Hello all,

I am in the process of trying out recipes (on my family) and need to find a place to buy my ingredients from.  I figured walmart might be the cheapest, but a small bag of walnuts there is almost $6!

I am obviously not making any money out of my trials and would like to find out where do you all get your raw material from?  I understand that trying out recipes is a costly affair, but every penny saved would go towards my future home bakery.  TIA!!

AI always purchase from Walmart.

AWhen I am not purchasing wholesale, i shop at Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, Cash & Carry, etc.

ARestaurant Depot, Costco, Target, Whole Foods, and assorted online retailers (including Amazon.com). I do my best to avoid Walmart at all costs.

A@jason-kraft: why do you avoid shopping at Walmart? Is it just a personal preference or do you find something wrong with their product?

Restaurant Depot & Costco.  I'm just a hobby baker, but I went ahead and purchased 50# of flour/sugar/ p.sugar because I knew I would be making a lot, and they're really great prices for bulk ingredients. 

A

I've gotten a few PMs asking about this, here is my response:

Every time I've gone to a Walmart it's been dirty with a confusing layout, virtually no customer service available on the floor, not enough parking, and long checkout lines. The prices and product assortment are similar to Target, so there's really no reason for us to go to Walmart unless they happen to carry an item that I can't get from Target or Amazon (which is rare). There are three Walmarts and two Targets within 5 miles of us, we go to Target once or twice a week on average and Walmart once every few months or so.

I don't have a problem with Walmart in principle...I understand that there is a large market of customers for whom price is the only concern, even if the difference is only pennies.

Wholesale clubs such as Cosco for things like milk, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla.  The supermarket for mixes and sour cream (when on sale they're $1.25/box).  I make the WASC recipe.  

For supplies, I shop around.  Ebay, Amazon and Global Sugar art are great.  I also like to go to Michael's and ACMoore with my coupons.

A

The bulk price for cake flour in particular is significantly cheaper than smaller packages. At the grocery store you can find 2# packages of cake flour for $4 ($2/pound), while 50# bags of cake flour at RD are ~$15 (30¢/pound). Even if you throw out 75% of the 50# bag you are still coming out ahead.

ARestaurant depot, BJ's, Amazon, and I am finally big enough for Gourmet Foods International.

ARestaurant Depot is for ppl with businesses. I guess its not open to public. I do not have a business, but have been practising a lot (almost daily) and was hoping to find a cheaper source for buying raw ingredients. I will have to look at Costco and Sams.

ASams is great if you are wanting to practice decorating instead of your baking. They sell pre-made cake layers and buckets of buttercream.

AI go to both Sams and Costco. I buy most of my cake supplies at Sams because they have a better selection for those items. I buy lemon extract, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, baking powder etc there. I can't get most of it at Costco.

I shop at Costco for personal groceries because I prefer their selection for everything else.

I also try to never shop at Walmart. It is never cheaper than any of the grocery stores or Target, and they carry a poor selection in my experience, mostly off name brands that are more expensive than the store brand at my local grocery store which I am more inclined to trust. The only times I've shopped there was when I had no other options, and the service was just appalling. If I could avoid going to Sams I would, for the same reason that their service is just abysmal, and the place is always dirty.

AI think Wal-Mart's selection varies by area. I have a super-Wal-Mart near me which is the best selection and prices for groceries around.

AI walked in the one by my new house the other day to grab a quick snack and the lines were so long at the one checkout that was open that I walked right back out. I didn't even get to check the prices or selection!