Central Market's Brand Name Products

[Kent Wang]

To be honest, I find neither the pomegranate or blood orange sodas anything special. Very sugary, not a lot of "genuine flavor". I tried mixing the pomegranate with Crown once. It was not very good. I was pretty desperate -- and wasted -- at the time of course. What do you think it would mix well with? Rum, gin?

[fifi]

Vodka!

Please note the time stamp on this post. I am setting up the Weber bullet for some pork butt. Vodka is a required part of the process. And I just went to HEB earlier today. But I prefer the blood orange.

[LonghornGal]

To be honest, I find neither the pomegranate or blood orange sodas anything special. Very sugary, not a lot of "genuine flavor". I tried mixing the pomegranate with Crown once. It was not very good. I was pretty desperate -- and wasted -- at the time of course. What do you think it would mix well with? Rum, gin?

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To be honest, I'm glad you don't like 'em. That means there's more for those of us that do.

And are you sure you're thinking of the right Pomegranate soda? Seeing as it's a fairly new product and all. And btw, Crown is meant to be enjoyed alone, occasionally with Cola, but not with much else. Probably where you went wrong there.

[Bill Miller]

Vodka! 

Please note the time stamp on this post. I am setting up the Weber bullet for some pork butt. Vodka is a required part of the process. And I just went to HEB earlier today. But I prefer the blood orange.

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I had a blood orange soda with vodka Sunday. Very good!

[FoodMan]

mmmmmm, pomegranate soda with orange vodka sounds promising. Kinda Xmas-y too.

[Papa Roja]

Hi Bill,

Sorry I missed your post until now. I'll say hello to Allison next time I'm in the store on North Lamar. (I'm have a journalism background myself.)

I work for Central Market, and it's wonderful to hear so many positive comments about our "own brand" products. A tasting panel worked hard for over a year selecting the right ones. Personally, I love the pasta sauces, the whole-grain mustard and the frozen cookie dough as well.

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My daughter Allison transfered from the Dallas store to the one on Lamar--I believe she is still in cheese. She is enrolled at UT in January-- CM has been good to her. She is in Journalism and her experience has her considering going into food writing. Regards, Bill

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[Papa Roja]

Tell us about your pork butt!

Vodka! 

Please note the time stamp on this post. I am setting up the Weber bullet for some pork butt. Vodka is a required part of the process. And I just went to HEB earlier today. But I prefer the blood orange.

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[fifi]

The menu story is here. I didn't take pictures but there is plenty of butt discussion otherwise in that topic. I got my blood orange soda at the big HEB at I-45 and 646. I hid the soda and vodka before the folks came. I am a terrible person. But, I needed that after they all left.

[FoodMan]

My CM on Weslayan keeps getting better and better...as if I need more resons to spend my hard earned cash there . They are now carrying Muscovy duck fat! They were out today, but will get some next week. No store in houston has that. At least in CM they do not look at me funny when I request duck fat or veal tongue.

They seem to also carry lots of other variety meats such as veal kidneys and sweet breads.

They also gave me an application for the Society of Intrepid foodies! Once again, I do NOT need more reasons to shop in this place! I'm off to fill my application now....

[Kent Wang]

And are you sure you're thinking of the right Pomegranate soda?  Seeing as it's a fairly new product and all.

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Yes, I'm sure. It was advertised as a new product. You were right about the blood orange + vodka. Thanks for the tip!

I stopped in to Whole Foods today, and I have to say that I find their 365 brand tangerine Italian soda to be better than either the CM blood orange or pom. I know this is the CM thread, so sorry for going off-topic.

I like the CM organic milk, it tastes identical to Horizon while being a few cents cheaper. Plus, I've read some bad stuff on these forums about Horizon's practices in certain areas.

The HEB brand soy milk is also the best, regardless of price. Better than Silk, etc. It has more soy flavor, while the others try to mask it. It may be an acquired taste.

[Tremor]

LonghornGal, I noticed a couple of weeks ago that there is a Dr. Kracker -like cracker offered under the Central Market label.

Do you know if these are manufactured by Dr. Kracker for the CM brand, or is CM "making their own"?

[fifi]

I don't know who is manufacturing the crackers but, while in my big HEB last week they had a display of both together on a big table in the deli area. As I remember, the Dr. Kracker brand was in hard plastic containers and the CM brand was in bags. The crackers looked absolutely identical. They had some out for tasting but didn't say which the samples were. Very confusing from a marketing perspective. Maybe they were trying to make the point that they were the same. The crackers were pretty good, except for the sunflower seed. Those tasted a little over the hill.

[Tremor]

I don't know who is manufacturing the crackers but, while in my big HEB last week they had a display of both together on a big table in the deli area. As I remember, the Dr. Kracker brand was in hard plastic containers and the CM brand was in bags. The crackers looked absolutely identical. They had some out for tasting but didn't say which the samples were. Very confusing from a marketing perspective. Maybe they were trying to make the point that they were the same. The crackers were pretty good, except for the sunflower seed. Those tasted a little over the hill.

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Thanks, fifi. I thought at first that they were probably the same, but I was also confused by the side-by-side display at the new HEB Plus here.

I've been buying the Dr. Kracker flatbreads for about a year (first found them at Wheatsville), but a couple of weeks ago I saw in the 1431 store that the CM brand had apparently replaced the DK, so I tried the Sesame Cheese ones. I didn't really like them.

Anyway, just curious...

[docsconz]

My local Price Chopper Supermarket in upstate New York has been carrying Central Market products for awhile now. I only recently decided to try some, however, based on this thread. The products they carry are limited. I bought some cheddar crackers and asiago crackers. The asiago crackers were good, although the cheddar were all spice and no cheddar flavor. While they weren't bad, I was looking for cheddar. I also bought a variety of stuffed olives. They were ok. I'll keep an eye out for the Italian sodas.

Price Chopper used to carry President's Choice products from Canada. Now that is a quality line!

[Kent Wang]

Docsconz, that's amazing! I had no idea CM products are now being carried all over the country. Where else have they been popping up?

[LonghornGal]

I don't know the answer on the Dr. Kraker-like crackers. They do look and taste exactly the same to me. No one in retail likes a monopoly - it tends to keep things expensive (or lose money for the retailer). Your HEB should still carry both, but it's likely the Dr. K's have been moved to a less prominent location. I find them all to be terribly hard, but I do like the new Dr. K graham cracker ones a lot.

Did you see the new CM shortbreads? yum! In the imported cookie section.

And not CM, but some heb delis are going to be testing some all-natural ham and turkey items starting next month, so keep your eye out for those.

[Tremor]

Thanks. I haven't tried the graham crackers, and I will. Just a soon as I can find a parking space at the new Plus store...

[Papa Roja]

John,

That's a different "Central Market." Ours is in Texas only. See the following link:

http://www2.pricechopper.com/plabel/index.shtml

My local Price Chopper Supermarket in upstate New York has been carrying Central Market products for awhile now. I only recently decided to try some, however, based on this thread. The products they carry are limited. I bought some cheddar crackers and asiago crackers. The asiago crackers were good, although the cheddar were all spice and no cheddar flavor. While they weren't bad, I was looking for cheddar. I also bought a variety of stuffed olives. They were ok. I'll keep an eye out for the Italian sodas.

Price Chopper used to carry President's Choice products from Canada. Now that is a quality line!

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[FoodMan]

I tried the pomegranate soda yesterday, it is ok, but over all the blood orange one is still my favorite by far.

I also noticed that they not only have duck fat, but they have two different products. One from Grimaud Farms and one form D'artagnan. Needless to say the latter one is much much more expensive (like 4X more than the Grimaud). For my money the Grimaud farms one is perfect at 3.99/lb, it makes awsome confit. Another item I was both surprised and glad to see is French goose fat! Imported and for about $5/lb. I have not trie dthis yet, but will soon.

[shoutsandmurmurs]

i know it's kind of an abomination to ask about frozen pizzas on a website like this, but i have to say that i really enjoy the CM frozen pizzas, especially the quatro formaggi one.

to those who have ventured into CM frozen pizza territory, what are your opinions of it?

[MissAmy]

i know it's kind of an abomination to ask about frozen pizzas on a website like this, but i have to say that i really enjoy the CM frozen pizzas, especially the quatro formaggi one. 

to those who have ventured into CM frozen pizza territory, what are your opinions of it?

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Interesting you brought this up. A friend of mine just completed his comprehensive examinations for a PhD program (yay Josh!), and when I brought over some food to sustain him, I noticed box after box of CM pizza in his freezer. He reports that it is quite tasty and crisps up nicely. Although, he was glad to have homemade food that I brought over, so he wouldn't have to live on them for a whole week. I plan on trying one shortly.

[Kent Wang]

I have been enjoying the blood orange soda lately with vodka. I also buy the Central Market brand butter.

[Richard Kilgore]

The Central Market branded Olive Oil at 4.99 per 500 ml is quite good.

Anyone else find something interesting?

[Dana]

Their white cheddar popcorn is quite good as well. I've been pleased with most all the Central Market products I've tried.