Milk prices at wegmans!! (Alexandria, Woodbridge: how much, live in, costs)

[vermonter16]

My husband can tell you that I never cooked until Wegmans came to town! I would get something frozen and throw it in the oven. The only cooking that would happen is when he would do it. When Wegmans opened - I loved it so much I started cooking just because the store inspired me, not to mention some great recipes in their Menu book. Those who say that Wegmans is expensive and can't afford to shop there (like my neighbor who shopped at Bloom) haven't really shopped at Wegmans. Their grocery items are noticeably cheaper on most items and their produce is competitive and of good quality. It is one stop shopping for me. Yes, you can spend a lot of money if you buy their already prepared meals and bakery items. Their fish is a bit more $$ but soooo fresh. And as someone mentioned earlier - their store brands ROCK! From the spaghetti sauce to the mayo!

As for the milk taste - I have always tasted milk that was 'off' so to speak no matter where I bought it from. And the OP was right that it is fine - it has to do with what the cow is eating. If you want spot on milk all the time than you'd want to go organic.

[vermonter16]

Oh yeah - and Wegmans is the only place that i know of where you can get REAL cheese curds! Not the curds you find in the regular dairy section in a store....those taste nothing like the cheese curds that come in from New York or Wisconsin. So, if there are some of you that have lived in Poutine country and want to make it - you can get the curds from Wegmans!

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by RiotAct41

what I always wonder is, why is whole milk the most expensive at Wegmans, and the skim milk the cheapest? Wouldn't whole milk involve less processing (to take out the fat) and therefore be cheaper, you'd think?

The milkfat can be used in other products.

[HEATHER72]

Originally Posted by VAFan

Off topic a little, but there was a pretty nice Shoppers in Gainesville (as far as Shoppers is concerned) but they are closing and I think they just couldn't compete with the Wegmans that was built.

I wasn't fond of that Shoppers in Gainesville. I liked when they doubled coupons for $1 and that's what brought me in. What I would find is disgusting bathrooms with no TP and out of date produce & meat. I even brought these things to the attention of the manager and the customer service desk, but they just gave me the run around. Whatever. Good riddance. Long live Wegmans!

[finecognac]

Originally Posted by RiotAct41

what I always wonder is, why is whole milk the most expensive at Wegmans, and the skim milk the cheapest? Wouldn't whole milk involve less processing (to take out the fat) and therefore be cheaper, you'd think?

All milk you buy at super market involve the same processing. When the milk arrive at the processing center, all the milk fat are separate from the milk. The milk are pasteurized while the milk fat are homogenized. Skim milk are added dried powered milk to give mouth feel while a percentage of homogenized fat is added to "whole" milk to get it to 3.5%. The left over milk fat are used to make butter, heavy cream, etc.

BTW, It's not true milk taste different because the feeds. All of the milk you buy from supermarkets are fed the same formula in CAFO feedlots. It's not varied with seasons and the milk are spooled together from thousands of sources.

Another thing that irk me is that people are willing to buy the most expensive car they can afford and yet seek out for the cheapest foods available. Of all the things we spend money on, food is the only thing directly nourishing us and yet we jump in joy to pay 2.00 for a gallon of milk. Something is definitely off here!

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by finecognac

BTW, It's not true milk taste different because the feeds. All of the milk you buy from supermarkets are fed the same formula in CAFO feedlots. It's not varied with seasons and the milk are spooled together from thousands of sources.

Ok, then for some reason, whatever Wegman's is doing is making the milk taste bad on most of the gallons I purchase (as well as the half gallons I was taking into work). It's not just me that thinks it either. I still would like to know what causes it when I never have a problem with milk from, say, Shoppers or Giant.

[finecognac]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

Ok, then for some reason, whatever Wegman's is doing is making the milk taste bad on most of the gallons I purchase (as well as the half gallons I was taking into work). It's not just me that thinks it either. I still would like to know what causes it when I never have a problem with milk from, say, Shoppers or Giant.

Define bad ? Does it taste burnt ? Different pasteurization techniques can affect the taste of the milk. Ultra-homogenization definitely affect the taste. Check the expiration date. If it's longer than Giant or Shopper then it's the processing.

[finini01]

Originally Posted by finecognac

Another thing that irk me is that people are willing to buy the most expensive car they can afford and yet seek out for the cheapest foods available. Of all the things we spend money on, food is the only thing directly nourishing us and yet we jump in joy to pay 2.00 for a gallon of milk. Something is definitely off here!

this is why i drive a 1993 volvo with 200,000 miles on it.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by finecognac

Define bad ? Does it taste burnt ? Different pasteurization techniques can affect the taste of the milk. Ultra-homogenization definitely affect the taste. Check the expiration date. If it's longer than Giant or Shopper then it's the processing.

No it doesn't taste burnt. But it has a very strong taste. *Almost* like it's sour or going bad but not quite that intensity. Most good milk that I have doesn't really have a discernable flavor. This is very strong and overpowers my cereal. At its worst, I can't even tolerate it in my tea.

As I said before, I started thinking I was crazy until my friend had the same experience. I was then talking to my parents about it and they told me that they won't buy milk from Wegman's anymore because of the taste.

I then looked it up on the internet and found it's quite an issue with many people. Not just at Wegman's but Target's brand seems to be a big offender too.

I wonder if it's just that there is some sort of flavor in some milks that *some* people have the ability to taste and others don't?

[vermonter16]

If you search around enough you'll find that every grocery store is mentioned at some point. What you can do and any others that find that Wegmans milk tastes 'funny' is send them an email. They WILL respond to it.

Personally, I have had a problem with every single 'brand' of milk at some point in time. That's why I went organic. I find organic milk has a very consistent taste. I've been dealing with the 'funny' tasting milk my whole life! And I have had a lot of milk growing up in the state of Vermont.