Trader Joe's Products (2017–)

[FrogPrincesse]

2 minutes ago, rotuts said:

what ravioli did you use ?

This was the sweet corn burrata ravioli.

 

I think next time I will just make the pesto from scratch with fresh basil. I have access to fresh herbs, nuts etc and it's not that hard to make. I just got "lazy" this time...

[FrogPrincesse]

I also tried this product. The flavor is exactly as advertised but I wasn't a big fan of the texture. They are hollow and very crunchy / dry. 

 

 

 

[Dave the Cook]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:44 PM, rotuts said:

@Dave the Cook

 

excellent post .  thank you.

 

TJ's FT's are excellent in the CSO , w no flipping.

 

if you have an AF

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143952-the-air-fryer-topic/page/37/

 

they get crispy , to any degree of crispiness you desire   no flipping

 

and stay moist .  they stay moist in the CSO because it is a sealed oven.

 

they stay moist in an air fryer  ( 400 F )  because you get to your desired crispy level  in 12 minutes  +/-

 

if you want to move your FT;s to a different dimension , ( not necessarily better , but different )

 

try the fish nuggets .  CSO or AF   you will ge a crispiness ( any level ) that is delicate 

 

and the fish , base on it more compact geometry , moister.

 

both ae excellent.  faster min the AF , w different inner characteristics.

 

 

@rotuts, I'm not sure you've understood me, probably because I kind-of buried the lede.

 

We like the TJ's fish nuggets just fine when done in our BSO, but qualitatively they can't compete with our usual fried-taco fish, made with fresh cod and Heston Blumenthal's ethereal batter. So I don't think I can overstate what a game-changer shallow frying TJ's fish nuggets is (for us, anyway), because made this way, they can. Fish tacos have gone from a once-every-month-and-a-half meal to a once-every-three-weeks meal.

[Dave the Cook]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

. . . Dorot Fz basil . . .

 

Our local TJ's don't carry any of the herbs, but they do carry Dorot frozen garlic and ginger. We pass on the garlic, because we're pretty fast with a knife or a press, but the ginger is real time saver, and pretty decent, in the context of something like a stir-fry sauce.

[rotuts]

@Dave the Cook

 

check around town for the Dorot Fz basil.  other stores see to cary it in my area 

 

way back when , it was only TJ's

 

I sued to be pretty fast w a knife , but local fresh garlic declined itself locally while I still had

 

pretty good knife skills , in terms of consistency .

 

aas for Dorot fz ginger , I have not noticed it.

 

I keep whole unpeeled fresh - ( now frozen ) ginger in the freezer 

 

and grate it frozen.  I cut off slices w a cleaver and mallet , for accuracy

 

and use those in rice , etc.  and I agree 

 

you are absolutely correct that freshly made battered fish , for frying

 

is a million times better than any frozen commercial product , TJ's or not.

Edited April 19 by rotuts (log)

[dscheidt]

On 4/7/2024 at 7:36 AM, rotuts said:

TJ's has a reputation for its bananas.

 

used to be $ 0.19 // banana , now its $ 0.24 // banana.

 

these are the inorganic bananas.

 

TJ's is also an internet favorite for buy this not that etc etc.

 

there have been articles on banana pricing.  why weigh a  banana ?

 

why bundle a banana in plastic ? etc etc.

 

one gets the impression that bananas are quite the deal @ Tj's/

 

I got 6 bananas the other day , at the going rate,

 

these were a bit larger than ' medium '

 

a mathematical analysis revealed these bananas came to $ 0.62 // lbs.

 

 

 

that's about what the place I buy most of our produce at is charging.  They generally have good prices for good quality stuff, with prices that change based on what they're paying.  (and for stuff like berries packaged by the grower, often two or more suppliers at different prices.)  I'm pretty sure the big chains use banananananas as loss leader, because everyone buys bananas, and they remember where they were cheaper.  But, outside a few things, I've never considered trader joe's prices on produce good.  The one exception is citrus, which is of reliably good quality, and sometimes much cheaper.  (limes are much cheaper at the mexican markets.  Got to pick the good ones, though.) 

 

[rotuts]

for me , TJ's has excellent dried fruit , w a large selection . supermarkets near me do not

 

one exception :  they used to carry dried cranberries that were both organic and not.  they D/c'd the in-organic

 

un sweetened .  now only organic.  they are expensive.  I live near large cranberry fields.  there are several brand names in

 

\supermarkets ,  none carry unsweetened .

 

Nuts are excellent;llent # Tj's , and fresh .  good luck finding nuts fresh at a supermarket around here

 

and cheese is 1/3.d less expensive than anywhere else .  same cheese .  and a large enough selection for me.

 

frozen ' prepared ' items are more interesting that supermarkets.

 

Wine selection is decent , and cheaper than Total Wine .  forget about 3 buck chuck .

 

Coastal series , 4 - 5 varieties , decent table wine for $ 4.99 a bottle.

 

and there staff is friendly and gets to know y0u.

[weinoo]

I may have found my favorite Treader Joe's "product."  Well, it's not a Trader Joe's product per se, but a product sold via Trader Joe's.  And I hadn't seen it before, but when perusing the frozen seafood section a couple weeks ago, i came across these:

 

 

Referring, of course, to the Japanese sea scallops.  Allegedly from Hokkaido, where some of the best scallops in the world come from, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the bag and it had that faint, sweet sea smell of scallops.  They are actually quite good.  And at about $18/lb., very reasonable.

Edited April 22 by weinoo (log)

[dans]

I was at TJ the other day and needed some salsa. They had several. I looked them over and picked the “extra hot” figuring y try his is consumer grade stuff, how hot could it be?  Well, I was wrong not only did it have decent heat, it had pretty good flavor. 
 

now this wasn’t any salsa that was going to test your fortitude. It was hotter than anything you could find in the supermarkets around here. 

[Katie Meadow]

My husband loves maple syrup but he's also very frugal, so for years we've settled for TJ's brand, since really great stuff from Vermont is valued in gold bars. Then all of a sudden they didn't have it and he purchased something else, admittedly better. When the TJ's syrup returned to the shelves he bought that. Both of us agreed that it was not the same as it used to be. It seemed overly sweet and thin, like watered down. Is it us or is it them? If you have been using TJ's maple syrup have you had a similar experience with the stuff now on their shelves?

[Shel_B]

18 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

My husband loves maple syrup but he's also very frugal, so for years we've settled for TJ's brand, since really great stuff from Vermont is valued in gold bars. Then all of a sudden they didn't have it and he purchased something else, admittedly better. When the TJ's syrup returned to the shelves he bought that. Both of us agreed that it was not the same as it used to be. It seemed overly sweet and thin, like watered down. Is it us or is it them? If you have been using TJ's maple syrup have you had a similar experience with the stuff now on their shelves?

Is the new syrup Grade A or Grade A very dark?  

 

I've not purchased much maple syrup over the years, but recently found some new uses for it and have been reading comments and reviews.  I seems that quite a few folks are not satisfied with the current TJ's offering.  Some reviews mentioned that they ended up with Grade A when they thought they were getting the darker grade.

Edited May 3 by Shel_B (log)

[Katie Meadow]

1 minute ago, Shel_B said:

Is the new syrup Grade A or Grade B?  

 

I've not purchased much maple syrup over the years, but recently found some new uses for it and have been reading comments and reviews.  I seems that quite a few folks are not satisfied with the current TJ's offering.  Some reviews mentioned that they ended up with Grade A when they thought they were getting Grade B.

Well that's interesting. Real unadulterated grade A is a far cry from this stuff. 

[Shel_B]

3 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Well that's interesting. Real unadulterated grade A is a far cry from this stuff. 

I remembered that the new grading system is a little different using Grade A and Grade A very dark (Which is equivalent, more or less, to Grade B)

[rotuts]

Trader Joes has telephones 

 

My TJ's answers their phone promptly 

 

consider that option .  they might tell you where the syrup comes from

 

and its grade.

 

don't like it ?

 

take it back ?

[Shel_B]

2 minutes ago, rotuts said:

don't like it ?

 

take it back ?

That's true.  They have a great return policy.  Opened or used items will be accepted. No questions asked.

[blue_dolphin]

Below are the last 2 maple syrup bottles I've purchased from TJ's.  They usually have a few options and I tend to pick the smaller sizes as I really don't use a ton. These are both Grade A, Dark Color, Robust Taste, the stuff that used to be Grade B.  I noticed they also had a Maple-Agave blend, which I'd probably avoid.  There's usually a quart size plastic jug, which is generally the best price per ounce, but since I don't use it often, I like to keep an eye on what's going on inside a glass bottle!

The one on the left (from Canada) was a little lighter than the Vermont stuff but I found both acceptable.

Growing up, we always bought from friends who had a sugarbush and made their own. Not an option here in SoCal 🙃

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3 by blue_dolphin
to add locations (log)

[ElsieD]

A lot of maple syrup is produced in these parts and we often buy it at farm stands.  It's great stuff.

[weinoo]

I stock with the farmer's market for maple syrup; both NY State and Vermont produce some of the best (along, of course, with Canada).  

[Katie Meadow]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

I stock with the farmer's market for maple syrup; both NY State and Vermont produce some of the best (along, of course, with Canada).  

Living in CA does present some challenges. Getting good maple syrup is one of them. On our first trip together my husband and I went to Vermont and Maine among other northeastern places. In Vermont we went to the Maple Syrup Museum. Does it still exist? They actually had samples for tasting the different grades. Swoonworthy, to say nothing of spoonworthy.  I'm assuming the sugar maples are heading north in anticipation of warm Vermont winters.

[Shel_B]

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

Living in CA does present some challenges. Getting good maple syrup is one of them. On our first trip together my husband and I went to Vermont and Maine among other northeastern places. In Vermont we went to the Maple Syrup Museum. Does it still exist? They actually had samples for tasting the different grades. Swoonworthy, to say nothing of spoonworthy.  I'm assuming the sugar maples are heading north in anticipation of warm Vermont winters.

Do you mean the one in Pittsford, Vermont?

[Shel_B]

New Olive Oil at Trader Joe's

I stopped by the local TJ's this morning and discovered this new olive oil that they're carrying:

Red Island Olive Oil, $7.99 for 500ml

 

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/red-island-australian-extra-virgin-olive-oil-079467

 

It's my understanding that it's available for a short time only.  The oil in the bottle I bought was less than a year old, and that caught my attention.

 

The oil was demonstrated at their tasting booth by being poured on vanilla ice cream, which was surprisingly tasty.  The demo caught my attention and the taste of the oil motivated a purchase.  It seems to be a nice, everyday oil.

Edited May 9 by Shel_B (log)

[Katie Meadow]

On 5/3/2024 at 8:09 PM, Shel_B said:

Do you mean the one in Pittsford, Vermont?

I have no idea what town it was in.

[Maison Rustique]

16 hours ago, Shel_B said:

New Olive Oil at Trader Joe's

I stopped by the local TJ's this morning and discovered this new olive oil that they're carrying:

Red Island Olive Oil, $7.99 for 500ml

 

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/red-island-australian-extra-virgin-olive-oil-079467

 

It's my understanding that it's available for a short time only.  The oil in the bottle I bought was less than a year old, and that caught my attention.

 

The oil was demonstrated at their tasting booth by being poured on vanilla ice cream, which was surprisingly tasty.  The demo caught my attention and the taste of the oil motivated a purchase.  It seems to be a nice, everyday oil.

I seem to recall being at an event or restaurant where they served olive oil ice cream that was quite tasty. A real surprise!

[blue_dolphin]

20 hours ago, Shel_B said:

New Olive Oil at Trader Joe's

I stopped by the local TJ's this morning and discovered this new olive oil that they're carrying:

Red Island Olive Oil, $7.99 for 500ml

 

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/red-island-australian-extra-virgin-olive-oil-079467

 

It's my understanding that it's available for a short time only.  The oil in the bottle I bought was less than a year old, and that caught my attention.

 

Thanks for the tip, I picked up a bottle. Mine had a harvest date of April-Jun 2023 so around 6 months older than the olive oil I have from Katz Farm and Frantoio Grove here in California. I must arrange a tasting 🙃

 

Also, TJ's has Mobay cheese once again @ $6.99/5 oz piece. That's the Wisconsin cheese with layers of goat and sheep cheese separated by a layer of ash and the name is a play on the French Morbier which is a cow's milk cheese but also features that ash streak. 

 

[Shel_B]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Thanks for the tip, I picked up a bottle. Mine had a harvest date of April-Jun 2023 so around 6 months older than the olive oil I have from Katz Farm and Frantoio Grove here in California. I must arrange a tasting 🙃

 

Also, TJ's has Mobay cheese once again @ $6.99/5 oz piece. That's the Wisconsin cheese with layers of goat and sheep cheese separated by a layer of ash and the name is a play on the French Morbier which is a cow's milk cheese but also features that ash streak. 

 

I'll be using the Red Island oil later today and I'm anxious to give it a try.  This will be the first Australian oil I've tried.

 

Your description of the Mobay cheese reminds me of Humboldt Fog, one of my favorite goat cheeses which, last time I checked, was available at Costco.

 

Edited May 10 by Shel_B (log)