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Why does nobody warn you that dollar store spices are a total scam
I used to laugh at my buddy Dave for driving 20 minutes to the Indian grocery on Devon Ave in Chicago just to buy cumin, because the $1 jar at the dollar store seemed like the same thing. Then I ran out of paprika mid-batch of chili last month and borrowed his, and the difference hit me in like two seconds, his was bright red and smelled like actual peppers while mine was dusty brown and tasted like sawdust. I checked the label and my cheap jar was mostly salt and anti-caking junk with paprika listed near the bottom, so I was basically paying for red sand. Now I do the math, $6 for a big bag at the ethnic market beats $1 for a tiny fake jar any day. Has anyone else gotten burned by dollar store spices, or did I just buy a bad batch?
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the_julia1mo ago
Man, I gotta push back a little here because a $1 jar of paprika is still paprika, just older and weaker, not some evil trick. Yeah the cheap stuff fades faster and has fillers, but if you're dumping it in chili with a ton of other spices, most people won't taste the gap. Your buddy's jar being better doesn't mean the dollar store is scamming anyone, it just means you get what you pay for.
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