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Just realized that adding a full cup of cheap vodka to my pie dough last Thanksgiving made it the flakiest crust I've ever made (and I'm still mad about it).
I was out of vodka for a party and grabbed a bottle of the bottom-shelf stuff for $8, then decided to use it in my dough on a whim, and the result was so much better than my usual high-end brand that it's honestly kind of annoying. Has anyone else had a cheap ingredient completely out-perform the fancy version you swore by?
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gracej996mo ago
Switched to generic store-brand vanilla and my cookies finally taste like my grandma's.
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kevint475mo ago
Honestly, that makes so much sense. I bet a lot of those old family recipes were built around simple, basic ingredients you could get anywhere. Ngl, I feel a little cheated by all the fancy marketing now. Good for you, @gracej99, for figuring that out and getting that real taste back. It's kind of cool how the plain stuff can win.
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jesse_lopez146mo ago
Wait, the store brand? I've been buying the fancy stuff in the little glass bottle for years because I thought it mattered. You're telling me the cheap stuff in the plastic bottle is the secret? My mind is kind of blown. I always figured that was just for people who didn't care about flavor. Maybe the simple extract is closer to what was actually used back in the day.
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theacooper6mo ago
Read an article once that said cheap vodka works better for pie crust because it's more neutral. The expensive stuff has more flavor compounds from the distilling process, and those can actually develop gluten. The cheap, harsh alcohol is almost pure ethanol and water, which evaporates faster and leaves more air pockets.
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