Krispy Kreme's or Dunkin' Donuts?

[deibu]

I think it's definitely the coffee thing. This might sound incredibly backwards, but we got our 1st standalone Starbucks in 2003. There were the Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble cafes at the malls, and a couple of other places, but NO standalone Starbucks stores, until 2003. Now there are are 6 or 7 or so. The Piggly Wiggly by my workplace is one block from a Starbucks, yet it has a separate Starbucks cafe, and also one of those prep-and-go "Dream Dinners" or "Super Suppers" or whatever next to it (they are test marketing it - figuring busy moms will want to shop and gab about their tennis game while their Thai chicken casseroles are being prepped in the same store).

The Dunkin is across the street from my new office so it's convenient. It's one of the old converted Mr. Donut shops. I get an iced coffee every couple of weeks, usually on Monday morning when I'm too hungover from the weekend partying to get up and make my own coffee... lol. It's decent but my only complaint is the sugar that sits on the bottom of the cup.

I guess it's really weird that people think of the South and they think we are surrounded by Krispy Kreme... And growing up here, it's always been Dunkin Donuts (Mr. Donut previously). I don't know where these mystical Southern places are where they had a KK on every corner - not here!

I guess, oddly enough, it annoys me that they expanded all over the country and pretty much ignored their native Carolinas! To me growing up, they were those crappy day-old ones you'd see at the gas station or the supermarket. They were crap unless fresh... It took actors filming "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Driving Miss Daisy" to make them some wonderful Southern delicacy. I had never heard of fried green tomatoes before that movie, and now they are on every Charleston restaurant menu in season.

If KK limited their expansion and opened only a few stores in tourist areas of Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, Biloxi, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. (it would look tacky, maybe, but it's all about a good business plan, marketing, and the bottom $).... and maybe 1 in Vegas, 1 in LA, 1 in NYC, 1 in Toronto.... they could have successfully built an "empire" while keeping the "cache" of their product. People would still be lining up for hours to get something so "special". Instead they decided to sell those crappy day-old donuts in supermarkets across the country (and now in the UK and Canada, apparently).

Putting themselves on the level of week-old Entemann's and those Merita Sweet Sixteens! LOL.... BTW, do they still have the orange pencil drawing of the girl playing tennis and all the other active people on the side of the package with those? I doubt Merita Sweet Sixteens are part of an active lifestyle, unless somebody's baking the powdered sugar coating it in their backyard lab...

Blah blah blah.... I rambled on. Anyway, I just don't understand what the hell Krispy Kreme was thinking when they decided to expand so quickly and make themselves ubiquitous. That spelled a recipe for disaster to me in the very beginning. What were they thinking? And Dunkin encouraging a franchisor to go from 3 to 30 franchises within a 2 year span?? There are probably 30 McD's across town, so I'm sure the market could potentially support that many of them. But, to go from 3 to 30 in 2 years? Isn't that completely oversatuating the market at once? I just see red-colored numbers in parentheses on the income statement. Stores that can barely sell two donuts never selling any flatbread sandwiches or mini-pizzas... Is that not disaster waiting to happen?? I am no marketing guy myself, but I don't understand how some of these companies are convinced into making such stupid decisions...

Oh well!

[Mrs.Geraci]

Krispy Kreme! But, I would love to try my hand at making homemade donuts one day. Then I probably wouldn't even care for those.

[Peter Green]

The Incredible Lightness of Being Krispy

Scud and I got into a discussion recently on when we last ate a donut.

At that time (some two weeks ago) it came out that we hadn't been near a deep fried pastry for well over a year.

Possibly two....or three. It's been awhile.

Our local is Mr. Donut

Why they call something so deeply Freudianly female "Mr." I don't know........

But then I realized that this wasn't the case (the two years, that is). In Korea we'd stopped in at Krispy Kreme to get some of the fresh off the line product.

That's when I got to thinking about it, in line with my nephew Jason's comments.

Is KK really a donut?

As we ate them (tip: if you have old KK in the house, nuke them for 10 seconds, that'll restore them) the impression wasn't so much one of eating a donut per se, but rather of a unique and ethereal bonding of fat molecules with a minimum of mass.

This would explain the greasy after taste that many of the commentors here write of, similar to Paco Rancero's dragon oil (olive oil foam flash frozen in liquid nitrogen) which evaporates as soon as it hits the heat of your mouth, resulting in a plume of oil "steam" out of your nose.

So, is KK really a donut as we know it?

(second tip: drink lots of soju and that bad taste will go away.....but there may be something in its place......)

[Chris Amirault]

I knew Krispy Kreme's rapid expansion was doomed to begin with.  Just because people spent hours lining up for Krispy Kreme to open in their city, didn't mean that they would want them on every corner.  The "mystique" of Krispy Kreme donuts was ruined when you could get them anytime, anywhere in major cities across America.

←

So true here: a KK shop opened in Cranston RI a while back to great fanfare, and after the big opening, everyone went back to DD (more important than government and religion in RI) for everything, not just bc KK coffee is not as good as DD but because, well, there was only one shop in the state, whereas there's a DD every six blocks in RI.

And I fall into the same category as most: KK for donuts, DD for coffee. Though, if you want the best, Allie's donuts are best. Just sayin'.

[ChrisOC]

We do have a DD here in Ocean City, NJ but I haven't seen any KK. However there are two places in town that sell outstanding doughnuts. First, and my favorite is Ward's Pastry, an old fashioned bakery. They have sticky buns, Danish, apple fritters,etc plus the best jelly doughnuts I have ever eaten. The second place is Brown's on the boards. It is a small family resturant, but they have a window on the boardwalk where the sell coffe and doughnuts. They use a Belshaw automatic donut maker, one of those gadgets were the batter is deposited at one end, trvels along in hot oil and a doughnut is flipped out at the other end. There is always a line. Very tasty doughnuts.

[Susie Q]

Hot Now KK's.

Golden Rings of Bliss!

[Shel_B]

Perhaps here is as good a place as any to post this.  This morning I came across an item that said, "It may seem as if Dunkin Donuts makes all of their donuts fresh, but any employee will let you know that it is not true. The sad truth is they make all of their donuts in a factory somewhere, freeze them, and them ship them across the country. Next time you crave a fresh donut, Dunkin Donuts should be your last thought."

 

Any truth to this?  Just curious ...

Edited May 22, 2016 by Shel_B (log)

[Lisa Shock]

They are pretty easy to make at home, one type uses bread dough, the other: cake batter. Yes, it's fussy and extravagant in terms of using lots of oil, but, mmmmm. It's also a good way to impress guests brunching at your place.

[Deryn]

These days I doubt if there is any (coffee/doughnut) chain of any significant size that doesn't do exactly what you say you heard that Dunkin' Donuts now does, Shel - have their doughnuts made elsewhere, frozen and brought in 'fresh' every day or two. I would be very surprised to hear that, in anything other than a small proprietorship, that there were bakers on site arising at 3 a.m. saying - 'it's time to make the doughnuts' - any more.

[kayb]

I will testify that there is NOTHING any better in the donut world than a hot Krispy Creme fresh from glazing (they turn the light on in the window to signify when there are fresh, hot donuts). However, Dunkin has the best coffee going.

[Deryn]

kayb - But, is the dough (for Krispy Cremes) prepared on site (even if they fry the doughnuts there) or is it pre-made and trucked in?

 

Around here I have never seen a 'fresh' Krispy Crème doughnut - they all come in bags in the grocery store and are marked with expiration dates at least a week away. Occasionally I have seen them in truckstops/gas stations - where they put a light on that warms up rows of single doughnuts in a case to give the impression that they might be 'fresh'. I know they are not made there, or even fried/baked there however. I once, years back, did eat a Krispy Crème doughnut that may have been completely made on site - maybe even from scratch as opposed to using a mix (when the chain was new) - it was ok but I found it disappeared when I bit into it - there wasn't much except air (and sweetness) there - but then I prefer a cake doughnut most of the time since it has some substance so perhaps I am biased.

 

I also know (because I have to know what soy ingredients may be lurking in everything so I ask) that 'freshly baked' bread at the grocery store (or any bakery product there for that matter) may be 'hot from their ovens' but the dough is trucked in - and most of the time, the so-called 'bakers' don't even have a clue about the ingredients in a loaf/bun/whatever - that information can only be obtained when it spits out of their price marking/label machines for them.  Real bakeries (particularly small niche ones) DO still make their products, usually from scratch, as far as I know - but chains of most kinds are after mass profits (and consistency across their distributors/resellers, etc.) as opposed to highlighting hand-made quality these days.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[AlaMoi]

DW worked the counter in the 1970's at DD.  everything was a mix - donuts to toppings to fillings.  but the dough was mixed/raised at the stored, fried/baked at the store; filled donuts were made and hand filled at the store - fruit, creme, whatever.  there was a big glass window where one could look in on the dude who got up at 3AM to make the donuts....

I doubt any "chain" made stuff from scratch - i.e. leaving ingredient source/quality and proportions and prep up to the individual site/store.  the whole point of the big sign is "they taste them same everywhere" - if you want to own a KK shop, you buy virtually everything - machines to mixes - from the parent company.

'same everywhere' - which btw is not true of places like McDonald, PizzaHut, KFC, etc.  they adapt their recipes to "local tastes / preferences" - especially outside North America.

last time I was in a DD - there was no window.  someday I'll stop in and ask if they mix their own dough anymore.  my wallet has not yet recovered from the price of the last visit - donut and coffee - you needed an Amex BlackCard......

[MSRadell]

5 hours ago, Deryn said:

kayb - But, is the dough (for Krispy Cremes) prepared on site (even if they fry the doughnuts there) or is it pre-made and trucked in?

I don't know about all KC shops but the two I've been to certainly make their own dough right on site! They actually have a window where you can watch them make the dough from scratch.

[Alex]

Can I vote for neither? I'm willing to deal with the limited hours in order to eat local, and wonderful: Propaganda Doughnuts. If I were elsewhere and my choices were limited to DD and KK, I'd go and find an Entenmann's coffee cake.

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

I'm not a doughnut connoisseur and have no problem with the non-artisan doughnut as long as they're relatively fresh. I'm also not generally a fan of doughnuts with a lot of stuff added on/in. I like the basic glazed doughnut as well as the glazed sour cream doughnut and the basic cruller. If I'm feeling extra fancy, I might go for a maple iced. So the Krispy Kreme, Dunkin', Tim Horton's and Robin's (probably the Canadian equivalents of the places being discussed) doughnuts all work as well as anything for me.

[JeanneCake]

Donuts are the new, hot trend at weddings and social events... move over macaron!

 

[kayb]

3 hours ago, MSRadell said:

I don't know about all KC shops but the two I've been to certainly make their own dough right on site! They actually have a window where you can watch them make the dough from scratch.

I was going to say, I'm not sure, as you can't see from the drive-through....

[Thanks for the Crepes]

There's is still an old school Krispy Kreme factory and shop in Raleigh. Here's a photo of the "Hot Donuts" light to which @kayb refers, and here's a photo of the window into the production line. Both images are from this Yelp link. Nowadays they even have an app to send you a notification when the Hot light is turned on. 

 

The Accounting Manager used to bring a warm box of these with her into work some mornings to share with everyone. Krispy Kreme is only a couple miles from the Y where I worked. They are light and ethereal, as Deryn describes, but to me, that is their irresistible appeal. They are for sale in every grocery store around here, but of course not as good as the ones available hot from the shop in downtown Raleigh.

 

Sadly, Krispy Kreme was recently bought out, and that usually means the consumer is the one who loses. If you live within driving distance of an old-fashioned one, and care, better get there before the "Hot" light goes out forever.

 

I am with @AlaMoi on the overpriced Dunkin Donuts. They wouldn't be worth that much even if they were as good as hot, fresh Krispy Cremes.

 

 

[DrinksRUs]

Dunkin hands down. I've never really liked Krispy Kreme's glazed donut because I find it too sweet for me. But points for their incredibly soft dough!

[ChocoMom]

I was never a huge fan of either of those, though I do love donuts.  Tim Horton's won me over when one moved in a mile from my old home. Loved their yellow-cake donuts. 

But, as for donuts and baked goods....the best of the best was found on a backstreet (Norway Street) in Grayling, Mi....Goodale's Bakery.  Salt-rising bread. Crullers. Jelly  or custard filled donuts. Molasses cookies. The list goes on and on.  But, the crullers bring back some of the fondest memories of my childhood summer vacations -up at the cottage. Sitting next to my Daddy, dipping crullers into his cup of coffee....   All that got spoiled when I ended up going to Interlochen camp, instead of actually vacationing at the cottage.  =(  

Best damn donuts ever!!!! 

[Alex]

4 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

But, as for donuts and baked goods....the best of the best was found on a backstreet (Norway Street) in Grayling, Mi....Goodale's Bakery.

 

Still there!