I finally went to the health food store after weeks of not making it there. I was going to be driving right by, so I stopped in and found a few deals. I’m always excited to find marked down organic yogurt for our smoothies. Yum!
And then I stopped by Dillon’s. I meant to price-match the beef hot dogs when I was at Walmart but completely forgot even though it was on my grocery list (where is my brain these days?!) so I just stopped at Dillon’s on the way home. I also wanted to check on the price of cream of tartar since I needed to buy some to add to the Homemade Baking Mix. It was $1 less than Walmart’s price so I went ahead and got some and also picked up a few other things while I was there.
Dillon’s Shopping Trip
2 packages Hebrew National beef hot dogs — $2.50 each
Cream of Tartar — $3.79
Red-Taped Bananas — $0.29/lb = $0.56
5 Luna bars — $1.09, used 5 $0.50/1 coupons (doubled) = $0.09 each
2 containers of Blackberries — $1 each
Butter — $2.50 (This is more than I usually pay, but I didn’t want to make a special trip to Aldi for it just to save $0.50. But, this is an instance where I didn’t do a good job of buying ahead so I had to paid more than my target price for this because we’re out of butter.)
My total, after coupons, was $15.53.
Anyone Know Where to Get the Best Price on Cream of Tartar?
I’ve not purchased cream of tartar in ages, so I have no idea what a good price is on it. Does anyone know? Also, where do you get the best price on it? I was really surprised it was so expensive so I thought I’d ask here to see if anyone had a great source for it. Thanks!
You should try making your own yogurt. Then it’s as cheap per gallon as milk. It’s easy, and so much better than store bought yogurt, which usually has added starch.
We’ve made our own yogurt, but I usually can’t beat the marked down price for organic yogurt by much — especially when factoring in the time it takes to make the yogurt.
A Dollar Tree just opened in my area, and I’ve noticed that they have a great selection of baking supplies – maybe you could check and see if they carry cream of tartar?
I have an Amish store in my area that sells a large-ish container of cream of tartar (maybe 3 oz?) for around $1 . . . but they sell it under the name “angel cream.”
Your Aldi must not have raised the price on the butter yet because at my Aldi you would not have saved $.50. You would have paid $.19 more! 🙂
Glenn’s usually has good price on it.
So funny you are asking this question today. I just figured out how much it costs myself. I went to buy some yesterday in the bulk section at HEB and discovered it was $14.99/lb. I thought it was a ridiculous price. Then I was at Walmart today and bought a 1.5 oz container for $2.50. So it was actually cheaper at HEB-.94 cents an ounce at HEB compared to $1.66/oz at Walmart. Still very expensive. I’ll have to try the dollar store and see if they have it there.
I agree with Lisa. Herbalcom.com is the best. They have everything and their products are great and you cannot beat their prices. Cream of tartar can be mixed with baking soda to create baking powder if you have the need. Also, cream of tartar mixed with some peroxide does a great job of cleaning a dingy tub too 🙂
Crystal,
Cream of Tartar is one of the things that I buy at my Amish store. I know they aren’t all the same, but you may want to check there. I get about 2 cups of it for about $1.75.
I was amazed to find a fairly large amount of Natural and Organic markdowns from this weekends shopping trips, the key seems to be hitting them early! Here is my trip : http://www.savingwithaplan.com/2011/06/super-savings-saturday/
Definitely try the bulk spice section of health food stores! I recently bought cream of tarter there, plus I get all my spices that way. Then again, prices vary even with that. My local Sun Harvest’s prices spices are alot more than HEB. So compare price per ounce or pound to make sure it’s a good deal!
Bulk food store! That’s where I’ve always gotten cream of tartar. I rarely use it, though, so it lasts a long time. 🙂
As for what I use it in — my mom’s homemade angel food cake calls for it and it’s the best angel food cake ever! 😀
We buy COT in bulk from Azure Standard. Besides using it to make homemade (healthier) baking powder, I add it to foods for the high potassium benefit. You get more potassium from a small amount of COT (with sugar) than from a banana or potato. My natural health doctor has me adding a shake of it into my sweet tea (makes it taste like lemon tea) or OJ to give me an afternoon pickup when I feel like I need a nap. If your blood sugar drops in the afternoon or you get light- headed when you stand up quickly, there is a good chance you are extremely potassium deficient (most people are). It is supposed to be great to mix with sugar (1T COT to 1/2 C. cane sugar) to sprinkle on fruit. Fruit today is not vine ripened so it doesn’t have the necessary enzymes needed to receive all the health benefits. So while it may not be necessary to add COT to recipes to get the desired result, your body will thank you.
Before buying in bulk, I used to buy my COT at Country Fresh Market (also known as Alps). It was a small container of Best Choice and was only $1.
Hope you find what you are looking for.
Angie
Where do you get the Luna coupons? I never seem to come across them. WoW… never realized cream of tartar was such a conversation piece!
Going to the bulk spice bins at the health food store goes for any spice or herb as well. They even have a bulk spice bins in the natural foods section of the Kroger stores in our area. My mom and I discovered this a few years ago and we have saved a bundle. Not only that, the spices are fresher and most are organic and non-irradiated. Yes, you end up with a spice drawer that contains a lot of little bags, but the pay-off is well worth it.
~Maggie
If you can order thru Azure Standard ( I HIGHLY recommend them!) you can get Cream of Tartar there for 4 ozs : $2.60 or 16 ozs for $6.20.
Azure Standard http://www.AzureStandard.com is THE BEST place to shop for organic and bulk ingredients, produce and such–check ’em out to see if they deliver in your area! 🙂
~Lisa
Instead of buying cream of tarter, I buy Bakewell Cream. It comes in an 8 oz. container and is about the same price as a small container of cream of tarter {if I remember correctly}. I only use it when I’m making homemade biscuits and it usually lasts me a long time. I’m not sure if this is a regional product or not….
They do sell cream of tatar at Glenn’s Bulk Food, in different size containers. About a year ago I bought some and the label says net wt 0.61 lb, unit price $7.95 lb, total price was $4.85. Hope this helps.
I need to try your baking mix Crystal! I just bought more organic whole wheat pastry four from the health food store yesterday. But, I now know you grind your own flour and I have been talking about trying that for a while since my Sister-in-Law mentioned it to me. She and my brother became interested through Church when they volunteered to help package foods for emergency preparedness and one of those foods happened to be wheat grains that they canned. By helping to do the work at the factory, they received these items for much less than normal. However, the items are not “everyday use” goods, but would store up to 30 years. Have you ever heard of this? Just curious. I think in most aspects, socking up and using the FIFO system may be better for my family. Aside from the food cannery, this baking mix is two projects in one for me but I am excited about the frugal aspect and healthful benefits of fresh flour!
I loved hearing your parallel story of dinnertime hurdles ending well! I know exactly how you feel…noise levels rising, my near two year old (mommy’s boy) grabbing at my leg wanting me to play while his 3 1/2 year old brother pretends all of his cars are crashing and flying(with revving engine sounds and all). Some days, I don’t know how I ever get dinner made without it burning!
HyVee has their Tones spices on sale for 75 cents a container right now. I just bought, for the first time, Cream of Tartar to make some play dough for my girls. I have no idea if it is actually necessary since I have made other play dough recipes that didn’t ask for it before, but thought I would give it a shot.
Maybe it is because Tones spices is an Iowa company, but I get CoT and all my other spices for $.89/ container!
I know for a fact that if you make a homemade angel food cake, you MUST have cream of tartar!
I also love Penzey’s!
Yes! I keep seeing comments that people are just leaving it out but you must stabalize the egg whites for an angel food cake with cream of tartar or it will not turn out. That would be a shame and a waste of alot of egg whites.
I know that for a fact that it’s a waste of a lot of egg whites! I tried stabilizing w/lemon juice (idea found online) but it was a flop. I made sure to pick some up after that!
from the coop azurestandard.com I buy a lot of bulk stuff there, spices, you name it. Awesome prices for a health food store. I now get sticker shock when I go to the health food store!
I buy mine at Woodman’s for about 89 cents for a really small container, but considering how often I use it, it’s a really good deal. I think it’s the Tones brand. Woodmans carries a bunch of very small size spices for about 89 cents, which is great for those spices that I rarely use.
I have been getting a lot of my spices at herbalcom.com. The cream of tarter is $5.50 a pound. All there spices and herbs are in one pound packages. It was $6.25 for shipping no matter how big an order is. Several of my friends and I went together and put in a big order. It came real fast. I order from bulkfoods.com as well but the cream of tarter wasn’t as good a price there and there shipping is $5.00 with a $75.00 or more order.
If you have an Amish store close by go there for ALL of your spices! We buy a lot of our spices because you get a larger quantity than you do at a grocery/chain store and it tends to be a lot cheaper!
I use cream of tartar in our play dough recipe and it calls for something like 2 TBSP per batch. I have 5 small children so I always triple the recipe. The last time I had Cream of tartar on my list, I was shocked at the prices. I just found it about 3 months ago on Amazon for a good price. I large container and I think I paid around $12 with free shipping.
I also get my spices at a Mennonite store. Most all of the time they are the cheapest way to go. I store my spices in the freezer to keep them fresher. I am also able to buy my grains in 50 lb. bags from her and the prices are better than any food coop that I havse seen. Hope you can find a store like that near you!
And every Mennonite store I have been in calls Cream of Tartar: Angel Cream.
It’s funny that term keeps cropping up. I’ve been Mennonite all my life and have never heard that term before. Our Amish bulk food store just calls it cream of tartar. Wonder if it’s also a regional thing.
The mennonite and amish stores here in Ohio I have been to call it cream of tartar also.
I get mine at Winco in their bulk food/spices section.
Differences around the country – Butter on sale at Kroger for $2.50, Aldi charges $2.49 for it. In March, at Aldi it was $1.99, last week it was $2.69. People need to remember that it’s different everywhere. In fact, we have 2 Aldi’s, both 25 miles away in opposite directions. Milk, eggs and butter are always different prices.
Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I can’t remember the last time I used cream of tartar!! 🙂 It was so expensive to replace that we decided to try without and our biscuits have turned out fine. The only cheap place I know is an Amish bulk foods store. Hope this helps! Thanks again for running such a wonderful blog!
I buy mine at the health food store or like if you have a bulk food store (Mennonite or Amish) in the area. It is really cheap there!
It’s so funny that you posted this question because the last time I bought Cream of Tartar was to make your Brown Sugar Christmas Twists a few years ago! I have no idea what a good price is either.
This isn’t about Cream of Tarter but sort of relevent to Super Savings Saturday.
Has anyone else noticed the price of Cheerios skyrocketing? My local big box store used to sell a 12.5 oz box of Honey Nut for $3.19 so when they did the Buy 6 Get $10 off (and a free gallon of milk and sometimes eggs) I could bring that down to $5.14 for 6 boxes going on double coupon days. Today I noticed the same box is up to $3.99 and the deal is only $9 off 6 boxes (but coupons for both milk and eggs). So 6 boxes was $9.94 with my double coupons. Not to sound naive, as I know fuel has gone up, but I’m a little shocked at such a significant increase in the past two months.
I’m grateful my son has been fixated on waffles for breakfast! Off to mix up that batter for breakfast tomorrow and a freezer cooking session.
Yes, same here! I guess we will have to readjust our idea of what a good price for cereal is 🙁
I was thinking the same thing. Even with the price hike that store is still my best deal as they’re the only ones who double coupons. Oh well.
What I find odd is the past few months I’ve seen much better sales on Grape Nuts which is what my husband prefers. Usually you can’t get the sweet deals on those as Post coupons are rare and the sales prices are a bit higher. But lately both Walgreens and our grocery store have run some excellent promotions. Go figure.
You must be talking about Copps/Pick N Save!? I do matchups for Copps on my blog and shop there on occasion, and yes, I’ve definitely noticed price increases at every store on many different types of products!
No kidding! When Woodman’s opened a few years ago they lowered prices at the stores nearby but they slowly crept back up. Like they think we won’t notice! This spring I’ve seen many other subtle increases as well. I feel for those on super tight budgets.
Oh yeah, and I do mean Pick N Save. I’m in Milwaukee. 🙂
Oh, I love Milwaukee! Before we moved to the south, Holy Hill was the view from my Waukesha County kitchen window and my husband worked downtown MKE.
Lucky you, to have both The Spice House and Penzey’s locations available!
Oh wow! I’ve been in Milwaukee since January 2001 and I love it. We live in Bay View and my husband works downtown too. We’re an MPS family so things are slightly stressful right now with all the crazy budget cuts but our children are young enough (2 and almost 5) we have time to see what’s going to happen. Right now I’m just trying to be grateful for the wonderful school experience we’ve had so far.
I found it cheap at a discount/closeout store we have here that is like Big Lots but local. You use it to make home made play dough.
Believe it or not, I’ve found the best price on cream of tartar at Whole Foods! Their store brand is under $3 for a 3.5 oz bottle.
We moved from Lancaster Co, PA, almost a year ago, as part of a church plant, and have started a small grocery/bulk food store here in Maine…that’s where we go for all of our baking needs! 🙂 Before that, we did the same shopping at one of the many bulk food stores in Lancaster Co. So much more economical and better quality! And yes, we call it Angel Cream. 🙂
~eunice b
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My cream of tartar is from the local bulk food store in Lancaster County, PA. I didn’t realize this was such a local thing. Price was $3.79 per pound. I got 0.22 pounds ($0.83) and have enough to last through a few years of snickerdoodles! Maybe I’ll try the baking mix. I buy nearly all of my spices at the bulk food store. They are good quality, fresh, and very economical.
I bought cream of tartar at Aldi around Christmas time. They also had various spices like nutmeg, cloves, etc. for very cheap. I think I paid $1 for a 2 oz. container of cream of tartar. The other spices sizes varied from about 1.25 to 2oz.
I bought a “lot” of it on eBay. It was about $20 for 24 small containers, which was about 1/4 of the WalMart price. I use it for playdough, and we also have a few recipes that call for it.
Crystal, Just a little FYI in case you didn’t know…and maybe you know and are totally okay with it, which of course is your call! 🙂 The Hebrew National hot dogs still have the nitrites in them. Bummer. I bought them for awhile, assuming they were healthier and nitrite-free, and then I read the ingredients list. Boo-h0o! Thankfully, we can get Coleman hot dogs at Costco, but they aren’t cheap.
It is a bummer about the nitrates(nitrites?); we like Hebrew Nationals but only buy them every once in a while because of that. Our Ingles store recently started selling Applegate Farms hot dogs, and they’re nitrate-free and delicious! They’re not cheap, but I think it’s worth the extra cost to avoid the nitrates.
Oscar Mayer Selects are nitrite and nitrate free and they are delicious.
The bulk section in any store should have it and would be cheaper that way for sure!
I stock up around the holidays at Aldi, I paid only $1 ea this past year for approximately the same size container. I use it in the snickerdoodle and sugar cookie recipes.
Do they only carry it around the holidays? I don’t recall seeing it there — but then, I’ve not been looking, either!
They do and that is when I always buy it for the year. They usually have a week when they have spices that are for Christmas baking on special buy.
Yep. It was in December this past year. It’s a great time to stock up on the usually expensive baking essentials!
What about Family Dollar or other dollar store?
Unless it’s a spice I use A LOT of (i.e., Costco quantities), I buy everything in the bulk bins at the health food store. It is cheapest, freshest, and I only buy the amount I want. I would buy cream of tartar there.
I’m not sure how much cream of tartar you got for $3.79 so I don’t know if this is a better deal or not! But, I buy nearly all my spices at Penzey’s. You can get a 4 oz bag of cream of tartar for $2.75 there. Plus their spices are excellent quality. If you don’t live near one of their retail locations you can order online at http://www.penzeys.com
We have a fruit market here which sells their spices in little containers that they weigh from bulk. It is a lot cheaper than buying it at the grocery store.
I buy cream of tartar in bulk at the health food store. I never even knew they had it and when I saw the price difference, I was impressed! I think it was about 3 times less than those tiny cans of it from the grocery store! I use it in Sugar cookies, waffles and other quick bread recipes so this was just a great find! It changes the flavor a lot.
I’m definitely checking the health food store the next time I’m there. Thanks so much!
This looks like a great deal especially when it goes back to be in being a subscribe and save item. http://www.amazon.com/TASTE-Specialty-Foods-22-Ounce-Container/dp/B003FDBUS0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307834203&sr=8-4 That is if you are going to be making the baking mix or something else with it often enough.
Used to be a KS girl…have you tried Glenn’s Bulk Food? I haven’t looked for cream of tartar there, but they probably have it in bulk. Also, my substitutions page in my recipe book says you can sub 1/4 t baking soda + 1/2 t cream of tartar for 1tsp baking powder. Wouldn’t be bad to have on hand as it has more used than just one!
I’ll definitely check the next time I’m there; thanks for the suggestion!
I live a few miles from Glenn’s and they do have it. I don’t know the exact price, but the Dillon’s price seems a lot more expensive. And Glenn’s is just a way cool store, way cooler than Dillon’s. : )
Chrystal,
Up here in Canada, the best place to buy cream of tartar is at the Bulk Barn (our chain of bulk food stores).
Not sure if something like that is available in your area.
Michelle
I always pick mine up while visiting Lancaster County each fall. In fact I buy most spices for the year, while my family is visiting there on vacation.
The prices are incrediably low. They call Cream of Tarter, Angel Cream. I also get all my Bread & Butter pickling spices while there. The Cream of Tarter I currrently have has lasted me for 2 years! I paid $1.51 for 1/4 pound at a samll Amish store called Kauffman’s.
No doubt they have the best prices on spices. I always make sure my husband leaves room in the back of the car for my spices!
Remember, spices don’t maintain their potency forever! Leavening especially will stop working after awhile. A good rule of thumb is that leaveners last a year, maybe 18 months. A jar of yeast will last 6 months once opened.
i keep mine in the freezer….. they last a long long time that way.
We went to Amish country last year and stocked up. Great prices and great people.
Wht stores do you visit in Lancaster?? I live 30 minutes a way and no one I know has any good stores to go to!
If you live in Iowa there is an Amish community near Iowa City. It’s closer to Kalona down the road from the cheese factory. They have a grocery store called String Town and another one called the Country Store. They have a lot of baking supplies that seem to be cheaper then most grocery stores. I go about once a year and stock up on soup stock, baking supplies and tiny marshmellows. They also have powdered cheese used to make macaroni and cheese but it’s good in soups, on potatoes and popcorn.
I’d compare pries(for the cream of tartar) on amazon. You can get a lot of great deals there,especially if there’s the subscribe and save option and/or you have amazon prime..
Our health food stores have the bulk bins, so I only get a few TBS at a time, which is never more than $0.50.
I have found that it is cheaper at Target than the grocery store- at least around here!
I was going to say the same thing! I actually get mine at the commissary rather cheaply, but I’ve also seen it at Target for WAY less than the grocery store.
This won’t help right now, but I always try to stock up around Christmas time with odd spices and baking ingredients I don’t normally buy. There is usually a $1.00 off coupon in the paper and stores will mark their spices down 50%. (At least the ones around here will.) So I believe I got Cream of Tarter for less then $1…I don’t really remember, but it was a great deal.
I stock up on it at Christmas too. Aldi often has it for a great price.
I paid $2.99 for 1.8 oz at Penzeys and since I had to order it online I had to pay shipping (with other things as well). I don’t remember the last time I had to buy it, so you probably got a decent deal. I couldn’t even find it at the grocery store last time I looked.
sometimes i find cream of tartar at grocery stores for around $1.25 in a tiny container or you may try a bulk store where you can buy it buy the oz and see what the price per oz. or what about dollar tree/general?? we hardly ever use it, but i hate when we don’t have any, so i always keep it on hand.
I like penzey spices…1/4 cup glass jar costs 2.99. If it’s your first order i have some great codes to use: $5 off $10 0002C (those are 4 zeros) and KINDNESS gets you a free 1/2 cup any spice. They all come in glass jars and on top of all the codes i also got a free 1/4 cup bbq spice and a kooky bumper sticker. I’ve only ordered from them once but when I run out I will go back!
Thank you so much for sharing those codes and info. I will be checking them out soon!
no problem. i love great deals and passing them on to others 🙂
OOOOHHHHH!!!! LOVE PENZEYS!!!!
Another great source for affordable top quality spices is http://www.thespicehouse.com. The Spice House is actually priced better than Penzey’s, but does not always offer the codes. Only with codes is Penzey’s a better value. The quality is very similar, as are their spice mixes. In addition to their special blends, the standards are also available.
Mr. Penzey opened The Spice House in Milwaukee in 1957. I remember visiting his store front as a little girl and seeing the huge bulk containers of wonderful fresh spices. Julia Child was even a customer at his store.
His daughter now runs The Spice House (locations in WI and IL), which is an “earthier” store. Spices are ground fresh weekly, prices are better than the grocery store, and the product can not be beat for quality. Among my personal favorites is Old World Third Street (Old World Central Street on the website and in IL).
Penzey’s is run by his son and has multiple locations throughout the country. It is more highly marketed and is a “yuppier” store. The quality of spices is just as wonderful as The Spice House, but has higher prices (unless, of course, you find coupon codes).
Awesome…I’ll have to check that out. THANKS!
I used to live a block from the Spice House in Evanston. It’s wonderful. Their Saigon Cassia cinnamon is the best you will ever use.
Yes, we LOVE Penzeys! We even do a big order once or twice a year (since we don’t have a store in our town), and it has been definitely worth it!!! Their spices are extremely high quality, and with so many varieties…who knew that the different varieties of cinnamon would make such a difference?? Anyway, enough gushing!! We became hooked after my husband got one of their gift boxes for Christmas several years ago!!
I agree! Penzey’s has quality stuff and is well-priced. Cream of Tartar is a leaving ingredient and can be used to make your own baking powder. It needs to be fresh though! It is also helpful in meringues.
Our local stores (I’m in Wisconsin) have bulk spice/ grain sections. I get all my spices in that section. You need to have your own spice containers (or be like me and keep them in labeled ziploc bags in a tupperware dish), but you can save 75% or more over buying little plastic jars of spices. The grains, however, you have to price. Sometimes those are cheaper in the regular grocery section.
Cream of Tartar acts as a leavening agent. You won’t get as much poof if you leave it out. It normally combines with baking powder to give it the correct amount of oomph.
What does Cream of Tarter do? Honestly, I have always left it out of recipes.
I ran out of cream of tartar a year or so ago and have been omitting it from recipes ever since, just to see if it was really necessary to buy more. I have not noticed any difference without it!
It also helps to keep eggs from being over whipped in meringue type recipes.