SCORE!

[Jenise]

So yesterday I had myriad stops to make while out gathering groceries for Thursday's paella. One stop was going to be Costco for chicken broth which I consider better than most at a good price, even though saltier than I would prefer, but they were closed due to the holiday. Never even dawned on me. So I ended up at the local Kroger chain and heart be still what did I find? Progresso low sodium clearance-priced at $2/qt. (Ditto the regular beef and chicken, but Iwasn't interested in those.)

Of all the commercial chicken broths I've ever used it was my favorite but I haven't seen it in 7 or 8 years. It's the ONLY low sodium broth that doesn't taste like the reduction was achieved simply by adding water to the regular broth. I had to round up a store employee and a ladder (it was on the top shelf, I couldn't reach beyond the first row, but I got all two dozen. It's probably a 3 year supply and yes home-made is better but one always needs this kind of thing on standby. And winter-soup weather's coming.

Have you tried Kitchen Basics Beef and Chicken low-sodium stocks? They are my preference when I am out of homemade.

I used to buy Rachael Rey stock but my supermarket stopped carrying it. I've switched to College Inn, but I'll give Progresso a try, if I can find it.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Have you tried Kitchen Basics Beef and Chicken low-sodium stocks? They are my preference when I am out of homemade.

Yes and I don't care for them. Progresso rules!

Yeah, the Rachel Ray brand used to be good; can't find it anymore. I haven't tried Progresso or College Inn for a long time but I've been happy with Kitchen Basics in recent years.

At our local Korger, the Progress discontinuation price is $2.39. Somehow we always seem to get charged more for less!!!

[Jenise]

At our local Korger, the Progress discontinuation price is $2.39. Somehow we always seem to get charged more for less!!!

Probably the same here. It was $2 and some change--I didn't remember the exact amount and just rounded down in my description. Regular price had been $2.99, though: I was just so happy to find it at any price, but it was a bonus that it was marked down. Not a lot of savings but 20%, and that added up for two cases.

During yesterday's shopping I checked the soup aisle and found out that they do carry Progresso chicken broth. I found the simplicity of the ingredients list attractive (that's what originally drew me to Rachel Ray). I will definitely try it out.

-Paul W.

I'm a dedicated stock/broth maker, and usually have many quarts in freezer, but if I run short will try Progresso.
I think last time I ran out I did Swanson's, which Serious Eats had as winner.

[Jenise]

I'm a dedicated stock/broth maker, and usually have many quarts in freezer, but if I run short will try Progresso.
I think last time I ran out I did Swanson's, which Serious Eats had as winner.

Dale, I am too but I've never been able to make enough to keep up with my needs. Even more true now that I'm not cooking for two. I always thought that Swanson was an okay brand but fairly middle of the road compared to some I liked better, but the last time I bought Swanson, it was an ugly milky white so now it's on my Never Again list.

If any of you purchase rotisserie chicken, do you simmer the carcass to make chicken stock? I don’t buy them as often as I used to. But when I used to purchase them to make chicken salad and for a quick meal on the weekend, I found I ended up with a tremendous amount of chicken stock as a result. The bonus was that those chickens are brined/seasoned before they are roasted which makes for a robust bone broth.

[Jenise]

Jo Ann, that's a yes from me or at least it used to be so. Would never let those bones (and the skin) go to waste.

Jeff, I see the Rachael Ray Chicken and Beef Stock is available online at different places...I checked Amazon, and they said the product was not available.

Yes to making stock from a rotisserie chicken carcass. I don't buy rotisserie chickens very often, but when I do it's the signal to get out all those frozen packets of wing tips, etc. and make a batch of stock.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Jeff, I see the Rachael Ray Chicken and Beef Stock is available online at different places...I checked Amazon, and they said the product was not available.

Karen, as I discovered in my search for that Canadian marmalade I fell in love with a year or so ago, and before that the Chinese chili paste I so love, a lot of sites will be out of something because it's actually no longer in production but still show it on their website. It's in their best interests to do so as maybe you'll buy a substitute or other things once there.

I never saw that product here on the west coast myself, and perhaps it's no longer around: without the TV shows, Rachel Inc. isn't the draw it once was, even to her fans.

I don't think I've ever seen Progresso chicken broth (or maybe I just never noticed it). We usually buy flats of Swanson's from Costco.

And we also always make stock from rotisserie chicken carcasses.

Now that our son is fully grown, I don't find much call to buy rotisserie chicken any more, though I still do roast whole chicken in the colder months of the year. But, yes, rotisserie chicken carcasses would go into the stock pot along with the leftovers of every other chicken thing I'd cook.

Stocking of roasty carcasses here, too.

I will buy a roast bird occasionally, typically if I want highly-seasoned meat to integrate into some other recipe. It's a whole lot quicker than doing it myself.

Jeff, I see the Rachael Ray Chicken and Beef Stock is available online at different places...I checked Amazon, and they said the product was not available.

Thanks for checking for me.

It isn't clear whether or not Rachael Ray chicken and beef stocks are still being marketed. There are web pages for them at the Rachael Ray website. There are also a raft of blog postings reporting that they are suddenly unavailable at the poster's local retailer. They are no longer available at my local supermarket here in southern NH (Market Basket).

-Paul W.