Live data from Hacker News

Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

nytimes.com

111–120 of 192 posts

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#111
I doubt there's a soccer mom in the world who didn't know this had happened already; my wife had been expecting it for months when it finally switched.

Other manufacturers are doing similar things. In fact, Trix Cereal has quietly switched away from artificial colors recently, and other General Mills "kids" cereals are expected to follow suit soon.

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#112

Having young children, there's almost always a box of macaroni and cheese in the house. My kids, who fancy themselves mac & cheese connoisseurs, started complaining about the taste of Kraft a couple of months ago. So now when Kraft advertises on TV that they changed their mac & cheese and nobody noticed, my eight- and six-year-old just roll their eyes. I suppose the upside is, they're already learning that you can't…

I keep saying to myself that I need to go to one of those world food sections at my local supermarket and buy a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese to try it,but I always forget - is it really worth it?

> is it really worth it?

The main advantage of packet-mac-and-cheese is convenience, compared to laboring over a stove to make a smooth roux.

I used to take a couple of packets with me when bicycle-camping but I can't say that I enjoyed them. They 'fill a hole' as we say here.

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#114

Having young children, there's almost always a box of macaroni and cheese in the house. My kids, who fancy themselves mac & cheese connoisseurs, started complaining about the taste of Kraft a couple of months ago. So now when Kraft advertises on TV that they changed their mac & cheese and nobody noticed, my eight- and six-year-old just roll their eyes. I suppose the upside is, they're already learning that you can't…

I keep saying to myself that I need to go to one of those world food sections at my local supermarket and buy a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese to try it,but I always forget - is it really worth it?

If you are paying more than the equivalent of US$1 per box, no.

Kraft Mac & Cheese is the spiritual equivalent of top ramen noodles, artificial cheese flavor.

There is no intrinsic American cultural value to it. Many of us do grant it some nostalgia value, because we grew up without a lot of money, and it was, and still is, cheap and filling food for poor people. A suitable protein accompaniment is a can of chunk light tuna (solid albacore is for rich folks), hot dogs (aka frankfurters) cut into coin-sized slices, diced bologna slices, Spam, or a hard-boiled egg. To drink, mix up some unsweetened Kool-Aid with 3/4 the ordinary amount of added sugar. If you are feeling flush this month, you may also have a slice of dry white toast with some leftover schmaltz on it.

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#115
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy an emulsifier and add that directly (sodium citrate). Sodium citrate mac cheese is enough to Google for.

Looks interesting, but way, way too fussy. I really don't understand why people make macaroni and cheese recipes so complicated, with the cream sauces and baking it and all that. It's incredibly easy and delicious if you just boil the pasta, strain it, throw it back in the pot, then chuck in butter, a little bit of milk, and cheese, and simmer until the cheese melts. Literally the Kraft dinner directions, just with r…

I think you could use it in that recipe; the sodium citrate will keep the cheese from separating and help it mix with the butter.

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#116

Having young children, there's almost always a box of macaroni and cheese in the house. My kids, who fancy themselves mac & cheese connoisseurs, started complaining about the taste of Kraft a couple of months ago. So now when Kraft advertises on TV that they changed their mac & cheese and nobody noticed, my eight- and six-year-old just roll their eyes. I suppose the upside is, they're already learning that you can't…

I've started making our own (just macaroni and melted cheese) with my kids. It tastes better, but the one thing we haven't been able to replicate is the bright orange color.

That's a totally different food. It's not comparable (whether it tastes better or not is subjective, of course). I like all kinds of mac & cheese, from Kraft to the super fru-fru fancy stuff, and also just pasta with melted cheese. But you can't compare them directly.

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#117

I'm more than a little surprised it's so successful. Macaroni & cheese barely takes any longer to make properly than to warm up a pan of bought. OK, add a few mins if you want to grill it with cheese topping, which improves it no end :)

You can't leave 8 pans of prepared Macaroni & cheese in your pantry for when you need them.

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#118
post #6

Interesting idea, I guess a tech comparison would be revamping the server side code considerably but not making an announcement so users wouldn't think they had to be on the lookout for bugs / quirks that weren't originally present. If you test well you could 100% overhaul the back end with not a single end user the wiser. I suppose if you announced a "major overhaul" scheduled for some time then users may be wary or…

This is known in software as the "dark launch".

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#119
post #99
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and kid are pretty happy with Annie's. Might be worth trying if you're looking for another brand. (The only stuff I eat these days is homemade, typically gruyère-based, but we keep Annie's on hand in case we don't have leftovers for lunch.)

I've never been all that impressed by Annies (weirdly enough, I remember this being a view bordering on heresy when I was in college...), it struck me as being too expensive and too fussy to make. Adult-Kraft dinner is too easy to make - substitute real macaroni, and cheddar instead of the florescent orange cheese dust, same milk and butter. I mix in some American slices or Velveeta-esque process cheese, since I thin…

>too fussy to make

1. boil water

2 stir in pasta, cook 8-10 minutes

3 strain pasta

4 add 3 Tbsp of milk

5 sprinkle cheese powder

6 add pasta and combine

[1]

And from kraft its:

1 boil water, stir in pasta, cook 8-10 minutes

2 drain, return to pan

3 add milk, butter, cheese powder and combine [2]

Its the exact same process either way.

Are you saying you buy kraft dinner boxes and then use only the macaroni noodles (making the rest of the macaroni and cheese from scratch)? Why dont you just buy a box of macaroni noodles?

[1] http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lVBCtTygO2g/Ufavcs5SauI/AAAAAAAAAd...

[2] http://northsouthfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/info1.j...

Re: Kraft Reveals Revamped Mac and Cheese, 50M Boxes Later

#120

Well, some of us connoisseurs we're prepared for this change since 2013: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/11/01/242412024/kraft-dims-that-mac-and-cheese-artificially-orange-glow This isn't as radical a transition as "New Coke", and we haven't had to raid stores to build a stockpile like we did in the early 80s.

For people who don't know the "New Coke" story, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuMxXw9TeE4 is an interesting watch.

Americans take their soda very seriously (or at least did in the 80s). It makes the hoo-ha over Kraft buying Cadbury, a British staple similar to how Coke is/was an American one, and the changes they made since (some of them within days of the purchase despite having promised the government otherwise to get the deal to go ahead) look like a storm in a tea-cup.

Post reply on HN