Hi Nate. IMHO, I agree with what you said at the end, I'd say a combination of brand and basic would produce the best product. For example, buy the brand name Graham crackers and sour cream and basic for the rest. But ALL basic for all ingredients produces an inferior product.
I think it helps that there is a larger audience for cooking than making knives because more people cook than make knives.. I've known plenty of people that cook, and only one that made knives lol That's just my guess why this is becoming more of a thing
I love it. He combines my three favorite hobbies. Cooking, knife making and prop making. He's basically a cooler, nicer, thinner, better looking, younger, etc, version of me.
Over 26 years of helping my mom make my gandma's cheese cake recipe, one thing I've learned is that the Phili cream cheese and dasiy sour cream get the best results. Everything else can be the non-brand name stuff
that's because with the cream cheese especially, other brands have thickeners and emulsifiers that "break" with high heat, releasing liquid and making a bad filling. Philly doesn't have those. it's FAR superior to other brands, especially when baking with it.
This is exactly it. He could have made 2 batches, one with the cheap cream cheese and one with Philly cheese and he would have tasted the major difference. My mother always made it with Philly and when I moved to Europe, there was no Philly available at the time so we made it with another cream cheese. It was edible, but that was all. Until a few years ago when Philly finally arrived at 3 times the price, we made 2 cheese cakes for a family gathering and everyone now will only make whatever recipe they have with Philly and its wonderful!
@@FaeAstray Yeah. I don't get what he's saying that the cream cheese doesn't make much of a difference. I would buy Philly all the time, but then decided to go cheap, since I always hear brand and store usually come out of the same factories. I found the store brand, Great Value, came out more liquidy. The store brand is fine if I'm not cooking it, but otherwise I have to use Philly.
When baking, especially when trying to compare ingredients, it is important to go by the mass of the ingredient rather than the volume. Dairy products have different fat to water ratios, baked goods have different air to weight ratios, etc etc.
As soon as you said you'd be using the "recognizable" brands instead of merely the most expensive ones, I immediately thought of Land O Lakes for butter, so I think you made the right choice there. It's not the most premium but perhaps the most recognizable.
KerryGold Irish butter is the one I thought of, I’ve lived in the USA and Canada it’s available in both countries and one of the best butters I’ve ever had you can take a small flake off it and any other and taste a huge difference between them I haven’t found another butter quite like it.
Order is to whip cream cheese slowly add sugar until incorporated then slowly add egg and vanila and lemon to finish. You get a more luscious mouthfeel on the cake. The smoother finish on the cream cheese makes it much easier to get rid of all the lumps and its a little lighter and fluffier to.
I put this comment before i saw your results. When you said the order didnt matter i was like uhoh. Lol I was a chef before a brain injury ripped me from my passion. But i was even a head pastey chef at one point at a fine dining restaurant. If you ever need help with a recipe, or method being authentic or propperly made i can always help! Id volunteer to edit/explain/make you a recipe thats idiotproof and authentic and delicious. I could even make a cheesecake people who hate cheesecake would like ;p
I guess that would be consulting, but id do it for free for you for this stuff. I cant be a chef any more, but was in fine dining for long enough to know what's what. Ive even worked with a food stylist for famous chefs. And worked with quite a few of them. I miss having my passion, but cannot handle kitchens any longer. So helping would be a nice way to have a sliver of what i lost.
fwiw, my wife makes some amazing cheesecakes and she lets all ingredients come to room temp before starting. And she bakes them in a pan water-bath which allows them to cook very evenly. When the pie is ready to go in the oven, she lays a fabric towel in the bottom of a roasting pan, sets the pie in, and adds boiling water, filling to about 1/4” below the lip of the pie pan, puts the whole thing in the oven and bakes normally. She’s got it down to a science.
Haven't watched yet, but I'd definitely "splurge" on the Philadelphia cream cheese, but I think all the other ingredients are ok to be cheap/store brand.
Can you assign each side a number, name, or color so that when the taste testers refer to each dish they can say things like "I like blue better" or "red has better flavor" so we can follow better?
The shot of all the Kroger brand things at the beginning made me think it would be interesting to also do basic-vs-basic with different store brands. Kroger in particular tends to have pretty good quality store-brand food; I prefer their seltzer water to Polar and their box mac-and-cheese to Kraft. I don't know what grocery stores you have near you or how widespread they are, so it might have more niche appeal than this series, but it could still be fun to compare the price and quality of different store brand products.
Really? My Kroger has very low quality stuff, I don't like it at all. The store is a "Ruler" but they do still sell the Kroger branded stuff. Costco and Aldi though definitely. And Walmart's Great Value can be pretty good depending on the product.
Yup. I make cheesecake often and I swear by Philadelphia because I've tried cheaper/store brand options and they were not good in consistency or flavour. I was really shocked to hear they didn't notice much difference in the base and figured it must just be a really good store brand
I prefer when you got the actual most expensive ingredients rather than the most recognizable ingredients. Maybe that's just me? Either way, love this series!
This is such a valuable service you provide for us, especially in these times. I love your new content even moreso than when you were on that other channel. I'd love to see more collaborations with Calli.
This video he wasn't looking for the highest quality, but the most "recognizable" brand name. Land O Lakes, being as you said the "standard," was exactly what popped into my mind too.
I have noticed this also with just the quality too. Changed from normal walmart or grocery story basic vanilla extract to Penzys Vanilla a few years back... def test better. Now you make me want to try vanilla bean in stuff.
@@notbryce9411 I've used beans. But I still usually prefer extract. I actually think someone did a video comparing vanilla bean to extract for things like cheesecake, whipped cream, etc. In general, I think he decided extract came out better.
I love this series! I feel like some recipes it could make a difference and others you could totally just save your money. I'm glad someone is testing this out for us ♡
As someone who makes baked cheesecake often and I'm known for it with my friends and family, I was almost my tearing my hair out watching you make these Nate, sorry no offence intended. Oh and a fun fact when it comes to the colour of the egg yolks, they make the egg yolk more orange/yellow by feeding the chickens different ingredients that have high carotene content in them, one of the most common feeds in the western world from memory I think is marigolds (yes the flowers) whereas if you go to Japan they feed them foods like Chilli peppers, Chilli flakes, Cayne peppers, Paprika etc., and no this does not have an influence on how the eggs taste, it's just the colour of the egg yolk itself. And no the chilli peppers don't burn or hurt the chickens as birds aren't affected by chilli peppers the way humans are. Anyway, Nate keep up the great videos I really enjoy them. Cheers
Mind if I could get your recipe? And yeah.. This didn't look like any cheesecake I'd ever seen and I've made 4 different recipes from the homepage of Google 😅
Couldn't agree more on how he makes his cheesecake, I could feel my skin crawling as he made it. If you're looking for a good basic cheesecake recipe, I would recommend Alton Brown's Sour Cream Cheesecake Recipe which can be found easily on Google or RUclips. Water baths are also a necessity for baked cheesecakes. Surprisingly I use non branded Australian cream cheese and I've had many people tell me it tastes better than philadelphia cream cheese.
@@glennthum27993 hey, I forgot the RUclips Chef that showed me this tip, but they actually cook it maybe like a minute or two less then let it cool on the oven with the door barely cracked. Apparently the slower cooling and separation of the sides it's less prone to cracking, I don't have anything to give me a good water bath but this has worked well. I think someone else said to throw a metal bowl in a rack below with water in it to raise the humidity if you don't have the container for it
@@moneyboy503 yup Alton Brown does that too! I would recommend for a simple water bath to use a non springform pan for the cheesecake and any larger pan you have at the bottom to contain the water, the non springform pan would prevent water leaking into the cheesecake. Go search Alton Brown cheesecake on RUclips, his video is really informative and funny. I've never had a cheesecake crack once using his recipe. You can also add different fruits and flavours to change up the cheesecake once you're familiar with the basic recipe.
@@witiwap86 depends on what they mean by the term organic, but I suspect he cringes more because there are no inorganic lemons. An interesting challenge would be a synthetic substitution vs whole ingredients. Like vanilla bean vs artificial vanilla, wasabi vs fake wasabi, butter vs margarine, cow milk vs nut milk. Another interesting challenge would be heritage vs modern ingredients
@@RKBrumbelowtell you one thing, anything chicken related with heritage chicken breeds you gotta know EXACTLY what breed and age to use them or you’ll get some really off textures 😂😂
I think this was a less than stellar cheesecake recipe, and Good Culture or Nancy's sour cream are the premium, natural tangy sour creams you're looking for. Spring form pans with water to steam the cheesecakes is the way to go!
as for the lemos: there are different breeds of them so back where i am one of expensive brands is just waaaaay tastier and there is a huge taste difference, but it's not because of "organic"
Before watching. I've done this. Cheesecake is a MASSIVE difference in quality of ingredients. After watching, still maintain that good ingredients make a huge difference. So does technique and recipe.
I’d appreciate a brand vs basic video of chicken and dumplings. I’d be happy to share my mom’s recipe. It’s great, the dumplings are fluffy not flat, and I’d like the comparison
Great video! I used to watch TKOR and watched for a few months after Nate took over. This is the second video I watch from this channel and I'd say I'm impressed with the quality and how well Nate knows about cooking/baking. Keep it up!
Not sure about in a recipe but from personal experience using LoL butter and Philly cream cheese on waffles, bagels, etc. there's a significant taste difference eating the product straight as it were vs it being mixed into a recipe. Honey Made are also much better than store/generic brands. Using real vanilla makes a difference most of the time.
These are great but would be amazing if you could make a third recipe with a mixture of high and low cost ingredients, this may be a bit less scientific but you could see if a middle ground can be close to or as good as the $$$ version. over time you could find out which ingredients are most important to be the higher priced ones.
I love these videos so much! You should do a homemade ice cream one too, I’d be very interested to see if ingredients would have a noticeable difference.
For ice cream it definitely will. Ice cream has so few ingredients that there's nothing to really mask the flavor, none of the flavors get lost. Better tasting milk will make a better ice cream.
You should throw a couple drops of food coloring into this stuff in the future, get some visual representation for the viewers at home as to which your panel of judges are eating. Get a lil red vs blue action going.
I really love that format! Quite interesting to see such a scientific-like comparison. I don't know if the discussion in the end is just for entertainment, but in case you really want to know a valid result, you should let them write down the individual result before the discussion. There are several group psychology experiments that show that individual oppinios differ quite strongly from oppinions created within a group (and they even persist individually when people are asked AFTER a group discussion)
Gotta say those are my favorite supermarket available eggs for just having as eggs. They’re so much richer in flavor and the whites solidify much more readily. They’re a lot heartier.
The age of the eggs is very important for how they set up and act while cooking. The newer the egg the less likely it is for the yolk to break while flipping for fried eggs. Older eggs are easier to peel as hard boiled because the membranes are weaker. You might just be noticing that they're newer/fresher. The taste, as far as I know, doesn't noticeably change that's definitely a quality thing.
@@witiwap86 age has something to do with it, but free range (really free range where foraging provides a significant portion of their diet) eggs are much better then the factory farm eggs. Farm fresh from a little stand on the side of the road are the best.
@@witiwap86 I’ve also noticed that free range eggs’ whites are significantly less watery than the basic eggs you find at the store, and those $8/dozen eggs are even better. I have a suspicion that the expensive eggs somehow get around the washing requirement because I’ve had some come with “natural debris” on them. I’m also wondering if amount/duration/intensity of washing has any effect on how watery the eggs’ whites are due to osmosis through the shell. In regards to age of eggs, I don’t have much control over how fresh they are from the store, but I generally can’t tell any meaningful difference between day-purchased, and the end of the carton ~1 week later.
My mom and I tried this once, making peanut butter & chocolate chip ice cream and the difference was REALLY significant! Try that next, I'd lo to see your results!
I have an idea for another series for the channel, even though it would be a lot less frequent than this one: "Is homemade better than store-bought?" You would then use the ingredient in a dish, and have another dish with the same ingredient store-bought. OR, where the ingredient or dish allows you, you could expand the current series to compare a cheap ingredient, an expensive ingredient, and a home-made ingredient (maybe aiming for a price lower than the expensive ingredient, as a rough guide which to follow whenever possible). For example, you could make a dish using store-bought cheap and expensive pasta, and create your own pasta of that type (including drying it, if you bought dry pasta), or you could compare store-bought lard or tallow with the same thing you make yourself by rendering the respective kind of meat.
Easy way to make the mixture come together quicker is to whip the cream cheese by itself (adds some air and gets rid of any clumps), add one egg at a time (makes sure that the mixture doesn't become a bunch of clumps of cream cheese floating in eggs) and then everything else can be added at once. It may not seem quicker at first but the time it takes to make it homogeneous is reduced significantly and you can still measure everything before hand.
Just a few tips springform pan is the way to go and for the crust try 160 grams of finely crushed Graham crackers combined with 30 grams of sugar 2 grams of kosher salt and 55 grams of unsalted butter melted dump them into a greased 9" springform pan and press them to the bottom bake the crust at 350° F for 8 mins allow to cool completely before adding the filling and as previously stated room temperature cream cheese is the way to go also add your eggs 1 at a time and then add 1 extra yolk for density and when baking wrap your springform pan in aluminum foil and set it in a Dutch oven or some baking dish big enough to accommodate the springform pan with roughly 1 inch of boiling water to the outside of the springform pan then let them cool in the oven with the door open before moving them best results I've had
It's baked and it has eggs, it's a normal cheesecake. I think what you had is like a no-bake cheesecake or icebox pie, where there are no eggs and it's not baked. That's my guess, and yes it's my favorite, more than "real" cheesecake.
@@kaldogorath Yeah, no eggs or baking the cream cheese pie. Substitute sweetened condensed milk, pour the mixture in a pie crust and chill. It's fantastic.
As a diabetic and a level 8 master of cheesecake, I highly recommend using the sponsor in place of the graham crackers for the crust. (Granted, not as good as the grahams, or even better cookies, but it does cut a LOT of carbs.)
@@witiwap86 I've tried as many of the flavors as I can. The whole limited time flavor thing really annoys me, because I tend to order several box at a time to get a discount, then they come out with a limited time flavor and I've got six other boxes to eat first. I do sometimes mix it with other cereals, to get something that's lower carb, though not as low carb is the magic spoon. Spoon. To be honest, the magic spoon isn't as good as the real cereals. And it has a weird stickiness to the teeth. However, it's a beep-load healthier, and the flavor sacrifice is worth the car reduction if you can afford it. I do sometimes add a bit of sweetener to the milk, in the form of sugar-free flavored syrups, similar to what torani makes. I find that the cocoa that Mr. From-The-Internet is a fan of is extremely dark and bitter to my taste.
Going to try just one more time, not trying to be pestering. I would gladly consult for this series for free. I just feel like somebody involved with a broader cooking background can probably help you during production, and prevent the need to redo things. Feel free to let me know the best way of getting in contact.
My biggest issue with this whole premise is just how bad he is at cooking. I know it's amateur but so many simple mistakes that can majorly effect the outcome. Maybe he could do a skilled cook with basic ingredients vs himself with the best.
Editor, thanks for displaying the text on the screen longer in the last few videos. It makes watching much easier! Nate, great Brand vs Basic comparison. I've noticed a difference in Golden Brown sugar between C&H vs store brands. The C&H is less grainy and to me has the better flavor.
I have been really enjoying this series, because this puts a lot of chemistry into practice. Basic molecules like sugar are going to be same from one brand to the next, unless there is some sort of impurities that would alter its chemistry slightly, it is going to function the same. But when it comes to the other ingredients, your chemistry is going to be very different, because with dairy products, what the cows were fed can alter the flavor of the milk they produce, but also the pasteurization process can also alter that chemistry some even though most of the proteins will go back to how they were. For the eggs, it would be a similar thing, the diet of the hens can have pretty drastic effect on the yolk and albumen of the eggs. The shell is just the particular genetics of the hen, there isn't really a "quality" difference there. And with the graham crackers, the ingredients list is likely to be similar but different, and the cooking process and ratio of those ingredients would come into play as well which will give the graham crackers a different texture and flavor. But yeah, it is really interesting to see how this chemistry plays together once you make a a food product.
I wonder if texture may very much be influenced by a brand. Those brands are around for a long time and had plenty of time to experiment with adding components to their products that prevent unwanted textures, promote smoothness, enhance firmness of the cheesecake and so on. The off-brands often do not bother with extra components as it would increase the price and may fall short in texture and mouthfeel I imagine.
hey nate i have to say as a baker i can advise to split the recepy in half weight of both brand and non brand. to make 1 full recepy by mixing them togetter (crackers where 14 pieces? so 7 non brand and 7 brand but then with the whole recepy)
Something I found out as a person who experiments with cooking is that where the food comes from, not just as in which store, but literally where its sourced makes a better impact than price does. Not as much as how its prepared, but it makes a difference. A lot of the mid-tier grocery brands are often "White Label" brands, this includes the store brands as well, basically their all made in the same few processing plants, sometimes the same as the name brand ones, but are rebranded. There may be a small quality difference but its not that noticeable. I feel if you really want to see a difference, get the basic store brand stuff but then go out and source the stuff for the expensive one. I mean, go to a local farmers market for the eggs, milk, and veggies if you can, find a butcher for the meats, etc.. This may show a bigger difference than what your doing now.
I've never heard of topping on a cheesecake, but it sounds good. Also, Honey Maid is the only brand of Graham Crackers. This is a fact. The other things were an illusion.
It's honestly a first for me to see as well. I have had all sorts of cheese cakes too, from New York, Cali, Florida, Ontario CA. Have had cheesecakes from restaurants, and homemade. So it's clearly not that common from my own experience.
@@SilvyReacts it's a pretty old thing to do, actually. I do think region has to play a factor as well. I'd just like to to what those regions are because... I'm a NYer raised on Junior's. The sour cream topper is nice bit not the norm. I still like it though.
Crackers are already a processed ingredient that has different recipes from brand to brand, so you are going to get a significant difference in taste and texture. The other ingredients are very basic, like butter and sour cream and cream cheese are just different forms of milk, the difference between brands is subtle at best.
I liked your approach here Nate. Not just going for the most expensive item but more the “ubiquitous” brand. Maybe do all three sometime - cheap, ubiquitous and expensive. I had another couple of ideas in a similar vein. Tool tests, like Harbor Freight vs Snap-On (as an example), you could see the failure point of a socket with a torque wrench or something. And, to go along with cooking, Scratch-Made vs Store-Bought. Buy a can of pie filling, then make the same filling from scratch with fruit, sugar, etc., make a pie and compare the two. Or a boxed cake mix vs made from flour, sugar, butter etc.. I love what you’re doing man! Keep it up!
I gotta agree with you about Honey Maid Graham Crackers tasting much better. Other brands just don't taste right. It's also really cool to see how there's just some things that taste the same no matter the price. Expensive lemon juice, taste like lemon juice and cheap lemon juice taste lemon juice, who knew 😂 another great video, keep it up 👍😊
2 suggestions 1) You should revisit this with 2 twists (A) experienced cook vs less experienced ( B ) both use the same ingredients they agree upon from this video that were better and see if that makes a difference.
When it comes to organic lemons and oranges, it depends on how you plan to use them. If I am using the zest or making a citrus- ade, I will use organic as they are not sprayed with pesticide. If you are not using the rind, it doesn't matter.
I will say when it comes to the crackers and butter there is a huge difference, I like to use amish rolled butter personally and yes there is a difference in that
You might want to know that sweetness of sugar is directly affected by it's origin. C&H is a pure cane sugar where as many others are beet sugars which are noticeably less sweet by a factor of 2 or 3 to 1.
I'm from Australia so the way my family make Cheesecake is a little different my mum uses Ginger nut biscuits for the base and always Uses the Philly cream cheese as it works better then the no name brand
It will make an even smaller difference than the brand names in this test. Have you tried organic and normal things side to side? When I have I couldn't really tell a difference.
You could add a little lemon juice to the topping of the daisy sour cream to give it a little tartness. Also, you should find a recipe that uses a Bain Marie in the oven to get even better texture.
It really depends on what you're making if it REALLY matters . I make a Jalapeno Feta dip where it makes all the difference... Daisy results in a looser more greek yogurty flavor profile and tends to go bad in about a week. Whereas Breakstones gets a thicker more neutral flavor profile, while lasting significantly longer before going bad. The Jalapenos, if I use a random brand of pickled jalapenos, the flavor varies wildly as does the heat level. Mezetta Tamed Jalapenos give an ideal flavor and a heat level that even those that tried it who don't care for Jalapenos like. I buy Kirkland real Feta in brine from Costco, but have used precrumbled US made 'Feta'. Again it lends a different profile entirely. The precrumbled 'Feta' found in most stores, absorbs water because of the cellulose, it's also not Sheep/Goats milk like the imported Feta. Even here, the brand makes a difference. President precrumbled versus Athenos or others; President was actually pretty decent. I didn't care for the Athenos or random store brand I used, there was just something offputting with the Athenos and it was really dry with the other storebrand. I personally prefer the Brine Feta in general, and for 10 dollars for 4 good sized blocks it's worth it. Try for yourself if you like: 1 24oz container of Breakstones Sour Cream 1 jar of Mezetta Tamed Jalapenos. Drained and blended in a food processor until the roughly chopped to desired consistency. I like some larger and finer pieces mixed 2 blocks of Feta. Food process until desired consistency, again I like some bigger and finer pieces throughout 1tsp lime juice (optional) Season with Salt/Pepper/Cayenne/Garlic powder to taste. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Serve with Chips, Tortilla Chips, Veggies, on a Baked Potato, in Mashers, on a Chicken patty... it's very versatile. Optional, but delicious and recommended add-ins - 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix and or crumbled bacon (Another Costco find, I use a large handful from the bag). To get the idea of what I really mean, stick to the base recipe, then try the extra add ins. If there's leftovers, store in an airtight container. Seriously, even a friends 2 year old was eating it and loving it.
America's Test Kitchen has great episodes on the best ingredients/brands. And also everything else used in the kitchen. Quality baking pans can also make a big difference in the final outcome of a food. There's a few select ingredients that makes it worth it to get to improve the better flavor and texture, and save on the other stuff. I would get more the expensive vanilla extract, Philadelphia cream cheese, and the Nabisco Graham crackers. Sugar, butter, flour isn't a deal breaker. I make really good oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and walnuts. I get Quaker quick oats, Guittard chocolate chips, and expensive vanilla extract. Those are the ones I've discovered makes the biggest difference in the final cookie.
2 things: 1. C & H sugar is cane sugar. More than likely the store brand is beet sugar. 2. As you pointed out, the store brand of vanilla extract has less vanilla flavor the the name brand.
I JUST found your channel from a collaboration you did with the water jet channel. I watched your video about why you’re not at TKOR anymore. Thanks for putting that out there. I was one who felt the content had been “changing” for a while and not for the better. It seemed geared to a much younger audience and was a channel I’d watch while I was “doing something else” rather than one I’d stop what I was doing to watch and learn. I’d personally like to see you make a few specific videos: 1) A DIY oxygen concentrator. 2) A “potato” gun revolver where each casing held the compressed air to fire each individual shot. so you could quick load 6 shots and each ‘bullet’ had its own compressed air. (i’ve prototyped but not completed) It would operate just like a real revolver but be big! each bullet would be 1” PVC by about 3” long. 3) A drone destroyer. A signal that could be directionally aimed at unwanted drones flying over my house and it would disrupt the signal so it would crash. 4) A foot powered underwater “scuba” tank. You’d use your legs to pull a bladder open from inside a hard case and a tube to the surface would draw air in so you could breathe. The pressure of the water on the bladder would make it the right pressure for you to breathe at the depth you were at. I have a lot more ideas I’d like to see you do! pick one of these and I’ll send you more :). good luck on this new adventure. I subscribed today and have a bunch to watch and catch up on now!
It's a family tradition to make clam dip on some holidays. We use the cheapest cream cheese for that because it doesn't make a difference. But when you put cream cheese on a bagel Philadelphia cream cheese is much, much better. I'd like to see you do expensive, brand, and cheap. The most interesting might actually be brand vs expensive.
It depends on the ingredients for me. Cream cheese has to be Philadelphia, the others aren’t as thick or creamy. For the base base, some brands are sweeter than others. Splurge on vanilla, always go extract too. I’m not surprised there was a problem mixing, brands are different so it might not have been your fault!
Nate an Callie were a chapter of youtube for me. Like gmm is now and anton Petrov, ltt, and definitely now Nate. Hope Callie makes future appearances and I really look forward to your videos Nate! Production quality is great btw
There's usually not a ton of difference between (common) name brand and store brand. One thing I do notice a difference in is chocolate milk. I love highland chocolate milk, hate great value, but they have a different fat % and that's how I can tell the difference.
You should do 3 of then. Store brand, brand name, most $$$ at the grocery store (there will be some overlap) a 4th competitor could be the freshest/most local
I enjoy your channel and I enjoy this series. Perhaps you should bring on someone that knows how to cook when doing these. In many recipes, the technique is as, and in some cases more, important than the ingredients. None the less, always an enjoyable watch!
Great episode Nate you have really taken off and are standing tall. You need to include Callie more often, you guys are like Donnie and Marie or better yet Peanut Butter and Jelly you just do so well together. Thank you
Don't know if it matters, but id probably rather see more expensive/less expensive, than actual brand vs basic, regardless of the fact that it's more accurate to the name
As a born-and-bred New Yorker, I can say that my family always uses Land O' Lakes and Honey Maid for the crust, we like to use those fancy free-range eggs, but that Philadelphia cream cheese is never worth it (especially since a proper New York cheese cake uses like 2 pounds of cream cheese). Honestly I prefer the texture of store brand cream cheese most of the time. My family uses our own vanilla extract, and we don't do sour cream topping (my mom likes chocolate and I like blueberry), so I can't speak on those.
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I like this brand vs store brand format better than cheap vs expensive. Its more relatable.
Will you be making any more videos with Calli?
Hi Nate. IMHO, I agree with what you said at the end, I'd say a combination of brand and basic would produce the best product. For example, buy the brand name Graham crackers and sour cream and basic for the rest. But ALL basic for all ingredients produces an inferior product.
Hi Nate, Can you link the recipe you used please?
Do expensive guitars sound better?
lol who'd have thought Nate would go from TKOR to basically having his own cooking show
If you think about it they did a lot of food/cooking things in tkor as well
Well he did try eating almost everything on TKOR.
I think it helps that there is a larger audience for cooking than making knives because more people cook than make knives.. I've known plenty of people that cook, and only one that made knives lol
That's just my guess why this is becoming more of a thing
I love it. He combines my three favorite hobbies. Cooking, knife making and prop making. He's basically a cooler, nicer, thinner, better looking, younger, etc, version of me.
who'd have thought that Nates cooking show would have more TKOR vibes than TKOR does!
Over 26 years of helping my mom make my gandma's cheese cake recipe, one thing I've learned is that the Phili cream cheese and dasiy sour cream get the best results. Everything else can be the non-brand name stuff
that's because with the cream cheese especially, other brands have thickeners and emulsifiers that "break" with high heat, releasing liquid and making a bad filling. Philly doesn't have those. it's FAR superior to other brands, especially when baking with it.
This is exactly it. He could have made 2 batches, one with the cheap cream cheese and one with Philly cheese and he would have tasted the major difference. My mother always made it with Philly and when I moved to Europe, there was no Philly available at the time so we made it with another cream cheese. It was edible, but that was all. Until a few years ago when Philly finally arrived at 3 times the price, we made 2 cheese cakes for a family gathering and everyone now will only make whatever recipe they have with Philly and its wonderful!
@@FaeAstray Yeah. I don't get what he's saying that the cream cheese doesn't make much of a difference. I would buy Philly all the time, but then decided to go cheap, since I always hear brand and store usually come out of the same factories. I found the store brand, Great Value, came out more liquidy. The store brand is fine if I'm not cooking it, but otherwise I have to use Philly.
@@MargaritaOnTheRoxI’m the same, I use store brand for non cooking applications, if heat is coming into play at any point it’s always Philly.
When baking, especially when trying to compare ingredients, it is important to go by the mass of the ingredient rather than the volume. Dairy products have different fat to water ratios, baked goods have different air to weight ratios, etc etc.
i think the biggest defining factor of cheesecake is the time you spend regretting not having any more of it the day after
Good thing Nate made four.
^^ this ..this is 100% #facts
:P
As soon as you said you'd be using the "recognizable" brands instead of merely the most expensive ones, I immediately thought of Land O Lakes for butter, so I think you made the right choice there. It's not the most premium but perhaps the most recognizable.
Challenge Butter came to mind for me, although Land O' Lakes is a bit more expensive.
@@fluffycritter Ditto for the cream cheese, edit: and not a brand of eggs?! Eggland's best!
Country crock came to mind when he said butter, but I guess since its part vegetable oil its not actually butter🤷♂️
KerryGold Irish butter is the one I thought of, I’ve lived in the USA and Canada it’s available in both countries and one of the best butters I’ve ever had you can take a small flake off it and any other and taste a huge difference between them I haven’t found another butter quite like it.
I'd love to see a Brand vs. Kirkland challenge sometime. See how the Costco ingredients stack up.
That's pretty legit since i believe Kirkland blend is almost always a hidden name brand product for considerably less.
Or Aldi brand
@@kaldogorath Aldi vs. Kirkland would also be fun.
Order is to whip cream cheese slowly add sugar until incorporated then slowly add egg and vanila and lemon to finish. You get a more luscious mouthfeel on the cake. The smoother finish on the cream cheese makes it much easier to get rid of all the lumps and its a little lighter and fluffier to.
Room temp cream cheese helps. But the order is more important.
Quality ingredients do tend to be a be important with dairy based things.
I put this comment before i saw your results. When you said the order didnt matter i was like uhoh. Lol
I was a chef before a brain injury ripped me from my passion.
But i was even a head pastey chef at one point at a fine dining restaurant.
If you ever need help with a recipe, or method being authentic or propperly made i can always help!
Id volunteer to edit/explain/make you a recipe thats idiotproof and authentic and delicious.
I could even make a cheesecake people who hate cheesecake would like ;p
I guess that would be consulting, but id do it for free for you for this stuff.
I cant be a chef any more, but was in fine dining for long enough to know what's what.
Ive even worked with a food stylist for famous chefs. And worked with quite a few of them.
I miss having my passion, but cannot handle kitchens any longer. So helping would be a nice way to have a sliver of what i lost.
fwiw, my wife makes some amazing cheesecakes and she lets all ingredients come to room temp before starting. And she bakes them in a pan water-bath which allows them to cook very evenly. When the pie is ready to go in the oven, she lays a fabric towel in the bottom of a roasting pan, sets the pie in, and adds boiling water, filling to about 1/4” below the lip of the pie pan, puts the whole thing in the oven and bakes normally. She’s got it down to a science.
Really enjoying the 80s cruise ship jazz during the montages!!!
Haven't watched yet, but I'd definitely "splurge" on the Philadelphia cream cheese, but I think all the other ingredients are ok to be cheap/store brand.
Vanilla needs to be good too, extract is more and expensive ones are better.
Eggs can be huge too. Expensive/home grown eggs are usually darker and have a much strong egg flavor. Sometimes you want that and sometimes you don't.
Can you assign each side a number, name, or color so that when the taste testers refer to each dish they can say things like "I like blue better" or "red has better flavor" so we can follow better?
The shot of all the Kroger brand things at the beginning made me think it would be interesting to also do basic-vs-basic with different store brands. Kroger in particular tends to have pretty good quality store-brand food; I prefer their seltzer water to Polar and their box mac-and-cheese to Kraft.
I don't know what grocery stores you have near you or how widespread they are, so it might have more niche appeal than this series, but it could still be fun to compare the price and quality of different store brand products.
Yeah like Aldi v. Kroger or Walmart.
Really? My Kroger has very low quality stuff, I don't like it at all. The store is a "Ruler" but they do still sell the Kroger branded stuff. Costco and Aldi though definitely. And Walmart's Great Value can be pretty good depending on the product.
@@ybunnygurl Does America have Aldi? I haven't seen one. America has H•E•B though (which I think is where Nate lives)
Yup. I make cheesecake often and I swear by Philadelphia because I've tried cheaper/store brand options and they were not good in consistency or flavour. I was really shocked to hear they didn't notice much difference in the base and figured it must just be a really good store brand
@@lilyofluck371 some places yes, others not so much
I prefer when you got the actual most expensive ingredients rather than the most recognizable ingredients. Maybe that's just me? Either way, love this series!
This is such a valuable service you provide for us, especially in these times. I love your new content even moreso than when you were on that other channel. I'd love to see more collaborations with Calli.
As butter goes, the Land O Lakes is probably the standard baking butter. It's what I grew up on. For a higher quality butter go for KerryGold
This video he wasn't looking for the highest quality, but the most "recognizable" brand name. Land O Lakes, being as you said the "standard," was exactly what popped into my mind too.
Lurpak is the best butter in the world.
@@ET_AYY_LMAO correct.
Yea, KerryGold was what I thought of for the brand name
Aww man, now I want cheesecake! Can’t wait to see this!
Cheesecake is yummy I also want cheesecake now
Me too. 😋😋
I can tell you from experience just switching out the vanilla extract for a vanilla bean alone will make your cheesecake taste waaaaay better
I have noticed this also with just the quality too. Changed from normal walmart or grocery story basic vanilla extract to Penzys Vanilla a few years back... def test better. Now you make me want to try vanilla bean in stuff.
@@Atigeve it’s genuinely a game changer. Way more expensive but trust me you will never want to go back to the liquid stuff again. Adds so much depth!
Yeah I was a little sad he used expensive extract instead of real vanilla.
@@notbryce9411 I've used beans. But I still usually prefer extract. I actually think someone did a video comparing vanilla bean to extract for things like cheesecake, whipped cream, etc. In general, I think he decided extract came out better.
My mother has been making cheesecake just like that except she mixes the cream cheese and sour cream it's totally worth it
I love this series! I feel like some recipes it could make a difference and others you could totally just save your money. I'm glad someone is testing this out for us ♡
As someone who makes baked cheesecake often and I'm known for it with my friends and family, I was almost my tearing my hair out watching you make these Nate, sorry no offence intended. Oh and a fun fact when it comes to the colour of the egg yolks, they make the egg yolk more orange/yellow by feeding the chickens different ingredients that have high carotene content in them, one of the most common feeds in the western world from memory I think is marigolds (yes the flowers) whereas if you go to Japan they feed them foods like Chilli peppers, Chilli flakes, Cayne peppers, Paprika etc., and no this does not have an influence on how the eggs taste, it's just the colour of the egg yolk itself. And no the chilli peppers don't burn or hurt the chickens as birds aren't affected by chilli peppers the way humans are. Anyway, Nate keep up the great videos I really enjoy them. Cheers
What did he do wrong? And could u link a better recipe or even ur own?
Mind if I could get your recipe? And yeah.. This didn't look like any cheesecake I'd ever seen and I've made 4 different recipes from the homepage of Google 😅
Couldn't agree more on how he makes his cheesecake, I could feel my skin crawling as he made it. If you're looking for a good basic cheesecake recipe, I would recommend Alton Brown's Sour Cream Cheesecake Recipe which can be found easily on Google or RUclips. Water baths are also a necessity for baked cheesecakes. Surprisingly I use non branded Australian cream cheese and I've had many people tell me it tastes better than philadelphia cream cheese.
@@glennthum27993 hey, I forgot the RUclips Chef that showed me this tip, but they actually cook it maybe like a minute or two less then let it cool on the oven with the door barely cracked. Apparently the slower cooling and separation of the sides it's less prone to cracking, I don't have anything to give me a good water bath but this has worked well. I think someone else said to throw a metal bowl in a rack below with water in it to raise the humidity if you don't have the container for it
@@moneyboy503 yup Alton Brown does that too! I would recommend for a simple water bath to use a non springform pan for the cheesecake and any larger pan you have at the bottom to contain the water, the non springform pan would prevent water leaking into the cheesecake. Go search Alton Brown cheesecake on RUclips, his video is really informative and funny. I've never had a cheesecake crack once using his recipe. You can also add different fruits and flavours to change up the cheesecake once you're familiar with the basic recipe.
One thing I suggest moving forward with this series would be to ensure that expiration dates are as close to each other as possible.
6:55 Ah, to be back in those times when that was the MOST expensive eggs anyone could find lol
“This is an _ORGANIC_ lemon” 😂😂 I love how he said that
For some reason I think he's aware that organic and GMO aren't any better than normal, and are worse for the environment and needlessly more expensive
@@witiwap86 depends on what they mean by the term organic, but I suspect he cringes more because there are no inorganic lemons.
An interesting challenge would be a synthetic substitution vs whole ingredients. Like vanilla bean vs artificial vanilla, wasabi vs fake wasabi, butter vs margarine, cow milk vs nut milk.
Another interesting challenge would be heritage vs modern ingredients
@@RKBrumbelow The "cheap" lemon he uses isn't organic
@@RKBrumbelowtell you one thing, anything chicken related with heritage chicken breeds you gotta know EXACTLY what breed and age to use them or you’ll get some really off textures 😂😂
I think this was a less than stellar cheesecake recipe, and Good Culture or Nancy's sour cream are the premium, natural tangy sour creams you're looking for.
Spring form pans with water to steam the cheesecakes is the way to go!
I don’t think he’s ready for that complex of a recipe yet. :) I agree though, the fancy cooking method and better recipe makes a difference.
He didn't buy the premium, he bought the name brand.
@@kaldogorath correct.
as for the lemos: there are different breeds of them
so back where i am one of expensive brands is just waaaaay tastier and there is a huge taste difference, but it's not because of "organic"
Before watching. I've done this. Cheesecake is a MASSIVE difference in quality of ingredients.
After watching, still maintain that good ingredients make a huge difference. So does technique and recipe.
I’d appreciate a brand vs basic video of chicken and dumplings. I’d be happy to share my mom’s recipe. It’s great, the dumplings are fluffy not flat, and I’d like the comparison
Great video! I used to watch TKOR and watched for a few months after Nate took over. This is the second video I watch from this channel and I'd say I'm impressed with the quality and how well Nate knows about cooking/baking. Keep it up!
Thank you for not wasting the cooked food. I hate it when other RUclipsrs make so much in a day and obviously don't eat it all.
Adding the zest from the lemons really helps with the taste of a cheesecake
Love your videos
Not sure about in a recipe but from personal experience using LoL butter and Philly cream cheese on waffles, bagels, etc. there's a significant taste difference eating the product straight as it were vs it being mixed into a recipe. Honey Made are also much better than store/generic brands. Using real vanilla makes a difference most of the time.
These are great but would be amazing if you could make a third recipe with a mixture of high and low cost ingredients, this may be a bit less scientific but you could see if a middle ground can be close to or as good as the $$$ version. over time you could find out which ingredients are most important to be the higher priced ones.
Yeah like $ vs $$ vs $$$. Ok it's 3 receipe, but I think there's a reasonable middle ground where you could maximize the bang for buck you get.
Just want to say: I really enjoy the Podcast you have with Calli on Discovery. I'm always listening to it while walking my dog on weekends.
I love these videos so much! You should do a homemade ice cream one too, I’d be very interested to see if ingredients would have a noticeable difference.
For ice cream it definitely will. Ice cream has so few ingredients that there's nothing to really mask the flavor, none of the flavors get lost. Better tasting milk will make a better ice cream.
Anyone else missing the on screen editors comments?
Feels like it adds a lighthearted sense of humour/wholesomeness to the video
You should throw a couple drops of food coloring into this stuff in the future, get some visual representation for the viewers at home as to which your panel of judges are eating. Get a lil red vs blue action going.
if your having issues with the cream cheese not being warm enough when you start blending it has always worked for me
I love this series you should try burgers or hotdogs
I think you should always have a final segment where you specify which individual ingredients make the most difference
Next series: store bought vs homemade
Or pre-made vs homemade
I really love that format! Quite interesting to see such a scientific-like comparison. I don't know if the discussion in the end is just for entertainment, but in case you really want to know a valid result, you should let them write down the individual result before the discussion. There are several group psychology experiments that show that individual oppinios differ quite strongly from oppinions created within a group (and they even persist individually when people are asked AFTER a group discussion)
This is my favorite series on youtube right now and now you're making my favorite dessert
Gotta say those are my favorite supermarket available eggs for just having as eggs. They’re so much richer in flavor and the whites solidify much more readily. They’re a lot heartier.
The age of the eggs is very important for how they set up and act while cooking. The newer the egg the less likely it is for the yolk to break while flipping for fried eggs. Older eggs are easier to peel as hard boiled because the membranes are weaker. You might just be noticing that they're newer/fresher.
The taste, as far as I know, doesn't noticeably change that's definitely a quality thing.
@@witiwap86 age has something to do with it, but free range (really free range where foraging provides a significant portion of their diet) eggs are much better then the factory farm eggs. Farm fresh from a little stand on the side of the road are the best.
@@witiwap86 I’ve also noticed that free range eggs’ whites are significantly less watery than the basic eggs you find at the store, and those $8/dozen eggs are even better.
I have a suspicion that the expensive eggs somehow get around the washing requirement because I’ve had some come with “natural debris” on them. I’m also wondering if amount/duration/intensity of washing has any effect on how watery the eggs’ whites are due to osmosis through the shell.
In regards to age of eggs, I don’t have much control over how fresh they are from the store, but I generally can’t tell any meaningful difference between day-purchased, and the end of the carton ~1 week later.
@@TheRealWilliamWhite I get about 5 eggs a day from my pet chickens. :)
Theres no substitute for Philadelphia cream cheese. The brand name has always been so much smoother imo
My mom and I tried this once, making peanut butter & chocolate chip ice cream and the difference was REALLY significant! Try that next, I'd lo to see your results!
I have an idea for another series for the channel, even though it would be a lot less frequent than this one: "Is homemade better than store-bought?" You would then use the ingredient in a dish, and have another dish with the same ingredient store-bought. OR, where the ingredient or dish allows you, you could expand the current series to compare a cheap ingredient, an expensive ingredient, and a home-made ingredient (maybe aiming for a price lower than the expensive ingredient, as a rough guide which to follow whenever possible). For example, you could make a dish using store-bought cheap and expensive pasta, and create your own pasta of that type (including drying it, if you bought dry pasta), or you could compare store-bought lard or tallow with the same thing you make yourself by rendering the respective kind of meat.
Easy way to make the mixture come together quicker is to whip the cream cheese by itself (adds some air and gets rid of any clumps), add one egg at a time (makes sure that the mixture doesn't become a bunch of clumps of cream cheese floating in eggs) and then everything else can be added at once. It may not seem quicker at first but the time it takes to make it homogeneous is reduced significantly and you can still measure everything before hand.
Just a few tips springform pan is the way to go and for the crust try 160 grams of finely crushed Graham crackers combined with 30 grams of sugar 2 grams of kosher salt and 55 grams of unsalted butter melted dump them into a greased 9" springform pan and press them to the bottom bake the crust at 350° F for 8 mins allow to cool completely before adding the filling and as previously stated room temperature cream cheese is the way to go also add your eggs 1 at a time and then add 1 extra yolk for density and when baking wrap your springform pan in aluminum foil and set it in a Dutch oven or some baking dish big enough to accommodate the springform pan with roughly 1 inch of boiling water to the outside of the springform pan then let them cool in the oven with the door open before moving them best results I've had
The vanilla extract will always be different being that the one that cost more is real from real vanilla bean the cheap is synthetic .
Is this actually cheesecake? Seems closer to what I grew up calling "cream cheese pie", which is my favorite dessert of all time.
It's baked and it has eggs, it's a normal cheesecake. I think what you had is like a no-bake cheesecake or icebox pie, where there are no eggs and it's not baked. That's my guess, and yes it's my favorite, more than "real" cheesecake.
@@kaldogorath Yeah, no eggs or baking the cream cheese pie. Substitute sweetened condensed milk, pour the mixture in a pie crust and chill. It's fantastic.
Bougie vs basics can be a spinoff series
As a diabetic and a level 8 master of cheesecake, I highly recommend using the sponsor in place of the graham crackers for the crust. (Granted, not as good as the grahams, or even better cookies, but it does cut a LOT of carbs.)
Have you tried a few different flavors for it? Just curious. Magic spoon is waaay above my cereal budget alotment.
@@witiwap86 I've tried as many of the flavors as I can. The whole limited time flavor thing really annoys me, because I tend to order several box at a time to get a discount, then they come out with a limited time flavor and I've got six other boxes to eat first. I do sometimes mix it with other cereals, to get something that's lower carb, though not as low carb is the magic spoon. Spoon. To be honest, the magic spoon isn't as good as the real cereals. And it has a weird stickiness to the teeth. However, it's a beep-load healthier, and the flavor sacrifice is worth the car reduction if you can afford it. I do sometimes add a bit of sweetener to the milk, in the form of sugar-free flavored syrups, similar to what torani makes. I find that the cocoa that Mr. From-The-Internet is a fan of is extremely dark and bitter to my taste.
I always use a food processor to blend cheesecake filling. It gets it very smooth before baking.
Love this series... Would love it if you make one final recipe by using the best of both batches to make the the most Optimal one
It looks like things that the texture matter, the price does as well
Because of you I now know what honey maid are, since I avoided them as if they were a rip-off/alternative type of graham crackers.
Going to try just one more time, not trying to be pestering. I would gladly consult for this series for free. I just feel like somebody involved with a broader cooking background can probably help you during production, and prevent the need to redo things. Feel free to let me know the best way of getting in contact.
My biggest issue with this whole premise is just how bad he is at cooking. I know it's amateur but so many simple mistakes that can majorly effect the outcome. Maybe he could do a skilled cook with basic ingredients vs himself with the best.
@@personwhohasnoname That's why I'd like to consult. I feel like some basic guidance would improve the execution and consistency.
you should do one for tea.
What would be interesting is start doing three one the cheapest one the brand and one the most expensive
Agreed!
Editor, thanks for displaying the text on the screen longer in the last few videos. It makes watching much easier!
Nate, great Brand vs Basic comparison.
I've noticed a difference in Golden Brown sugar between C&H vs store brands. The C&H is less grainy and to me has the better flavor.
You're seriously becoming my favorite RUclipsr
I have been really enjoying this series, because this puts a lot of chemistry into practice. Basic molecules like sugar are going to be same from one brand to the next, unless there is some sort of impurities that would alter its chemistry slightly, it is going to function the same. But when it comes to the other ingredients, your chemistry is going to be very different, because with dairy products, what the cows were fed can alter the flavor of the milk they produce, but also the pasteurization process can also alter that chemistry some even though most of the proteins will go back to how they were. For the eggs, it would be a similar thing, the diet of the hens can have pretty drastic effect on the yolk and albumen of the eggs. The shell is just the particular genetics of the hen, there isn't really a "quality" difference there. And with the graham crackers, the ingredients list is likely to be similar but different, and the cooking process and ratio of those ingredients would come into play as well which will give the graham crackers a different texture and flavor.
But yeah, it is really interesting to see how this chemistry plays together once you make a a food product.
I wonder if texture may very much be influenced by a brand. Those brands are around for a long time and had plenty of time to experiment with adding components to their products that prevent unwanted textures, promote smoothness, enhance firmness of the cheesecake and so on. The off-brands often do not bother with extra components as it would increase the price and may fall short in texture and mouthfeel I imagine.
hey nate i have to say as a baker i can advise to split the recepy in half weight of both brand and non brand. to make 1 full recepy by mixing them togetter (crackers where 14 pieces? so 7 non brand and 7 brand but then with the whole recepy)
Something I found out as a person who experiments with cooking is that where the food comes from, not just as in which store, but literally where its sourced makes a better impact than price does. Not as much as how its prepared, but it makes a difference.
A lot of the mid-tier grocery brands are often "White Label" brands, this includes the store brands as well, basically their all made in the same few processing plants, sometimes the same as the name brand ones, but are rebranded. There may be a small quality difference but its not that noticeable. I feel if you really want to see a difference, get the basic store brand stuff but then go out and source the stuff for the expensive one. I mean, go to a local farmers market for the eggs, milk, and veggies if you can, find a butcher for the meats, etc.. This may show a bigger difference than what your doing now.
I've never heard of topping on a cheesecake, but it sounds good.
Also, Honey Maid is the only brand of Graham Crackers. This is a fact. The other things were an illusion.
It's a thing. I've made cheesecake with and without the sour cream topping. I liked them both.
@@skyydancer67 I definitely want to try it with!
It's honestly a first for me to see as well. I have had all sorts of cheese cakes too, from New York, Cali, Florida, Ontario CA. Have had cheesecakes from restaurants, and homemade. So it's clearly not that common from my own experience.
@@SilvyReacts it's a pretty old thing to do, actually. I do think region has to play a factor as well. I'd just like to to what those regions are because... I'm a NYer raised on Junior's. The sour cream topper is nice bit not the norm. I still like it though.
Crackers are already a processed ingredient that has different recipes from brand to brand, so you are going to get a significant difference in taste and texture. The other ingredients are very basic, like butter and sour cream and cream cheese are just different forms of milk, the difference between brands is subtle at best.
where did the snarky editing go? i really enjoy it.
I liked your approach here Nate. Not just going for the most expensive item but more the “ubiquitous” brand. Maybe do all three sometime - cheap, ubiquitous and expensive.
I had another couple of ideas in a similar vein. Tool tests, like Harbor Freight vs Snap-On (as an example), you could see the failure point of a socket with a torque wrench or something.
And, to go along with cooking, Scratch-Made vs Store-Bought. Buy a can of pie filling, then make the same filling from scratch with fruit, sugar, etc., make a pie and compare the two. Or a boxed cake mix vs made from flour, sugar, butter etc..
I love what you’re doing man! Keep it up!
I gotta agree with you about Honey Maid Graham Crackers tasting much better. Other brands just don't taste right. It's also really cool to see how there's just some things that taste the same no matter the price. Expensive lemon juice, taste like lemon juice and cheap lemon juice taste lemon juice, who knew 😂 another great video, keep it up 👍😊
I love this series.
2 suggestions
1) You should revisit this with 2 twists (A) experienced cook vs less experienced ( B ) both use the same ingredients they agree upon from this video that were better and see if that makes a difference.
When it comes to organic lemons and oranges, it depends on how you plan to use them. If I am using the zest or making a citrus- ade, I will use organic as they are not sprayed with pesticide. If you are not using the rind, it doesn't matter.
I will say when it comes to the crackers and butter there is a huge difference, I like to use amish rolled butter personally and yes there is a difference in that
You might want to know that sweetness of sugar is directly affected by it's origin. C&H is a pure cane sugar where as many others are beet sugars which are noticeably less sweet by a factor of 2 or 3 to 1.
I'm from Australia so the way my family make Cheesecake is a little different my mum uses Ginger nut biscuits for the base and always Uses the Philly cream cheese as it works better then the no name brand
A variation on this theme I'd like to see would be organic vs. conventional ingredients
^^^° excellent idea. I too, would love the comparison.
It will make an even smaller difference than the brand names in this test. Have you tried organic and normal things side to side? When I have I couldn't really tell a difference.
@@kaldogorath exactly what we'd expect, but that is the reason to test it.
You could add a little lemon juice to the topping of the daisy sour cream to give it a little tartness. Also, you should find a recipe that uses a Bain Marie in the oven to get even better texture.
I was thinking this, too. Or maybe even just straight citric acid so you get the tartness without making it lemony.
It really depends on what you're making if it REALLY matters . I make a Jalapeno Feta dip where it makes all the difference...
Daisy results in a looser more greek yogurty flavor profile and tends to go bad in about a week. Whereas Breakstones gets a thicker more neutral flavor profile, while lasting significantly longer before going bad. The Jalapenos, if I use a random brand of pickled jalapenos, the flavor varies wildly as does the heat level. Mezetta Tamed Jalapenos give an ideal flavor and a heat level that even those that tried it who don't care for Jalapenos like. I buy Kirkland real Feta in brine from Costco, but have used precrumbled US made 'Feta'. Again it lends a different profile entirely. The precrumbled 'Feta' found in most stores, absorbs water because of the cellulose, it's also not Sheep/Goats milk like the imported Feta. Even here, the brand makes a difference. President precrumbled versus Athenos or others; President was actually pretty decent. I didn't care for the Athenos or random store brand I used, there was just something offputting with the Athenos and it was really dry with the other storebrand. I personally prefer the Brine Feta in general, and for 10 dollars for 4 good sized blocks it's worth it.
Try for yourself if you like:
1 24oz container of Breakstones Sour Cream
1 jar of Mezetta Tamed Jalapenos. Drained and blended in a food processor until the roughly chopped to desired consistency. I like some larger and finer pieces mixed
2 blocks of Feta. Food process until desired consistency, again I like some bigger and finer pieces throughout
1tsp lime juice (optional)
Season with Salt/Pepper/Cayenne/Garlic powder to taste.
In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
Serve with Chips, Tortilla Chips, Veggies, on a Baked Potato, in Mashers, on a Chicken patty... it's very versatile.
Optional, but delicious and recommended add-ins - 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix and or crumbled bacon (Another Costco find, I use a large handful from the bag). To get the idea of what I really mean, stick to the base recipe, then try the extra add ins.
If there's leftovers, store in an airtight container. Seriously, even a friends 2 year old was eating it and loving it.
İ am loving to see you in the youtube i am glad you continuoed film youtube videos
Yoooo thanks for taking my suggestion!!! Or at least hopefully my comment was one of the ones you saw lol
02:00 I would love to have Magic Spoon in France, it seems to be good and less sugary
What you said is correct, but you definitely pay the price. One box is 7oz (198 grams) and costs $10 (9.38 euros).
America's Test Kitchen has great episodes on the best ingredients/brands. And also everything else used in the kitchen. Quality baking pans can also make a big difference in the final outcome of a food.
There's a few select ingredients that makes it worth it to get to improve the better flavor and texture, and save on the other stuff. I would get more the expensive vanilla extract, Philadelphia cream cheese, and the Nabisco Graham crackers. Sugar, butter, flour isn't a deal breaker. I make really good oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and walnuts. I get Quaker quick oats, Guittard chocolate chips, and expensive vanilla extract. Those are the ones I've discovered makes the biggest difference in the final cookie.
Glad to see you getting sponsors 🎆💵💵
An interesting idea could be to make a video of this style, but comparing organic ingredients with... well... not organic ones.
It's not a scientific test but I don't personally notice a difference when eating organic, except in my wallet.
2 things:
1. C & H sugar is cane sugar. More than likely the store brand is beet sugar.
2. As you pointed out, the store brand of vanilla extract has less vanilla flavor the the name brand.
I JUST found your channel from a collaboration you did with the water jet channel. I watched your video about why you’re not at TKOR anymore. Thanks for putting that out there. I was one who felt the content had been “changing” for a while and not for the better. It seemed geared to a much younger audience and was a channel I’d watch while I was “doing something else” rather than one I’d stop what I was doing to watch and learn.
I’d personally like to see you make a few specific videos:
1) A DIY oxygen concentrator.
2) A “potato” gun revolver where each casing held the compressed air to fire each individual shot. so you could quick load 6 shots and each ‘bullet’ had its own compressed air. (i’ve prototyped but not completed) It would operate just like a real revolver but be big! each bullet would be 1” PVC by about 3” long.
3) A drone destroyer. A signal that could be directionally aimed at unwanted drones flying over my house and it would disrupt the signal so it would crash.
4) A foot powered underwater “scuba” tank. You’d use your legs to pull a bladder open from inside a hard case and a tube to the surface would draw air in so you could breathe. The pressure of the water on the bladder would make it the right pressure for you to breathe at the depth you were at.
I have a lot more ideas I’d like to see you do! pick one of these and I’ll send you more :). good luck on this new adventure. I subscribed today and have a bunch to watch and catch up on now!
It's a family tradition to make clam dip on some holidays. We use the cheapest cream cheese for that because it doesn't make a difference. But when you put cream cheese on a bagel Philadelphia cream cheese is much, much better.
I'd like to see you do expensive, brand, and cheap. The most interesting might actually be brand vs expensive.
It depends on the ingredients for me. Cream cheese has to be Philadelphia, the others aren’t as thick or creamy. For the base base, some brands are sweeter than others. Splurge on vanilla, always go extract too. I’m not surprised there was a problem mixing, brands are different so it might not have been your fault!
Nate an Callie were a chapter of youtube for me. Like gmm is now and anton Petrov, ltt, and definitely now Nate. Hope Callie makes future appearances and I really look forward to your videos Nate! Production quality is great btw
There's usually not a ton of difference between (common) name brand and store brand. One thing I do notice a difference in is chocolate milk. I love highland chocolate milk, hate great value, but they have a different fat % and that's how I can tell the difference.
You should do 3 of then. Store brand, brand name, most $$$ at the grocery store (there will be some overlap) a 4th competitor could be the freshest/most local
I would love to see brand vs basic brownies…box mix or from scratch or, ideally, both!
You WASHED the blender between graham crackers?!? Level of dedication I'm not sure I would replicate!
I know we can kind of follow along the video, but it would also be nice if we had the recipe you used posted somewhere.
I enjoy your channel and I enjoy this series. Perhaps you should bring on someone that knows how to cook when doing these. In many recipes, the technique is as, and in some cases more, important than the ingredients. None the less, always an enjoyable watch!
Great episode Nate you have really taken off and are standing tall. You need to include Callie more often, you guys are like Donnie and Marie or better yet Peanut Butter and Jelly you just do so well together. Thank you
Don't know if it matters, but id probably rather see more expensive/less expensive, than actual brand vs basic, regardless of the fact that it's more accurate to the name
As a born-and-bred New Yorker, I can say that my family always uses Land O' Lakes and Honey Maid for the crust, we like to use those fancy free-range eggs, but that Philadelphia cream cheese is never worth it (especially since a proper New York cheese cake uses like 2 pounds of cream cheese). Honestly I prefer the texture of store brand cream cheese most of the time. My family uses our own vanilla extract, and we don't do sour cream topping (my mom likes chocolate and I like blueberry), so I can't speak on those.