Thread: Beef Base Mix - a blind tasting

On Mar 27, 8:06*pm, "Kent" <keh6...@ana.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion" thread
> let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out all the
> bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste test.
> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
> ?
> 1. * *"Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
> unquestionably the winner
> 2. * *Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweet taste, a
> somewhat distant number 2.
> 3. * *HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
> seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
> 4. * *Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and couldnot
> be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
> 5. * *Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it
>
> We both felt they're all pretty marginal. The producer puts in a tiny bitof
> beef to it can be called beef, and mixes in a mixture of this and that to
> mimic beef seasoning.
>
> Kent

What do you think of tetrapak beef broth? I'm thinking of buying this
organic stuff they've got at the health food store. Last time I was
there, I forgot to look at the label, so I'm not sure how much crap is
in it. It was low sodium. I'd rather salt it to taste if at all. I
think a litre (roughly a quart) was $4.49. Not really cheap.

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:06:17 -0700, Kent wrote:

> Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion" thread
> let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out all the
> bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste test.
> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.

> ?
> 1. "Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
> unquestionably the winner
> 2. Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweet taste, a
> somewhat distant number 2.
> 3. HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
> seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
> 4. Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and could not
> be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
> 5. Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it

Do you mean Minors "Beef Au Jus Concentrate"? if so, then it's not
fair pitting that against other beef bases since it's not.

It's no surprise that BTB was the best tasting since it was the only
one in the running. Did you really think buillion had a chance?

-sw

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:06:17 -0700, Kent wrote:

> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.

No, THIS is just like ATK: (beef bases reviewed)
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tast...sp?docid=25937

-sw

On Mar 27, 7:06*pm, "Kent" <keh6...@ana.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion" thread
> let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out all the
> bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste test.
> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
> ?
> 1. * *"Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
> unquestionably the winner
> 2. * *Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweet taste, a
> somewhat distant number 2.
> 3. * *HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
> seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
> 4. * *Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and couldnot
> be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
> 5. * *Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it
>
> We both felt they're all pretty marginal. The producer puts in a tiny bitof
> beef to it can be called beef, and mixes in a mixture of this and that to
> mimic beef seasoning.

Just curious: why are you putting beef base in Stroganoff?

On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:15:46 -0700 (PDT), projectile vomit chick
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mar 27, 7:06*pm, "Kent" <keh6...@ana.yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion" thread
>> let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out all the
>> bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste test.
>> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
>> ?
>> 1. * *"Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
>> unquestionably the winner
>> 2. * *Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweet taste, a
>> somewhat distant number 2.
>> 3. * *HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
>> seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
>> 4. * *Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and could not
>> be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
>> 5. * *Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it
>>
>> We both felt they're all pretty marginal. The producer puts in a tiny bit of
>> beef to it can be called beef, and mixes in a mixture of this and that to
>> mimic beef seasoning.
>
>Just curious: why are you putting beef base in Stroganoff?

Kent's making the sauce (anoff), he can't afford the beef (Strog).

"projectile vomit chick" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On Mar 27, 7:06 pm, "Kent" <keh6...@ana.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion"
> thread
> let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out all
> the
> bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste
> test.
> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
> ?
> 1. "Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
> unquestionably the winner
> 2. Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweet taste, a
> somewhat distant number 2.
> 3. HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
> seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
> 4. Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and could not
> be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
> 5. Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it
>
> We both felt they're all pretty marginal. The producer puts in a tiny bit
> of
> beef to it can be called beef, and mixes in a mixture of this and that to
> mimic beef seasoning.

>Just curious: why are you putting beef base in Stroganoff?
>
>
For the beef stock in the recipe. Almost all recipes for Stroganoff include
beef stock.

Kent

On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:12:54 -0700, Kent wrote:

> For the beef stock in the recipe. Almost all recipes for Stroganoff include
> beef stock.

She/he/it has a good point (PVC).

According to Google, of the 847,000 recipes for Beef Stroganoff
708,000 of them DO NOT contain the word stock or broth.

-sw

On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:28:07 -0500, Sqwertz <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:12:54 -0700, Kent wrote:
>
>> For the beef stock in the recipe. Almost all recipes for Stroganoff include
>> beef stock.
>
>She/he/it has a good point (PVC).
>
>According to Google, of the 847,000 recipes for Beef Stroganoff
>708,000 of them DO NOT contain the word stock or broth.

Liking smaller sample, I looked at my hard drive. My tried and
true recipes-- One with, one without.

Then to my new MC11-- search for stroganoff;
11 stroganoff recipes; stock, base, broth, nada, broth, bullion,
[cream of mushroom soup & dried onion soup--- with chicken!], can of
cream soup, nada, [canned soup-- and halibut], nada-- but it's a
stroganoff sandwich.

So of the 11, 3 have nothing-- but one is a sandwich. A few have
canned soup-- but most have some sort of broth, base, whatever.

So Kent should have stuck with 'For the recipe.' Let's sue him.
He might be right that 'almost all' use something-- I'll say many. . .
maybe a majority. . .

Jim

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:11:42 -0400, Jim Elbrecht <[email protected]>
wrote:

> On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:28:07 -0500, Sqwertz <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:12:54 -0700, Kent wrote:
> >
> >> For the beef stock in the recipe. Almost all recipes for Stroganoff include
> >> beef stock.
> >
> >She/he/it has a good point (PVC).
> >
> >According to Google, of the 847,000 recipes for Beef Stroganoff
> >708,000 of them DO NOT contain the word stock or broth.
>
> Liking smaller sample, I looked at my hard drive. My tried and
> true recipes-- One with, one without.
>
> Then to my new MC11-- search for stroganoff;
> 11 stroganoff recipes; stock, base, broth, nada, broth, bullion,
> [cream of mushroom soup & dried onion soup--- with chicken!], can of
> cream soup, nada, [canned soup-- and halibut], nada-- but it's a
> stroganoff sandwich.
>
> So of the 11, 3 have nothing-- but one is a sandwich. A few have
> canned soup-- but most have some sort of broth, base, whatever.
>
> So Kent should have stuck with 'For the recipe.' Let's sue him.
> He might be right that 'almost all' use something-- I'll say many. . .
> maybe a majority. . .
>
Don't you just love the nit picking that certain people do on rfc?
It's the same people over and over. Good god.


--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Mar 27, 7:06*pm, "Kent" <keh6...@ana.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion" thread
> let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out all the
> bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste test.
> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
> ?
> 1. * *"Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
> unquestionably the winner
> 2. * *Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweet taste, a
> somewhat distant number 2.
> 3. * *HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
> seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
> 4. * *Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and couldnot
> be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
> 5. * *Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it
>
> We both felt they're all pretty marginal. The producer puts in a tiny bitof
> beef to it can be called beef, and mixes in a mixture of this and that to
> mimic beef seasoning.
>
> Kent

I'm partial to all the "better than" pastes. I think they are
superior to (especially) the bouillon cubes. I usually use purchased
beef stock, and add in the paste.

N.

On Mar 27, 10:05*pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
> On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:06:17 -0700, Kent wrote:
> > Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
>
> No, THIS is just like ATK: (beef bases reviewed)http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tast...sp?docid=25937
>
> -sw

They didn't rate BTB.

N.

On Mar 28, 1:15*am, projectile vomit chick
<projektilevomitch...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Mar 27, 7:06*pm, "Kent" <keh6...@ana.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion" thread
> > let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out allthe
> > bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste test.
> > Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
> > ?
> > 1. * *"Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
> > unquestionably the winner
> > 2. * *Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweettaste, a
> > somewhat distant number 2.
> > 3. * *HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
> > seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
> > 4. * *Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and could not
> > be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
> > 5. * *Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it
>
> > We both felt they're all pretty marginal. The producer puts in a tiny bit of
> > beef to it can be called beef, and mixes in a mixture of this and that to
> > mimic beef seasoning.
>
> Just curious: *why are you putting beef base in Stroganoff?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Beef Stroganoff recipes usually call for beef base or beef broth. At
least the different ones I've seen do....

N.

On Mar 29, 11:27*am, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:11:42 -0400, Jim Elbrecht <elbre...@email.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:28:07 -0500, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost>
> > wrote:
>
> > >On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:12:54 -0700, Kent wrote:
>
> > >> For the beef stock in the recipe. Almost all recipes for Stroganoff *include
> > >> beef stock.
>
> > >She/he/it has a good point (PVC).
>
> > >According to Google, of the 847,000 recipes for Beef Stroganoff
> > >708,000 of them DO NOT contain the word stock or broth.
>
> > Liking smaller sample, I looked at my hard drive. * * My tried and
> > true recipes-- One with, *one without.
>
> > Then to my new MC11-- search for stroganoff;
> > 11 stroganoff recipes; stock, base, broth, nada, broth, bullion,
> > [cream of mushroom soup & dried onion soup--- with chicken!], can of
> > cream soup, nada, [canned soup-- and halibut], nada-- but it's a
> > stroganoff sandwich.
>
> > So of the 11, 3 have nothing-- but one is a sandwich. * *A few have
> > canned soup-- but most have some sort of broth, base, whatever.
>
> > So Kent should have stuck with 'For the recipe.' * Let's sue him.
> > He might be right that 'almost all' use something-- I'll say many. . .
> > maybe a majority. . .
>
> Don't you just love the nit picking that certain people do on rfc?
> It's the same people over and over. *Good god.
>
> --
>
> Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I'd like to see Proj. Chick's beef stroganoff recipe - is it just beef
pieces slathered with sour cream?

N.

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:56:19 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I'd like to see Proj. Chick's beef stroganoff recipe - is it just beef
> pieces slathered with sour cream?

Fat chance. It's too easy to take shots at the recipes others post.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

"Nancy2" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On Mar 27, 7:06 pm, "Kent" <keh6...@ana.yahoo.com> wrote:
> Tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. The great "Beef Base Mix Opinion"
> thread
> let me to do something I'd been thinking about for years. I dug out all
> the
> bouillon products in the pantry, mixed them up, and did a blind taste
> test.
> Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
> ?
> 1. "Better than Bouillon" had some genuine beef flavor of sorts and was
> unquestionably the winner
> 2. Minor's beef extract had less beef flavor, and a slight sweet taste, a
> somewhat distant number 2.
> 3. HerbOx cubes tasted like brown water with salt and some obscure
> seasoning. We wouldn't use it.
> 4. Wyler's granules are the same, with salt, seasonings, and could not
> be identified as beef. Same as #3. We wouldn't use it
> 5. Bovril Beef concentrate; slightly bitter taste; avoid it
>
> We both felt they're all pretty marginal. The producer puts in a tiny bit
> of
> beef to it can be called beef, and mixes in a mixture of this and that to
> mimic beef seasoning.
>
> Kent

I'm partial to all the "better than" pastes. I think they are
superior to (especially) the bouillon cubes. I usually use purchased
beef stock, and add in the paste.

N.
>
>
I do the same, just to zip it up a bit. What brand of canned stock do you
use? I tried "Asian Taste" from Ranch 99 recently and feel it's a bit more
beefy than Campbells, and less expensive. They were out this weekend in
Concord.

K,

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:52:59 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm partial to all the "better than" pastes. I think they are
> superior to (especially) the bouillon cubes. I usually use purchased
> beef stock, and add in the paste.

Honestly, I bought all of the "better than" flavors and was surprised
at how pedestrian they are. I'd rather use the jar of Knorr granules
(Caldo de Tamate is my favorite) that I buy at the Mexican market.
They have just as much meat/veg flavor and I can keep them on a
cupboard shelf instead of taking up valuable refrigerator space.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:54:09 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mar 27, 10:05*pm, Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
> > On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:06:17 -0700, Kent wrote:
> > > Mrs. was the blind taster, just like "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.
> >
> > No, THIS is just like ATK: (beef bases reviewed)http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tast...sp?docid=25937
> >
> > -sw
>
> They didn't rate BTB.
>
Aren't those all liquid stock in a box? I only have two choices for
stock in a box: Swanson's and Organics. I use Organics because their
salt content per 1 cup serving is significantly less than Swanson's...
570 mg per serving vs Swanson's 800+.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:12:43 -0700, "Kent" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I do the same, just to zip it up a bit. What brand of canned stock do you
> use? I tried "Asian Taste" from Ranch 99 recently and feel it's a bit more
> beefy than Campbells, and less expensive. They were out this weekend in
> Concord.

Asian Taste, huh? Is that liquid or granules? I need to get to 99
Ranch soon.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

"sf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:52:59 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'm partial to all the "better than" pastes. I think they are
>> superior to (especially) the bouillon cubes. I usually use purchased
>> beef stock, and add in the paste.
>
> Honestly, I bought all of the "better than" flavors and was surprised
> at how pedestrian they are. I'd rather use the jar of Knorr granules
> (Caldo de Tamate is my favorite) that I buy at the Mexican market.
> They have just as much meat/veg flavor and I can keep them on a
> cupboard shelf instead of taking up valuable refrigerator space.
>
> --
>
We haunt the Mexican markets a fair amount. Their bouillon products are
invariably Knorr, which I also feel to be of good quality. I'm going to try
the Knorr beef again. What's interesting, I think, is that in the Mexican
markets you find Knorr, ham, pork, shrimp, seafood, and other bouillon
granules. The ham granules are good. I use them in ham and pea soup. They
also come large containers, so you can always have it on hand and use just
what you want. Throw in a 1/2 tsp more, etc.

K,