chezbrad wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

seebee wrote:My description: Friday's "Lenten Option" at Rikers.

After too many assorted incidents, I now avoid buying beef, pork and chicken there. =R=

There is one protein I will buy there and that's the Hormel pork tenderloins they often have on sale--Buy 1, Get 2 Free this week, in fact. Vacuum-sealed and coming in a bunch of different weights, you can drop them into a sous vide for an hour and they're pretty solid, either on their own or chopped up and thrown into a stir fry.

Last time I bought Hormel branded pork from Jewel (online, curbside pick-up), I learned after the purchase that it was actually adulterated, having been injected with some sort of bitch's brew. Guessing these are not what you buy but they also produce a line of pork tenderloin, Always Tender, that is processed in the same way. In any case, that was actually the end of my buying meat at Jewel. Someone here once said it years ago: "raw meat shouldn't have an ingredient list." In my case, this information was not provided online, so there was no way to know until after the purchase had been made.

=R=

HI,

When you buy a pork tenderloin in a lemon garlic marinade, you do expect an ingredient list. That can be useful to some people, even if you do not wish to have any.

I saw an Italian street-food-type recipe a few months ago, where a pork tenderloin was encased in Italian or French bread, tied closed butcher style, then baked in an oven for 45 minutes. This would work well with one of those Hormel seasoned tenderloins.

Of course, one can buy a tenderloin from a pedigreed pig with a name, marinade it beginning the day before while they bake the bread to make it totally boutique item.

Some days you buy the ingredients to assemble at home and other days you go full out boutique.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

When you buy a pork tenderloin in a lemon garlic marinade, you do expect an ingredient list. That can be useful to some people, even if you do not wish to have any.

I saw an Italian street-food-type recipe a few months ago, where a pork tenderloin was encased in Italian or French bread, tied closed butcher style, then baked in an oven for 45 minutes. This would work well with one of those Hormel seasoned tenderloins.

Of course, one can buy a tenderloin from a pedigreed pig with a name, marinade it beginning the day before while they bake the bread to make it totally boutique item.

Some days you buy the ingredients to assemble at home and other days you go full out boutique.

Regards,
Cathy2

I can't speak to the pre-marinated, which is obviously more than just meat but I just like it plain. It doesn't have to be pedigree, though. In this case, I expected unadulterated pork because when I bought the shoulder in question, nothing about the way the product was listed indicated otherwise. Ultimately, I'll decide what goes into the meats I cook because there's a lot more than standard seasoning in many of these things . . .

on their Always Tender ingredient listing, Hormel wrote:Pork, Pork Broth, Contains 2% or less of Cultured Dextrose, Dried Vinegar, Seasoning (Yeast Extract, Citrus Extract), Seasoning (Potato Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor, Salt), Salt, Cornstarch, Flavoring.

Mainly, this was a failing on Jewel's part to correctly list the product on their website. And that's who my issue is with. Had I been shopping in person, I would have been able to read the label and know what I was getting. This was not possible with the way it was listed online. Just another reason I avoid entire categories of foods at certain retailers.

=R=

chezbrad wrote:that's the Hormel pork tenderloins they often have on sale

Personally I avoid buying pork at Jewel because it's the "Always Tender" with a lot of added solution. Too bad because those sale prices are often attractive.

Jewel's beef is USDA Choice, but I'm normally happy with the cheaper Mexican and Nicaraguan beef at other stores. The occasional sales on big round roasts at Jewel are solid, though. And the Open Nature bricks of ground grass-fed beef are about the best hamburger around, short of grinding your own.

The Open Nature sea scallops are excellent. Jewel used to feature them frequently for under $9/lb but haven't recently. They now have "Atlantic Capes" scallops on sale instead, haven't tried them. This week I'm tempted by the p&d wild shrimp for $9.99/lb. I often buy their Argentinian grilling shrimp on sale. Good flavor and texture but it's shell-on and split in a strange way.

And thanks for the heads-up on the salmon. They sort of look like scraps left from cutting bigger filets. Somewhere had whole frozen Alaskan pink salmon sides, around 1.5 lb, recently for a comparable price, can't remember where though. They were pretty good for baking and easy to cut up even when frozen.

Well, ignorance was fun.

I just got the email about the Monopoly game starting March 2nd. Does anybody know if you have to download the app to play the game this year?

NFriday wrote:I just got the email about the Monopoly game starting March 2nd. Does anybody know if you have to download the app to play the game this year?

Yes you do.

ronnie_suburban wrote:...there's a lot more than standard seasoning in many of these things . . .

on their Always Tender ingredient listing, Hormel wrote:Pork, Pork Broth, Contains 2% or less of Cultured Dextrose, Dried Vinegar, Seasoning (Yeast Extract, Citrus Extract), Seasoning (Potato Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor, Salt), Salt, Cornstarch, Flavoring.

That strikes me as an exceptionally inoffensive ingredient list. Other than the vagueness of "Natural Flavor"and "Flavoring,"what is there to object to? And all those things from cultured dextrose on only add up to at most 2% of the total weight.

The ones I bought yesterday have the following note on the packaging: "Contains up to 12% solution of water, potassium lactate, sodium phosphates, salt, sodium diacetate." Yummers.

Every time I buy these I can't help but wonder if area restaurants also indulge in purchasing meat here when it's on sale at prices like this. I read the BBQ section of Texas Monthly with some regularity, and it's not uncommon to read of pitmasters who buy their raw materials--meat or otherwise--from HEB or Walmart; I assume it's the same (or similar) here.

Katie wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:...there's a lot more than standard seasoning in many of these things . . .

on their Always Tender ingredient listing, Hormel wrote:Pork, Pork Broth, Contains 2% or less of Cultured Dextrose, Dried Vinegar, Seasoning (Yeast Extract, Citrus Extract), Seasoning (Potato Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor, Salt), Salt, Cornstarch, Flavoring.

That strikes me as an exceptionally inoffensive ingredient list. Other than the vagueness of "Natural Flavor"and "Flavoring,"what is there to object to? And all those things from cultured dextrose on only add up to at most 2% of the total weight.

You're kidding, right?

In any case, as long as you don't object to any of it -- or their practice in general -- you should feel fine about buying it. For those of us who don't, happily, we still have other options.

=R=

Apparently they are going to issue tickets for the Monopoly game. You get one ticket for every $25 you spend at Jewel, and you get an additional ticket if you buy a bonus item. You have to have a Just4U account to play the game, and you scan the tickets and then throw them away. I think if you win $50 or less it gets applied to your Just4U account, and also if you win a store item such as a free bagel. For larger items you have to print the page on the screen. If you don't have a working printer, they suggest you go to your public library, but how many of them are open for computer use right now. It sounds like a lot of older people will pass on the game and decide it is too much trouble. Also what if you spend less than $25? Will you still get a game piece? If you sign up before 3/2, you are entered in a drawing to win one of two $25 Jewel gift cards. Big deal. Here is more info about the game.
https://www.shopplaywincodes.com/

Here is Center for the Science in the Public Interest chemical cuisine list, where they rate additives.
https://www.cspinet.org/eating-healthy/chemical-cuisine

It looks like the ingredients in the Hormel are ok, although there are a few ingredients such as natural flavor they don't list.

NFriday wrote:Here is Center for the Science in the Public Interest chemical cuisine list, where they rate additives.
https://www.cspinet.org/eating-healthy/chemical-cuisine

It looks like the ingredients in the Hormel are ok, although there are a few ingredients such as natural flavor they don't list.

Just because some entity deems them safe, doesn't mean they're desirable or palatable, nor does it mean that this practice should be tacitly condoned. I think there are a lot of non-safety reasons to avoid solution-injected meats. But again, my main issue with this, as it pertains to Jewel, was that meat was being sold on their website without being properly declared. That's unacceptable, even in a pandemic.

=R=

Artie wrote:Word of the day coming Friday 2/19. Supposed to be "Health Warrior Bars" with the magic word being "seed".

Confirmed.

Katie wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:...there's a lot more than standard seasoning in many of these things . . .

on their Always Tender ingredient listing, Hormel wrote:Pork, Pork Broth, Contains 2% or less of Cultured Dextrose, Dried Vinegar, Seasoning (Yeast Extract, Citrus Extract), Seasoning (Potato Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor, Salt), Salt, Cornstarch, Flavoring.

That strikes me as an exceptionally inoffensive ingredient list. Other than the vagueness of "Natural Flavor"and "Flavoring,"what is there to object to? And all those things from cultured dextrose on only add up to at most 2% of the total weight.

That's incorrect. When the phrase "Contains 2% or less of…" is used on food labels, each of the ingredients that follow must comprise less than one-fiftieth of the total weight. So those seven ingredients could make up almost 14% of the total weight and the label would still be in compliance with 9 CFR § 317.2(f)(1)(vi)(A) and other federal regulations. Incidentally, ingredients in such lists do not have to be arranged in decreasing order of predominance.

I agree it's far from the worst list of additives, but I'd personally steer away from meat with that label. Aside from added water ("pork broth"), one ingredient that caught my eye is cultured dextrose. Why does Hormel need to add anti-microbials (even with a healthful- and natural-sounding name) to their pork? I have a feeling that's not uncommon.

NFriday wrote:Apparently they are going to issue tickets for the Monopoly game.

I'm still finding those damn tickets from last year! I kinda hate Monopoly, though I continue to play.

Hi- I just looked and Monopoly is not going to have as many dollars worth of prizes this year. There is not going to be a board this year. That is one thing I hated about the game is attaching the things to the board, and trying to get them to stay. Once you scan your ticket, you can throw it away. The game is going to end on May 4th. I thought it always lasted three months in previous years. This year there will only be one potential million dollar prize. There are going to be lots of trips again, including some movie premiers. I am not sure how excited people are going to be to win a trip right now.

I know I just found a game piece a few days ago from last year. I wonder since there are going to be tickets after all this year, if we will still run into cashiers that are willing to give us more tickets than they are supposed to. Last year I did not get as lucky in that regard. In other years I found that if I went there when there were high school boys working as cashiers, that they were likely to give me lots of extra tickets.

My main objections to "enhanced" meats are two: First, the added cost. A $2.99 pork tenderloin that's nearly 1/6 water is really a $3.49 pork tenderloin. If desired, water can be easily added at home through brining or injecting for a few pennies, along with flavors appropriate to the dish rather than mysterious "natural flavors." Incidentally, often the natural flavor is rosemary, which acts as an antioxidant and natural preservative.

Second, they don't cook as well in some applications. 10 to 20 years ago there was a lot of discussion on this topic: Skillet browning chops or chicken where tons of water were running out of the pieces, soggy roasted chicken, etc.

Good that Monopoly will continue to use tradable paper game pieces. A $25 minimum purchase to get one piece will certainly cut my participation, though. My 2019 Monopoly experience was pretty dismal anyway. It was far more difficult to get any of the small ($5 to $10) prizes, and near the end of the game the limited bonus items available simply for accumulating tickets had dwindled to pretty bad ones.

tjr wrote:My main objections to "enhanced" meats are two: First, the added cost. A $2.99 pork tenderloin that's nearly 1/6 water is really a $3.49 pork tenderloin. If desired, water can be easily added at home through brining or injecting for a few pennies, along with flavors appropriate to the dish rather than mysterious "natural flavors." Incidentally, often the natural flavor is rosemary, which acts as an antioxidant and natural preservative.

Second, they don't cook as well in some applications. 10 to 20 years ago there was a lot of discussion on this topic: Skillet browning chops or chicken where tons of water were running out of the pieces, soggy roasted chicken, etc.

Well said. There are also some home cooks who don't want profit-focused corporate labs making one-sided decisions on the flavor and texture of the "raw" ingredients they use. How likely is it that these decisions actually make the product better? They exist primarily to maximize automation and profit, while alleviating production and regulatory burdens on the processor. But let's be clear, this is hardly limited to Jewel or Hormel.

As consumers, if we demand more, we may not get it but if we demand nothing, it's virtually certain that that's exactly what we'll get.

=R=

I will occasionally buy pork chops at the Jewels [sic], but the 'enhanced' pork does turn me off. I picked up a pair of butterflied loin chops from Shop & Save this week that did not appear to be pre-brined, and yes indeed, they were tastier, browned up better, and cheaper.

I have fewer issues with their beef: skirt steaks aren't the best in the world, but even a bad skirt steak beats almost everything else in flavor. An occasional T-bone or strip steak if on sale. The real bargain is their "pub burgers" in the butcher case: often on sale for $1.50 each, they average around 9oz, and we'll recombine them and freeze pairs of 5-6oz burgers.

I suspect that somebody did a survey of consumers asking "Why don't you buy more raw pork?" or "What problems do you encounter when cooking pork?" and the answers were generally that pork cooks up dry or tough. And it's true, poorly cooked pork is dry, tough and tasteless. The pork industry then came up with a "solution" that coincidentally increased profits instead of educating consumers on how to select and cook pork.

The beef industry seems to have gone the other way, with some efforts to educate consumers on selection and appropriate cooking techniques. Solution-added beef was at one time available mainly at Walmart and seems to have gone by the wayside.

HI,

This discussion on pork and cooking temperatures reminds me of this thread from September, 2004 starting here.

Regards,
Cathy2

Saturday Sampler:
Bubly Bounce Mango Passionfruit - 16 oz. Use by 2/22.
Artie must’ve hit the snooze button.

Rene G wrote:When the phrase "Contains 2% or less of…" is used on food labels, each of the ingredients that follow must comprise less than one-fiftieth of the total weight. So those seven ingredients could make up almost 14% of the total weight and the label would still be in compliance with 9 CFR § 317.2(f)(1)(vi)(A) and other federal regulations. Incidentally, ingredients in such lists do not have to be arranged in decreasing order of predominance.

Ah! I didn't understand either of those two things correctly. Thanks for the clarification, Rene.

I went to the Wilmette Jewel today. I had not stepped foot inside a grocery store in 10 days, and then I only spent $18 at Valli. I was all out of milk and bread, and so it was time to go there. I was frustrated when I got to the store, because they were really busy, and it was impossible to social distance there. They also only had three registers open and the self checkout, and so the lines to check out were long. This is the first halfway decent day weather wise, and so people had their carts loaded.

When I got there they were out of large carts, and so I had to wait for a customer to leave one there. Their produce was picked over too. They were also in the middle of rearranging the store, and so it was a little confusing. At least they had signs telling you were things had been relocated to. What is really strange is I needed shampoo, and I went to the Osco aisle where it is located, and on the other side of the aisle, they had relocated their mustard. Hopefully they are relocating their shampoo. I can't imagine anybody looking for the mustard in the shampoo aisle. I had another $21 coupon to use up, and so I wanted to go to Jewel. This time I had to spend $40 to use the coupon. I was glad to get out of the store though.

Hi- The Saturday Sampler contains caffeine I heard. It is something they normally don't carry, and so it probably has a special display. I did not see it at Jewel yesterday, but I did not look that hard either.

NFriday wrote:Hi- The Saturday Sampler contains caffeine I heard. It is something they normally don't carry, and so it probably has a special display. I did not see it at Jewel yesterday, but I did not look that hard either.

Highland Park Jewel usually has the Saturday Sampler at the manager's desk. Not yesterday, though I found one of two cans left at an end-aisle display.

I received a free yogurt coupon the other day, though it was not anywhere to be seen. I will annoyed if it is another situation of once stock is depleted, there is no more. That happened recently with deeply discounted pistachios.

Regards,
Cathy2

A rather assertive friend got a rain check for those pistachios and successfully requested a substitution of Wonderful brand when the Jewel brand were not restocked. YMMV

NFriday wrote:I went to the Wilmette Jewel today.

Didja get the 2.99 fish?

I actually walked into my Jewel on 2/20 for some things I wouldn't trust a shopper with. I saw the bin full of the the 2.99 salmon, and I almost put a bag of it in the cart to piss off wife 1.0. Anyhoo, I'll probably go back for another 10 lbs of the fresh salmon at 4.99lb. We vacu-seal it when it's down to that price. Also the B1G2 pork tenderloin isn't a joke of a price. 6.99/lb/3 = 2.33? For a quick weeknight protein that ain't bad. I remember someplace, I think it might have even been Jewel had them for 1.69/lb last year. I think I bought 20 of em.

Freezer ftw!

I've been noticing that Jewel beef has become even more flavorless in the past year. (That just came out of nowhere, sorry.) I used to be kind of anti-Jewel, but in the past few years, their prices have come down, and I am really enjoying their model of drive-up. It's way better than Instacart, imo.

No I decided to pass on the $2.99 fish. I would have bought some of the Sea Pak salmon burgers if they were B1G1F, but I did not even see any in the store. I know I saw them maybe at the Chicago Ave. Evanston store a few weeks ago, but they were $8.99, and I don't buy them when they are that expensive. I bought more than I had to yesterday, because I had to spend $40 to be able to use my $21 coupon. My last two coupons I have to spend $75, and I never spend that much at Jewel in one trip.

Is the $4.99 fresh salmon any good? It is Atlantic salmon, and so I think I will pass. The only meat I bought was a package of chicken sausage that was on sale, and I had a $1 off J4U coupon on, and I bought five frozen dinners that were on sale. I would have bought some $.99 organic green onions and a head of cabbage they had for $.39 a pound, but they only had one head of cabbage left, and the green onions looked sad. The red peppers were okay though.

NFriday wrote:
Is the $4.99 fresh salmon any good? It is Atlantic salmon, and so I think I will pass.

At $4.99, yes, it's good. But I'm willingly ignoring the issues that might be coming with that price.