Which organic products have "failed" you?

jnbythesea · **Which organic products have "failed" you?**

Or- should I call this my popcorn rant? We do a lot of air popped pop corn here, and recently I bought some bulk organic kernels for 99 cents per lb. But they won't pop! Only about half of the kernels will pop from each batch. I have always heard that with popcorn, brand really does matter. I have fairly good luck with Bilo's brand (KaPop), but yesterday I bough a jar of Orville Redenbacher because I just want some good popcorn (and, of course, it had to be much more expensive than the organic stuff

).

Anyway, that got me thinking- what products have you tried and then given up?
I have bought some very weird tasting granola bars at Whole Foods in the past. And, I don't know why, but organic tomatoes seem to go bad on the way home in the car

Cookie2 · 08-25-2007, 04:03 PM

Your popcorn is dried out. I know that seems weird but popcorn needs some humidity in the kernals to pop. If the stock isn't rotated frequently enough, or if it isn't stored properly (which may have happened with the bulk stuff), then it dries out too much. We store our popcorn - which we use frequently - with a damp clay moisturizer in the container. It is the same thing that is meant for keeping brown sugar soft. Of course, you have to be careful that your popcorn doesn't get too wet. You don't want it to mold.

Anyway, try adding a little humidity to the container with one of those brown sugar keepers and your organic popcorn might start popping again.

As for which organic products have failed us - I can think of several. Some organic, vegetarian or 'natural' products simply don't taste that good. Several of the brands of soy or vegetarian meat substitutes come to mind. And at our natural food store they have a local brand of bagel that they sell. They store the bagels in the freezer case because they have no preservatives in them. However, it seems I can't get half way into using them before they go moldy - and I store all my bread in the refrigerator. Nothing should go moldy that fast so I stopped buying that brand of bagels. Too bad because they are really good.

As for your tomatoes - store them upside down which is on their stems. Store most produce this way and they will last longer. Also, never store tomatoes near any other produce, especially apples or potatoes.

Stormy · 08-26-2007, 05:47 AM

Ooooo I've got a good popcorn for you. Let me run to my pantry and see what it is [runs to pantry]...ok I'm back

It is called American's Best and it is by the makers of Jolly Time. It is grown without pesticides and it is cheap - $2.19 for 30 oz.!

I have found organic peaches are dry and tasteless, but then again I have a hard time picking out good summer fruit. I usually am satisfied with the other things I buy organic, and I've pretty much been mostly organic for a few months.

Cookie2 · 08-26-2007, 11:07 AM

I don't think it is you, Stormy. I have yet to find a decent peach this year. I've been making do with nectarines but even those are iffy.

jnbythesea · 08-26-2007, 11:17 AM

I had one good peach- that's it.

jnbythesea · 08-26-2007, 05:05 PM

That makes perfect sense about the popcorn- being in a bulk bin, it would tend to dry out faster. Thanks for the tip! Where can I get American's Best popcorn? Orville Redenbacher is pretty pricey.