Ice Cream Rant (the effect of inflation, and economy woes)

[shardian]

We have been fans of Edy's Ice Cream for 2 years or so now. That stuff is pretty low fat and is the bomb...or at least was. A few weeks ago, we noticed that all the sudden the package size decreased by 20% or so yet the price had went up. It thought WTF?!? So we got by another 2 weeks just by looking for older packs that hadn't been restocked with the smaller ones. Now the smaller packs are all thats on the shelf. We finally decided to take it up the tail pipe since the stuff is so good. Get the stuff home and crack the lid....WTF! It's not even full now! Used to, the packs were full to the brim. Now there is a solid inch of empty space before the lid. So they cut back the size of the package AND no longer fill it all the way up. That would be bad enough right? Well next I noticed the ice cream looks a little different. After tasting it, the first thing that came to mind is "This ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- is watered down!". No joke, there were obvious ice crystals in it now - just like that cheap ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- softserve at fast food restaurants.

So the old addage holds true: They don't make 'em like they used to. :mad:
It seems more and more today that packages are shrinking while the price tags are growing. Where else do you all see this happening?

P.S. Don't buy Edy's! (Blue Bunny is the new fav)

[Ginsu Victim]

Man, that stinks. We only recently discovered Edy's and loved it.

Come to think of it, the last one we bought was different. It was so hard, I couldn't even get it out of the container. That's NEVER been a problem with their product until now.

Blue Bunny rules, though....BUNNY TRACKS! Love it.

[SirPeale]

Hardness of ice cream, believe it or not, is a good thing.  It means it's been kept at a *very* low temperature. 

As for shardian's ice cream, by the sound of it the ice cream got warm and melted a bit, then refroze.  I'd call Edy's and complain, get a free coupon, and try it again from another store.

[mountain]

It's just another example of how the high price of oil trickles down to everything we buy.
Pay close attention to products on the shelf at your favorite grocery store. You will notice almost everything is either going up in price or the package is smaller at the same price.

[Ginsu Victim]

It's just another example of how the high price of oil trickles down to everything we buy.
Pay close attention to products on the shelf at your favorite grocery store. You will notice almost everything is either going up in price or the package is smaller at the same price.

Next time you're at the store, have a glance at all Lay's potato chip products, and boxes of crackers. It's insane.

[TOK]

It's just another example of how the high price of oil trickles down to everything we buy.
Pay close attention to products on the shelf at your favorite grocery store. You will notice almost everything is either going up in price or the package is smaller at the same price.

Next time you're at the store, have a glance at all Lay's potato chip products, and boxes of crackers. It's insane.

Anything corn based is bad, and it's going to get way worse. With all the farmers growing corn for Ethanol instead of consumption, the extra expense of hauling it to the coasts with 5 buck a gallon diesel, and now the floods in the midwest killing crops, its gonna be real bad this summer.

[Ginsu Victim]

It's just another example of how the high price of oil trickles down to everything we buy.
Pay close attention to products on the shelf at your favorite grocery store. You will notice almost everything is either going up in price or the package is smaller at the same price.

Next time you're at the store, have a glance at all Lay's potato chip products, and boxes of crackers. It's insane.

Anything corn based is bad, and it's going to get way worse. With all the farmers growing corn for Ethanol instead of consumption, the extra expense of hauling it to the coasts with 5 buck a gallon diesel, and now the floods in the midwest killing crops, its gonna be real bad this summer.

Did you know it takes 1.25 gallons of gasoline to make ONE gallon of ethanol? Kinda working backwards there, huh?

[Singapura]

"Monday, October 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 508 points to 1,739 (22.6%). Black Monday, as it came to be known, was the largest one-day percentage decline in the history of the U.S. stock market. In the aftermath of the crash, Ben and Jerry sent their “scoop vehicle” to Wall Street to serve free scoops of “That’s Life” and “Economic Crunch” ice cream. Alas, Economic Crunch had a short “flavor life”, and was retired to Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard."

[shardian]

Blue Bunny rules, though....BUNNY TRACKS! Love it.

My wife LOVES that flavor. I call it rabbit poop, mainly because that is what it looks like is mixed in. 

[shardian]

Hardness of ice cream, believe it or not, is a good thing.  It means it's been kept at a *very* low temperature. 

As for shardian's ice cream, by the sound of it the ice cream got warm and melted a bit, then refroze.  I'd call Edy's and complain, get a free coupon, and try it again from another store.

That was the first thing we assumed, and it was obviously not the case. You can tell from texture when ice cream is 'refrozen'. This was definitely the way it was put in the carton initially. We've also gotten it from Walmart and Krogers, and it was the same deal.

[Jdurg]

Did you know it takes 1.25 gallons of gasoline to make ONE gallon of ethanol? Kinda working backwards there, huh?

That's in terms of the actual energy input needed.  If you use hydoelectric energy to power the equipment, or electric vehicles to harvest the corn, etc. etc. then no gasoline is needed at all.  Many of the truly "green" farmers use Biodeisel to power their equipment and that results in little to no gasoline needed at all.  However, it takes some time and patience to create biodeisel and people here in the USA are just looking for a quick buck and that's it.

[SirPeale]

Hardness of ice cream, believe it or not, is a good thing.  It means it's been kept at a *very* low temperature. 

As for shardian's ice cream, by the sound of it the ice cream got warm and melted a bit, then refroze.  I'd call Edy's and complain, get a free coupon, and try it again from another store.

That was the first thing we assumed, and it was obviously not the case. You can tell from texture when ice cream is 'refrozen'. This was definitely the way it was put in the carton initially. We've also gotten it from Walmart and Krogers, and it was the same deal.

That's disappointing.  I've always liked Edy's. 

[shardian]

That's disappointing.  I've always liked Edy's. 

Oh, and I always thought the old Edy's was better after it thawed out a bit and refroze around the edges. It seemed to get creamier.

[Jdurg]

It's a shame that Liquid Nitrogen isn't easier to come by.  Making home-made ice-cream with liquid nitrogen helps cut back on the amount of time you have to wait and the effort involved, plus it makes one hell of a good ice-cream!

[SirPeale]

It's a shame that Liquid Nitrogen isn't easier to come by.  Making home-made ice-cream with liquid nitrogen helps cut back on the amount of time you have to wait and the effort involved, plus it makes one hell of a good ice-cream!

That's on my must-do list of stuff to do in the next ten years.

I don't even know where to get it.  I've looked, but it's pretty controlled.

[Jdurg]

It's a shame that Liquid Nitrogen isn't easier to come by.  Making home-made ice-cream with liquid nitrogen helps cut back on the amount of time you have to wait and the effort involved, plus it makes one hell of a good ice-cream!

That's on my must-do list of stuff to do in the next ten years.

I don't even know where to get it.  I've looked, but it's pretty controlled.

If you go to an industrial gas supplier they can get it for you, but you have to have a container that is licensed for carrying liquid nitrogen.  Those things are pretty damned expensive.  (I've seen them upwards of $800 for one small container).  The liquid nitrogen itself is pretty cheap and not regulated in any manner since nitrogen itself is actually pretty inert unless you have it around other chemicals that would react with it.  Those chemicals aren't that easy to come by.  The expense lies in the fact that if you put a lot of liquid nitrogen in a container that isn't designed to hold it, you run the risk of a pressure build up and explosion as the liquid boils.  The liability involved is HUGE which is why most suppliers won't even consider selling to the general public unless they have a certified container licensed for transport of liquid N2.

But, if you are able to get a hold of some it makes some incredible ice-cream.  The crystalization of the cream forms microscopic crystals that give it an incredibly smooth texture.  The problem is that after you make it, you actually have to let it warm up since initially it will be a hundred degrees or so below the freezing point!  Also, it MUST be made outside since you could potentially suffocate with all the N2 that boils off.

[JimmyU]

It's a shame that Liquid Nitrogen isn't easier to come by.  Making home-made ice-cream with liquid nitrogen helps cut back on the amount of time you have to wait and the effort involved, plus it makes one hell of a good ice-cream!

That's on my must-do list of stuff to do in the next ten years.

I don't even know where to get it.  I've looked, but it's pretty controlled.

If you ever watching cooking shows where chefs are using liquid nitrogen, they're never wearing the proper protection.  If any of that gets into your eyes, you can your eyesight good-bye.

[SirPeale]

So how much does it cost?

[Jdurg]

Liquid N2 costs anywhere from $0.30 to $1.50 per liter depending on the source.  So it's pretty damned cheap and you don't need a whole lot to make some ice-cream.

With regards to getting it in your eye, it's not like adding water to hot oil where it will jump up and nail you in the face.  In reality, if you got it in your eye it would just freeze the water in your eyeball and temporarily blind you.  As your flesh thaws out, your vision would return.  It's not like lye which will chemically destroy your eyes.

[SirPeale]

Neat!  Now to find a source.

Maybe I'll just make the ice cream at the place they sell the LN₂.  Have them dump it right into the mixture.  Has to warm up anyway, right? 

[shardian]

Neat!  Now to find a source.

Maybe I'll just make the ice cream at the place they sell the LN₂.  Have them dump it right into the mixture.  Has to warm up anyway, right? 

Yeah! Their liability insurance won't mind at all! 

[tk_42_1]

Hardness of ice cream, believe it or not, is a good thing.  It means it's been kept at a *very* low temperature. 

As for shardian's ice cream, by the sound of it the ice cream got warm and melted a bit, then refroze.  I'd call Edy's and complain, get a free coupon, and try it again from another store.

That was the first thing we assumed, and it was obviously not the case. You can tell from texture when ice cream is 'refrozen'. This was definitely the way it was put in the carton initially. We've also gotten it from Walmart and Krogers, and it was the same deal.

That's disappointing.  I've always liked Edy's. 

Just noticed that Breyer's has followed suite and reduced their size down to 1.5 quarts on all their flavors not just the novelty flavors.  At least here is Florida, Publix Premium ice cream is still a half gallon and blows away any other name brand.

[Ginsu Victim]

Hardness of ice cream, believe it or not, is a good thing.  It means it's been kept at a *very* low temperature. 

As for shardian's ice cream, by the sound of it the ice cream got warm and melted a bit, then refroze.  I'd call Edy's and complain, get a free coupon, and try it again from another store.

That was the first thing we assumed, and it was obviously not the case. You can tell from texture when ice cream is 'refrozen'. This was definitely the way it was put in the carton initially. We've also gotten it from Walmart and Krogers, and it was the same deal.

That's disappointing.  I've always liked Edy's. 

Just noticed that Breyer's has followed suite and reduced their size down to 1.5 quarts on all their flavors not just the novelty flavors.  At least here is Florida, Publix Premium ice cream is still a half gallon and blows away any other name brand.

Yep, noticed Breyers too. Good weight loss program, because you either get less or just get mad and don't buy it.

[Daniel270]

It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to learn to make your own at home, whether you use a standard ice cream maker or something that uses Nitrogen

[shardian]

It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to learn to make your own at home, whether you use a standard ice cream maker or something that uses Nitrogen

Meh, Walmart has Bluebunny Gallon buckets for $5-$6. You can't make a gallon of good homeade Icecream for $5.

I'll reconsider once that last bastion of tasty/somewhat low cost ice cream barrier is broken.

[SithMaster]

I think it has less to do with the economy and oil costs with the fact being that these ice cream companies are just making the sizes smaller and charging the same/more.

Just wait for the sales for 2-3 dollar blue bunny.

[Cakemeister]

The local newspaper had an article on this very topic this past weekend.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/5861211.html

Blue Bell FTW!

[saint]

I first noticed it with Skippy low fat peanut butter a few months ago. They had a new shaped container that has a narrower middle but same sized top/bottom. It held 1.5 ounces less peanut butter than the old container. The price was exactly the same, and in fact they had both side by side while they finished out their old stock. I pointed it out to my kids as a lesson in economics and marketing.

[2600]

There was mention of this on the radio a week or two ago, but they were talking about beer in restaurants.  Some restaurants are switching their glasses to "falsies".  The glass looks the same but the bottom is thicker.  I believe they hold 2 ounces less.

[tk_42_1]

Not to get off topic but what happened to my "Personalized Picture."  It somehow got changed over the weekend and I didn't change it.

[ChadTower]

Not to get off topic but what happened to my "Personalized Picture."  It somehow got changed over the weekend and I didn't change it.

It's still there... but now there is 1.5oz less of it.

[saint]

Not to get off topic but what happened to my "Personalized Picture."  It somehow got changed over the weekend and I didn't change it.

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_message_rules.html

3. Keep the avatars and signatures PG-13 please. Women and young people visit here as well as adult males. Some people will be checking the forums at work or in front of their spouses/children. Please avoid the cheesecake, sexually suggestive, and graphically violent avatars/signatures. If that's a bit too Disneyland for you I'm sorry, but I want everyone to feel welcome here. I will personally miss some of the racier avatars though . . . Deep and heavy sigh...

[Ummon]

I normally stay out of here but in looking for a thread of my own this thread rather called to me. You don't know real ice cream unless it's at least 16 grams of fat per serving. However, the creme de la creme - heheh - is 24.