local chain with a huge bulk section) has bulk ghirardelli 56% chocolate for $2.99 a pound. It's totally worth braving the sketchy people in the store (affectionately named "Meth Costco" ) once a month to stock up. The problem is I generally buy too much and then I have to figure out where to store it!

If you ate pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry? ~Author Unknown

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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Anything leguminous in a Middle eastern store. I get my red lentils for lentil soup for .89 cents a pound. And they go through a lot so they're pretty fresh, although I think they have a pretty long shelf life anyways. Winco (a local chain with a huge bulk section) has bulk ghirardelli 56% chocolate for $2.99 a pound. It's totally worth braving the sketchy people in the store (affectionately named "Meth Costco" ) once a month to stock up. The problem is I generally buy too much and then I have to figure out where to store it!

The WinCo store in my area is a very nice store and is in a prime location.

I like their bulk grains, cereals, pasta, pilaf, couscous &etc. As there is a great deal of ethnic diversity in the area, even those products have a rapid turnover.

I don't buy candy but their prices are excellent and the specials on seasonal candies are less than other stores.

I like that it is an employee-owned store. I even like bagging my own groceries.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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jsmeeker

jsmeeker

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Herbs and spices. You can buy as much or as little as you think you might use in a reasonable amount of time, and they can literally be one tenth the price of spices sold in tins or jars.

Yup. For me, this is great. When you think about it, its almost the exact opposite what "buy in bulk" means to a lot of people. To many, bulk is that giant 5 pound container of cumin you get at Costo. It's NOT getting a a couple of table spoons for 30 cents. :)

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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runwestierun

runwestierun

Posted
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Herbs and spices. You can buy as much or as little as you think you might use in a reasonable amount of time, and they can literally be one tenth the price of spices sold in tins or jars.

Yup. For me, this is great. When you think about it, its almost the exact opposite what "buy in bulk" means to a lot of people. To many, bulk is that giant 5 pound container of cumin you get at Costo. It's NOT getting a a couple of table spoons for 30 cents. :)

Yes, and most grocery stores have bulk spices. I love Whole Foods' bulk spice section by the bulk foods. They also usually have a table someplace near cheese with preportioned amounts of a spice they are just offering for a short while. They are priced like the bulk spices but are usually something not that common, like long pepper or Ras el hanout, two things I've found there recently. I got a decent amount for about 2 bucks.

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Dakki

Dakki

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Nobody's mentioned cooking oil yet. Seriously cheaper than bottled.

This is my skillet. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My skillet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me my skillet is useless. Without my skillet, I am useless. I must season my skillet well. I will. Before God I swear this creed. My skillet and myself are the makers of my meal. We are the masters of our kitchen. So be it, until there are no ingredients, but dinner. Amen.

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Dakki

Dakki

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Restaurant supply market.

http://www.abastosestrella.com.mx/

I'm sure there's something similar in USA?

This is my skillet. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My skillet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me my skillet is useless. Without my skillet, I am useless. I must season my skillet well. I will. Before God I swear this creed. My skillet and myself are the makers of my meal. We are the masters of our kitchen. So be it, until there are no ingredients, but dinner. Amen.

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

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I have little experience buying in bulk at Whole Foods, but if the product is good that might mitigate some of the negatives (namely price) discussed on a recent thread.

We routinely shop Berkeley Bowl, and some of the bulk items are great, but others are not. The cornmeal from Bob's made noticeably better cornbread than the bulk stuff at the Bowl. Bob's buckwheat, semolina and graham flours seem better than bulk flours. King Arthur Flour is always better than bulk AP flour or WW. The dark red kidney beans from Purcell Mountain Farms are far and away better than any bulk ones I have tried. I've never had any bulk basmatti rice I like as much as the packaged Lundberg. No bulk organic or otherwise roasted peanuts seem as good as the blistered ones from Trader Joe's. Steel-cut bulk oats are not as good as Pinhead in the can, but they are a lot cheaper, so during an oatmeal phase I do buy them in bulk. I guess I care less about my oatmeal than I do about rice.

On the other hand, the bulk dried fruit from the Bowl is quite good, and so is the bulk organic popcorn as well as various flakes and cereals. And my upscale market where I shop for some specialty items has a very good deal on bulk olive oil, so I'm now using that exclusively.

Generally I would say that buying in bulk really depends on the source and freshness of the product, and that quality (or freshness) is not necessarily related only to turnover. Berkeley Bowl has incredibly high turnover, but some of the bulk foods just don't measure up.

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Dakki

Dakki

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Are you just buying a large container of oil or do you bring your own containers to fill them up? How is it sold in bulk? I think I am being a little dense, sorry..

You take your own container and they fill it from a barrel with a spigot stuck in it (they also sell containers for a nominal price). I use dark glass bottles due to UV and plastic leeching concerns but I've seen plenty of people use clear plastic.

This is my skillet. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My skillet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me my skillet is useless. Without my skillet, I am useless. I must season my skillet well. I will. Before God I swear this creed. My skillet and myself are the makers of my meal. We are the masters of our kitchen. So be it, until there are no ingredients, but dinner. Amen.

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kitchensqueen

kitchensqueen

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At our house, we typically get Israeli couscous, rice, herbs and spices - though we don't usually buy the herbs and spices in "bulk" quantities, except for thyme, which I use alarming quantities of in my cooking.

In conjunction with Chris' original question, I'd also be curious to know if people are bringing their own containers when bulk goods shopping, or resorting to plastic bags/containers at the store.

http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
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ChrisZ

ChrisZ

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We buy tinned tomatoes by the carton (24 cans), tomato passata by the carton (12 bottles) and olive oil in 5 litre cans.

I'll often buy Lindt couverture chocolate in 2.5kg bags. This makes it comparable in price to the supermarket blocks of Cadbury/Nestle 'cooking chocolate' which I don't like as much. And it's nice to have a pantry with several kilograms of chocolate in it :-)

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DanM

DanM

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Rice. Don't buy a piddling 2kg or 5kg bag, go for the big guns!

All kinds of legumes too, if you use them enough (check for weevils in the dal if you are a slow user!)

I guess running the risk of spoiled dal versus spending more on smaller quantities is the lesser of two weevils... :raz:

"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

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Jenni

Jenni

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Rice. Don't buy a piddling 2kg or 5kg bag, go for the big guns!

All kinds of legumes too, if you use them enough (check for weevils in the dal if you are a slow user!)

I guess running the risk of spoiled dal versus spending more on smaller quantities is the lesser of two weevils... :raz:

I cannot help but grin a little! To be honest, I have only found weevils on one occassion, and I get through a lot of dal. Perhaps I get through it quick enough, or perhaps it's just a rare thing.

My Blog: Rice, Spice and Everything Nice

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