Mourning the Demise of Miracle Whip
Note: this post has been updated 10/23/06
When I was a kid growing up in the Detroit suburbs, there were two things you’d be most likely to put on a sandwich, or use to dress coleslaw or potato salad – mayonnaise (we pronounced it “manayse”) or Miracle Whip.
Most families were firm on which product they used. So much so, that I never used mayonnaise for anything until I got married and started experimenting with food. By the time my son was in his teens, and our house became the place to turn up when they were hungry for him and his friends, I kept both on hand. Even today there are strong preferences, and I use Miracle Whip for some things, and mayonnaise for others.
Lately, though, you may have noticed if you’re a Miracle Whip person, that your sandwiches don’t quite taste the same, and your coleslaw doesn’t hold up overnight.
That’s because the old standby you used and loved for decades is no longer the same product. They’ve changed the recipe! If you look on the label, you see the first ingredient is now water, not soybean oil as in the past. Since products (at least in the US) are labeled with ingredients in order of the amount, that means there is now more water than anything else.
This is problematic, because like a lot of other people, I like to make the potato salad or coleslaw the day before, to let the flavors mingle. Only now I can’t, because it turns into a watery mess and tastes like I forgot the dressing!
I first noticed this change over a year ago, and have been scrambling to find a replacement ever since. I’ve tried lots of store brands, and found they vary widely by store. Some have an unpleasant aftertaste because of the kind of oil they use. I’ve also tried half a dozen different recipes, because my usual response when a product becomes unavailable or changes is to make my own. Yet none of the substitutes quite come up to snuff. The closest I’ve come is to add sugar and vinegar to Kraft mayonnaise, but haven’t quite achieved the magic formula.
I’m betting there are others out there who wish Kraft Foods had left our old standby alone! I know there’s a push to reduce the amount of fat in a lot of products, but at least we customers should have the option to choose, and not have to settle for a product that loses quality along with the fat.
At this point I’m willing to try more ideas, so if anyone knows of a good substitute product or recipe, let me know in the comments section.
You can tell Kraft what you think here.
A hearty Welcome to the readers of Dean’s World, Instapundit, and the 52 other blogs that have linked to us! Why not have a look around my new blog?
Update: Instapundit has a note from a Kraft employee on the issue
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:27 am
Like you I grew up on miracle whip. When I moved out of the house I somehow stumbled upon mayonnaise and never looked back. For awhile I would still buy miracle whip for potato salad, but I’ve found if I add extra sugar (about 1/4 cup) and some vinegar (1 Tbs) to the mayo it tastes pretty close to miracle whip. You do have to play with the measurements.
It drives me crazy how they’ve ruined some of our food. I buy a box of hostess cupcakes about once a year. Last time I bought them I noticed they aren’t as good. For one thing the size had shrunk, the icing was stiffer and the cream filling was almost non existent and not very creamy. Reading the label I saw they’d removed the trans fat. I found the walmart brand still has the trans fat and are just as the good as the hostess cupcakes use to be.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:31 am
The great mayonnaise plot…
You don’t think so? Look what’s happened to its primary rival: Lately … you may have noticed if youre a Miracle Whip person, that your sandwiches dont quite taste the same, and your coleslaw doesnt hold up overnight. Thats because……
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:47 am
What about making your own mayonnaise? All you need are 2 eggs, oil (I use olive oil), a spoon of mustard and one lemon. Hard boil one egg. In a bowl put the yolk from the boiled egg, the yolk from the unboiled egg, the mustard, lemon juice and some salt . Start mixing with a mixer while slowly adding oil. Keep on mixing until you’ve got the desired quantity of mayonnaise.
The result is better then any product you could buy. You can experiment with ingredients (sugar, vinegar) to get a specific taste.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:48 am
TO:TRUDY SCHUETT
RE: It’s True
“If it’s good, they’ll stop making it.”
Or at least try.
I’m no big fan of Miracle Whip. Too sweet for my taste.
However, since I make my own mayonnaise, I suspect you could make your own Miracle Whip. Just add some sugar and perhaps a tad more lemon.
We started ‘rolling our own’ grocery store products when we noticed that whenever we came across a good product, especially great bread, after a while the store would stop carrying it.
The only recourse was to do it ourselves. So far we’ve hacked:
Mayonnaise
A 7-grain sour-dough bread [Note: It took first prize at the state fair].
What used to be Sharwood’s German Curry Sauce; as they stopped making it.
And numerous others.
You need herbs and spices in some cases. I recommend Penzeys at http://www.penzeys.com. They’re a GREAT source of economic herbs and spices from around the world. For example, herbs de provence—$3 for 1 oz at Safewary, vs. $11 for 16 oz from Penzeys.
Bon Appetite,
Chuck(le)
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:50 am
[…] Trudy Schuett tells us the villains at Kraft have fiddled with the recipe for Miracle Whip, and the new version just isn’t the same. When I was a kid growing up in the Detroit suburbs, there were two things you’d be most likely to put on a sandwich, or use to dress coleslaw or potato salad – mayonnaise (we pronounced it “manayse”) or Miracle Whip. […]
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:00 am
[…] What the heck’s going on with Miracle Whip? […]
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:02 am
First… does no good to leave a comment.. they insist on all your particulars and I’m not doing that.
Go to their messageboard and weigh in..
http://kraft.liveworld.com/forum.jspa?forumID=57&start=0
You have to use your email address but that should be no problem.
Prior to mine all the responses acted as if they were either in favor of ‘haute cuisine’ or English cooking. You hardly find the English using MW in my opinion… if they want taste they head out to the tandoori.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 am
I’m still not used to the change in the Nilla wafers a few years ago. Now they taste just like everyone else’s and not as good as they used to.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:38 am
There was never any Miracle Whip in our house when I was growing up. I think it was because the name was contrary to my mother’s atheism (Miracle) and pacifism (Whip).
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:45 am
blame cspi, center for science in the public interest. they’ve made life not worth eating.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:46 am
Sure, I’ve made my own mayo for years. But it’s not the same thing. If only I could get the proportions right, I could probably do MW too…and those proportions are the problem!
October 22nd, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Try putting sweet relish juice instead of/in addition to vinegar into Kraft mayo. Also, maybe try a little honey in addition to the sugar.
October 22nd, 2006 at 12:29 pm
I always hated Miracle Whip, way too sweet for my taste. We always used Hellman’s (Best Food’s west of the Rockies) which has an eggier flavor. For cole slaw, I use Hellman’s and pickle juice from a bottle of sweet dill pickles.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Hellman’s Mayo: Stuff you Find on Odin’s Table
(not that Miracle Whip sh….
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:38 pm
Fear not. TopSecretRecipes.com has the magic formula.
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipedetail.asp?sessionid=&login=yes&id=177&agree=yes
They reveal lots of other recipes there too. Even the Colonel’s eleven secret herbs and spices. Heh heh.
As for me, I’ll stick with Hellman’s Light mayo.
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:40 pm
[…] So now they’ve changed the formula, and it sounds like they did it to reduce the amount of soybean oil in the product. […]
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:56 pm
I preferred Hellman’s also. MW tasted kinda plastic to me. Now, you want to talk demise: They don’t toast the buns at Nathan’s anymore, nor do they provide chopped onions (sauerkraut only) or relish (though they will throw you those plastic packets, it’s not the same stuff). Don’t get me started.
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Try this recipe. Looks like the right stuff.
October 22nd, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Yeah, I typically hate it when manufacturers fool around with something to “improve” it in some way or another, because more often than not the end product ends up having some sort of subtle difference that becomes obvious only upon consumption. My experience was with Wish Bone 1000 Island dressing - I mistakenly grabbed a small bottle of the low fat stuff a while back and it didn’t taste quite right. Good thing that they’re still making the original stuff tho…
October 22nd, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Hey Mark H:
Curses! Foiled! They took it down — nothing there but a blank space and comments pro & con.
October 22nd, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Try this:
http://www.recipezaar.com/41781
October 22nd, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Hellmans recently reduced the size of their large mayonnaise from 32 oz. to 30. Is Kraft doing that too?
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Forget Kraft. Use Hellmans or Best Foods mayonnaise; the same product but different brand depending on where you live. The whole fat thing is overblown, anyway, so don’t hesitate to use reasonable amounts in your recipes unless your cholesterol is over 220.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Does anyone have the web address to complain to the villians at WalMart who price cutting tactics, one Kraft employee says, is forcing Kraft to do this?
I don’t buy margarine whipped with water because it doesn’t taste or spread the same. I feel the same about Miracle Whip. If “water” doesn’t drop from first place in the contents listing, I’m looking for a replacement product.
For the Kraft employee see:
http://instapundit.com/archives/033427.php#033427
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:49 pm
For those willing to pay higher than Wal-Mart prices to get the good stuff, Kraft should sell a higher priced version and call it “Premium” or “Old Fashioned” or “Home Style” or something like that. The way marketing is these days what with a plethora of choices (25 different kind of Coke eg) this should make sense.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:49 pm
I’m still ticked that some food busybody forced them to remove the coconut oil from Pepperidge Farm Bordeaux cookies about 10 years ago. They haven’t been the same since.
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:22 pm
[…] However, Miracle Whip is more water than anything else after a recent recipe change, and it’s all Walmart’s fault. […]
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:44 pm
so what’s wrong with making your own? you probably own a blender and an egg and a jug of oil. a lemon. a dash of mustard and you are there!
do it. its fun, easy and cheap. plus you get to tune it up with any other flavors you may choose.
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Dukes Mayonnaise {a southern brand] is all anyone would ever need to use for anything!
October 22nd, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Well there is a way around this actually. Put some Miracle whip in a coffee filter inside a sieve in the fridge overnight and let the water leech out of it then scoop out the remaining product and add some canola or soy oil. Now you have original recipe Miracle Whip and your life is saved.
Now let’s find a cure for cancer.
October 22nd, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Get used to it. The health wackos are out to steal all your vises. First tobacco, then transfat, what will be next? Welcome to the Soviet Socialist Republic of the United States where we know you’re too stupid to make diet choices on your own, so we’re going to tell you what you can and cannot eat.
October 22nd, 2006 at 8:58 pm
The only close substitute I’ve found for MW is Kroger store salad dressing; it’s a little spicier, and not as good as the real thing, but its better than nothing.
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:05 pm
actually, many people in America ARE too fat, and they ARE to stupid to choose the correct foods, mircle whip should come in both varieties, but to make the “first tobbacco, now this comment” is just retarded
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:07 pm
I don’t use Miracle Whip. I always go for the good stuff: Best Maid.
You will probably have to order it online, but you might want to give it a try. It has always been better tasting and longer lasting than Miracle Whip.
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Kewpie (Japan?) mayo is awesome
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:19 pm
I’ll 2nd that for Kewpie Mayo
http://www.drhot.net/kewsoymay.html
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:35 pm
My bad. Best Maid Salad Dressing is not currently available for online sales. I’ll call the company in the morning to try to convince them to put the salad dressing on the online catalog. Thanksgiving is coming, and I want to help people throuhout the country make a potato salad that stands up.
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:39 pm
[…] Trudy Schuett is mourning the demise of Miracle Whip. It seems that Kraft is putting more water in the mix, making her slaw runny. A Kraft employee wrote to Glenn Reynolds blaming price concerns and Wal-Mart, but that is a cop-out. People who buy name brands will pay more for a quality product. I know I will and do. […]
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:40 pm
re: that whole “any people in America ARE too fat, and they ARE to stupid to choose the correct foods”. Full of yourself much? I’d rather hang around with 400 lb folks eating miracle whip than hanging with a self absorbed pinhead such as yourself.
/arrogant elitist dorks annoy me
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:45 pm
Kraft has also changed Velveeta. Now, when I make cheese dip (with Rotel), the reheated product hardens to a plastic type consistency within 1 minute of exposure too air after removing from the microwave. Good luck complaining. When I complained last year, they basically told me I was nuts and sent me a free coupon for a block of Velveeta Cheese. Too bad. Now, our Velveeta Cheese consumption has dropped to practically nothing after buying the 2 pack of 2-lb Velveeta cheese at least twice a month for 35 years.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:29 pm
You people have no taste if you actualy LIKE Miracle whip. It is cheap mayonnaise with added sugar to appeal to children.
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:31 pm
Dude! I love Miracle Whip! And, I have noticed the inconsistency over the past year or so. What the hell is wrong with the rest of you people??– I mean, seriously, you should really make your own ’sandwich sauce’. Mighty easy to do, and you can use whatever oil, egg, and water combo you want (not to mention you can make small batches of flavored ’sauce’– hot pepper, basil, southern, etc.)! Ton ‘o recipes available online (as well as the Betty Crocker cookbook) to experiment with. Better’n MW!
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:54 pm
Gloria Pitzer, a Detroit area cook, goes by the name of the Recipe Detective and she’s published a series of cookbooks for people who want to reproduce the flavors of some popular processed food products at home (like her “White Tassel” hamburgers). I found out about her when I came across one of her recipe books while cleaning in my mom’s house. Perhaps she’s already figured out how to mimic the taste of authentic original recipe Miracle Whip. You can find out more about her here:
http://www.askyourneighbor.com/glo.htm
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Absolutely…this is true. Manufacturers always screw things up when they “improve” them.
Miracle Whip, Nilla Wafers, even Coke, have all been ruined, sizes reduced, and cost per serving increased.
So basically not only do the new products suck compared to the old ones, we’re now forced to pay more for less of it.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:26 am
THANK GODDESS
Maybe NOW, with this change in Miracle Whip, it will finally end up in the garbage dump where it belongs!!!
Miracle Whip is one of THE MOST DISGUSTING things it has ever been my misfortune to eat.
I’m glad they changed the formula. Lets hope this is the BEGINNING of the END!!!
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:41 am
I’m assuming that Miracle Whip is an emulsion like Mayonaise.
I wonder if you could take some Miracle Whip and put it in a blender. Use enough to keep it circulating.
While is is bending (medium to high) very slowly add some oil.
This should (based on mayonaise) thicken it.
If you add to much oil it will get runny again.
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:52 am
[…] “Mourning the Demise of Miracle Whip” [via Instapundit] […]
October 23rd, 2006 at 4:32 am
I am personally a fan of Mayo not Miracle Whip, but a friend of mine swears by it. He was successful in making a Miracle Whip clone by mixing some of the vinegar from a jar of sweet dill pickels into mayo. You will probably have to experiment with how much on your own tho.
October 23rd, 2006 at 5:33 am
i don’t know if you have No Frills stores down there in the U.S. or Loblaws, but their no-name brand of miracle whip is great. I buy it here in Canada all the time….the light tastes like the light miracle whip to me anyhow.
October 23rd, 2006 at 6:03 am
OK, so here’s a pledge — I will try all the suggestions and get back with the results! Those that are available to me, anyway. For example, we have no Kroger’s here, but the Fry’s chain in AZ is owned by Kroger, so maybe their suppliers are the same.
We’ll see! I’ll keep you posted on the results.
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:11 am
Mayonnaise is an emulsifed sauce, Miracle whip/Salad Dressing: is a “cooked” emulsifed sauce witch uses less oil, replacing the difference with Starch. To make your own look up culinary receipes for Egg based sauces-mayonnaise, cooked dressings and make your own-it is easy.
October 23rd, 2006 at 9:32 am
I wonder if you could dehydrate the MW to remove the water, then replace with the soybean oil? If you could, you could measure the difference in weight to determine the amount of oil. Can it be strained through cheesecloth?
October 23rd, 2006 at 9:58 am
For those trying to make your own Miracle Whip don’t forget the dash of paprika. If you look closly at MW you will see red flecks in it. Thats the paprika. It may be the small somthing missing.
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:03 am
You should try Bama Mayonnaise. (not sure if available in all sections of the country) I will not eat any potato salad or cole slaw without Bama in it.
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:43 am
try “dukes” mayonaise. it is the best mayo on the market. with it, add some of the juice from the gerkhins pickle jar.. it will surprise you how close to miracle whip this mixture comes.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Thank you! I thought I was going crazy. The preservative, potassium sorbate, gives me stomach cramps. That was never an ingredient when I was growing up. I can’t eat MW anymore.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:18 pm
Have you tried “spin blend?” I’ve been told that it is comparable to “Miracle Whip.” I wouldn’t know. I am a Best Foods/Hellman’s user. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not comfortable putting “salad dressing” on a sandwich.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Nice to see all you haters and trolls out there.
If you don’t liek Miracle Whip, then don’t buy it. “I hate it and I’m glad to see it end.” “If you like Miracle Whip then you have no taste.” Man, what a bunch of narrow-minded tools. Miracle Whip is NOT mayonnaise. It was never meant to be mayonnaise. I grew up on Miracle Whip - my mother used it for cole slaw, potato salad, and anywhere other people would use mayo. I use it with her potato salad recipe, and while my wife swears by mayo and claims to hate Miracle Whip, she loves the potato salad. So does everyone else who’s ever tried it.
I doubt there’s anything that real people can do to change the recipe back, though - Denmark made transfat illegal a few years ago, and other countries will probably follow suit. I doubt the US will, but that doesn’t mean that the corporations won’t make comparable changes. But only if it saves them some money. What costs less - water or soy? There’s your answer. Corporations care NOTHING about their customers any more - in their eyes we’re just mindless drones who will pay for their products no matter how overpriced or poorly made they might be. All they care about is their stockholders - and not folks like you or me who might have a few hundred or a couple of thousand dollars worth of their stock. They care about the rich, people who have millions invested - their only goal is to make the rich investors even richer. The consumer can go to hell for all they care. Boycotts could work, but only if they are widespread and well-publicized. Basically, consumers need the equivalent of the ACLU in order to get anything addressed any more. But unless there’s a chance of a lucrative lawsuit, there won’t be any takers.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I remember the time when Hormel changed their Chili recipe, so that all the lovely flourescent orange grease that came out of the can in one big glob (which consequently floated to the top when cooked), suddenly vanished. Unfortunately for me, so did the taste. Can anyone recommend a good canned chili?
(Yes, I know it’s not possible, but humor me. Oh, and DON’T say Campbell’s Roadhouse Chili - probably the most vile concoction I have ever tasted.)
October 23rd, 2006 at 1:01 pm
I’m sick of good products being re-formulated myself. Why would anyone do this?? Take Dial Gold Soap for example. The number one selling soap in all of America for years and years. My family and I have used Dial Soap for the last twenty years. As a teenager there was absolutely nothing that worked better for clearing up acne and toning your skin.
Now they switch the formula around. We do not seem to get the same clean feeling from the new formula of Dial. The new “less dryness” formula actually seems to leave skin dry and patchy..
They brought back “Classic” Coke because the customers loved it. Complain to anyone who will listen if you don’t like the new stuff. That’s my plan.
I personally didn’t notice the Miracle Whip change , because I don’t use it that often, but if you did, and you don’t like it, speak up. That’s the only way these guys will ever get the idea. If it isn’t broken, PLEASE don’t fix it.
/end rant
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Try A&P’s “salad dressing” in a jar.
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Miracle Whip has been “evolving” for awhile. It’s now greasy and aerated. I, however, still keep a small jar in the house. Your attempt to re-create the recipe with vinegar and sugar is as close as you can get…play with the balance a bit. I use red wine vinegar; sometimes tarragon infused. My girlfriend swears by apple cider vinegar. Who knows? Bottom line wins again!
jt
October 23rd, 2006 at 7:49 pm
Good riddance…I hated going to friend’s houses when their parents would make us sandwiches with Miracle Whip….and the strangest thing is that I was talking about this phenomenon yesterday at lunch when asked to explain my skepticism over any mayo not Hellman’s…and then I come across this from Instapundit. Random.
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:41 pm
I’m a non-mayo person. well in our house we had miracle whip and we just called it mayo regardless. Now my husband is a real mayo person so we have “mayo” and “Mayo mayo”
I make a kick ass chicken salad that gets compliments out the wazzoo. I prefer Spin Blend, it comes in a green capped jar and label. It’s a kinda weird brand, and can be HARD to find, but it’s flavor is far superior. That metallic wang of miracle whip is NOT present, and it’s smoother. And it kicks butt in anything.
When I find it (there are less stores carrying it than used to) I will buy six or eight of them to store away.
October 24th, 2006 at 10:07 am
From the askyourneighbor.com people:
MOCK MIRACLE WHIP
Recipe By : Joe Ames
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
4 egg yolks
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. dry mustard
6 tbsp. vinegar
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 c. salad oil
3 tbsp. flour or cornstarch
1 c. boiling water
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. vinegar
1 tbsp. salt
With mixer blend egg yolks, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 2
tablespoons vinegar, very slowly add 1 cup oil, a few drops at a time and
mix thoroughly. Add the remaining oil a little faster but be careful to
blend each addition before adding more oil. When all the oil has been added
add 4 tablespoons vinegar. Now put remaining ingredients in a saucepan and
cook to a smooth paste. Add this hot mixture to the mayonnaise and blend
well. Pour into a container and cool in the refrigerator. Makes slightly
more than one quart.
October 24th, 2006 at 11:48 am
A friend of mine who worked in the lab at Kraft, told me several years ago that the ’secret’ ingredient in Miracle Whip was French’s Mustard. We have both plants here, so they just shipped over the mustard from across town. A bit of oil and some mustard should do the trick. Good luck!
October 24th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
In writing a couple of low carb cook books, and trying to provide America with everything they could want WITHOUT sugar and flour, I turned to a sub for MWHIP. You know you really don’t have to start by making mayonnaise. Just take a good one and treat it like this.
1/2 cup good mayo
1 t cider vinegar
1/4 t paprika
1/2 packet Splenda.
I can’t tell the difference. If you don’t want to use a sweetener, use sugar and sweeten a little at a time until your tastebuds tell you that you have just the right sweetness.
If you are looking for a really good Fat Reduced mayo by the way, look for Smart Beat!
Carylton Cooper
October 24th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Miracle whip was cheap NOT Good Tasting
Hellmans real Mayonnaise.
Isuppose you also know what Golden Glow Salad is. I Do Not miss crap like this.
October 24th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
How about trying Aldi’s brand salad dressing. I just checked my jar and it still lists Soybean Oil as the first ingredient.
October 24th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
There is no better mayo than Duke. A southern trsadition that consistently puts everything else to shame
October 24th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
i have your solution. eschew that vile war-ersatz Urtica Miraculum, abandon the products of food nazis and taste the wondrous essence of true mayonnaise [pronounced as you said, ‘maynaze’ may-uh-naze if you’re in a fancy restaurant] DUKE’S MAYONNAISE is the spread of the gods, made right here in south carolina by the C.F. Sauer & Co. of mauldin. i have sent emergency care packs of DUKEs to refugees forced to live in alien regions of america [florida, arizona, all the fast growing states]. best of luck finding it
October 24th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
For those who are mystified as to why foods formulated with trans-fat are being reformulated, maybe you should know that one unit measure of trans-fat is supposedly equivalent to 2.5 unit measures of saturated fat. So it’s 2.5 times worse for you than saturated fat. Any oil that’s partially-hydrogenated qualifies as trans-fat. Partial hydrogenation enables an oil to behave as a solid and is more stable at room-temperature than, say, butter, which melts and becomes rancid relatively quickly. Vegetable shortening, which is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, was marketed for decades as being more healthful than butter and was definately cheaper and more convenient for manufacturers because of it’s long shelf life and because cookies and such made with trans-fat didn’t have to be fresh in order to be palatable. There’s your bottom line.
October 24th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
I grew up using Miracle Whip also.I have noticed the big change.I work in my family’s restaurant and use only Miracle Whip,in the gallon jugs of course.It is still like the old good stuff.Maybe you buy some from me to last you for awhile instead of buying a whole gallon.smile!It is sooo worth it you know.
October 24th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Trudy,
Your Miracle Whip posting made Netscape’s “hit” parade of news and commentary with 55 hits as of 4:54 p.m. EDT, Oct. 24.
However, your food feature is listed under “Related Stories From Netscape,” with articles headlined as follows: “Obama is Not a Miracle Elix,” “A Miracle? Girl’s Cancer Disappears;” “Kin of comatose girl hoping for miracle.”
Would be interested to get your reaction. Has anyone queried you about recipes that cure diseases or salvage political parties? Chris Hanson
October 24th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Many years ago there was a book published by some super-tasters that were able to make incredible knock-offs of many of our favorite products. a few of the original manufacturers even admitted that they nailed the recipes dead-on, or so close as to be scary. do a search for mock white castle hamburgers and you should be able to find the book.
BTW - i don’t think Miracle Whip has any trans-fat. it’s stable at room temp because it is an emulsion [created by the lecithin in the egg yolks AND the mustard].
October 24th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
I think you’re right about any transfat in MW. Seems like an obvious thing, but I do know it’s an emulsion — more like a mayonnaise than a dressing. Maybe i can track down some old jars and find out!
October 24th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
I have found my mixing about 2/3 cup mirale whip and 1/3 cup mayo into potato salads and such seems to be a good combo, the water doesn’t sperate out and it still tastes good.
October 24th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
I grew up in NYC so we didn’t really use Miracle Whip. In “Noo Yawk” it was Hellmans Mayonaise or “fugeddaboutit”.
October 24th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
Trudy, do you live where there are Sav-A-Lot Stores? They sell Portman’s salad dressing and mayo (as well as bottled dressings). Their dressings have been excellent so far.
If you’re not familiar with them, Sav-A-Lot stores are great - about 40% lower prices than other grocery stores. It is like walking back into the 1960s. I thought maybe it was all cheap off-brands, but I checked it out. They make sure that everything they sell is at least 1 to 2 grades higher quality than the national brands - they just buy from smaller companies that don’t spend millions on advertising, so they don’t have to charge nearly as much.
They don’t have a deli, pharmacy, flower shop, etc., but so what? I can get those things elsewhere, but where else can you get these prices. A quart jar of salad dressing is 99 cents. Mayo is $1.09. Peanut butter is $1.39. Cereal runs between $1.39 and $1.79. Lets see you beat that in regular grocery stores!
October 24th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
I grew up eating Bluebonnet margarine, including using it in cooking. One day, maybe 15 years ago, I was making frosting with it, as I had many times, and it “broke”. They had recently changed it from margarine to “spread” (the sticks) which meant that the water content was increased. I switched to butter and never looked back.
I am a Heinz-only ketchup lover. To me french fries are merely utensils for eating ketchup. Heinz ketchup once contained pineapple juice and is not quite the same since they changed it.
High fructose corn syrup, btw, is a poor substitute for real cane sugar.
October 25th, 2006 at 7:14 am
I got hooked on the old Miracle Whip salad dressing during the many Thanksgiving dinners my mother would prepare for me and my dad after we had come home from a Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day football game at Briggs Stadium.
Growing up in the Ecorse Michigan projects left few choices for noontime lunches before returning to school. Yes, during those days you could safely walk home to get lunch and then return back to school. Even though my sisters and I had few choices for a lunch meal, I remember fixing fried bologna sandwiches with Miracle Whip smothered between the slices of Wonder bread.
To this day my wife does not quite understand why I won’t eat her potato salad if it is not prepared with Miracle Whip, even with the new watered down recipe. I can tell the difference between the old and new recipes. I also think Kraft should go back to the old one. Like they say, ” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”r
October 25th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
I am also a big, Big Lots fan. Any Portman’s brands that I have tried have been very good. I don’t buy the canned goods though mainly because the labels are made to appear to be national brands. If you have to copy, I’m suspicious. When it comes to dressing for such things as cole slaw, I use nothing but Marzettis. It’s delicious but not cheap. It can replace Miracle Whip in some cases but might be a little thin for sandwiches.
October 26th, 2006 at 12:30 am
I too grew up with Miracle Whip. We called it “mayonaise” and I never knew that there was a regular mayo that was different until I moved away from home at 17.
My hubby is a devoted mayo fan and can’t stand Miracle Whip. I use Miracle Whip while he uses mayo. I’ll eat his cooking with mayo, but when it comes to a leftover turkey sandwich with stuffing and alfalfa sprouts, nothing like Miracle Whip! I didn’t notice that they had changed it, however. I don’t use it for salads that much.
Too bad that just when we really like something they either change it or take it away, like Double Stufft Coffee Cream Oreos.
October 26th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
[…] Miracle Whip is ruined. But if you need a recipe for making good, old fashioned-who-cares-about-salmonella style mayo, let me know. […]
October 27th, 2006 at 11:08 am
The biggest reason I use Mirable Whip (these days the light verson) is that it has a “kick” to it that mayo doesn’t have. To me, regular mayo is just like eating lard.
November 28th, 2006 at 7:53 am
I was a big fan of Miracle Whip Light untill I noticed the gosh awfull taste from a new jar I had purchased. I assumed I must have bought a jar from a bad batch so I went and bought another jar from a different store. Same yucky taste.
So I wrote the company back in February and asked if they changed the recipe. I got a replied that they did. They changed the amount of oil and the amount of egg yolk used. A short time later they also switched to using Splenda.
Included in the email was this:
“As in all of our reformulations, I’d like you to know that we do conduct extensive testing with our consumers before making changes to our products.”
November 28th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
I got much the same response. Guess they didn’t try it out on anybdy who cared!
Meanwhie, i am trying all the ideas I’ve had in the prior responses. I’ll let everybody know when I find something that is really good!
November 30th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
[…] Elementary Chef » Mourning the Demise of Miracle Whip […]
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
LOL @ the people blaming Walmart for Kraft changing their recipes. That’s ridiculous. Walmart will carry Kraft products whatever the price (well, within reason, but it’s absurd to say it’s Walmart’s fault) People will pay for their brand names if they want them. All they do by changing the recipe is make people switch brands.
January 18th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I want the old Miracle Whip back! Can we sign a petition anywhere? Remember how the world of Coca Cola tried to change that? How long did that change last?
January 19th, 2007 at 6:11 am
No petition that I’ve heard of, though Consumer Reports is considering an article on it.
You might want to e-mail Kraft and give them your opinion.
http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?m=contact_us/contact_us&cat1=103&cat2=113&cat3=57
January 19th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Thanks for the info Trudy! I did e-mail Kraft and got a formal response so to speak. Then about a week later…KRAFT called my answering machine! Told me that “I sure knew my MIRACLE WHIP”. Well I know my 39 year old son knows it too…. The gal on the phone then mentioned the less oil and eggs….and they would send me some coupons.
Well I am not gonna buy any more! I know several people right here in town that won’t either!
I will check back here for updates!
Have a great week-end?
P.S. May I ask where you are from?
January 19th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I’m originally from Detroit, tho now I live in (mostly) sunny Yuma, AZ.
January 27th, 2007 at 7:52 am
I grew up in the place Miracle Whip was invented, Salem, IL.
As you might guess, I’ve spent the last 44 years eating it, using it in cooking, salads, etc.
It was immediately noticed by me when they changed the formula, and my kids, too; I’ve been looking for a replacement, but it looks like the IGA & Kroger generics changed to a similar formula. I’ll try to pick up some spinblend, that was what I used to buy when i couldn’t find MW.
There used to be a place in Salem you could buy original Miracle Whip in canning jars; I think it was called the Little Tulsa. but I haven’t been back there in years.
January 27th, 2007 at 8:26 am
Ah HAH!
They do make original Miracle Whip, you just have to buy it by the gallon!
I checked against an old jar I had laying around, and ths is the real stuff:
http://www.kraftfoodservice.com/productsandbrands/ProductSpecific.htm?option=product&id=920
Might be a good idea to buy a couple of these; they are also making a “Kraft Dressing” & a “Kraft miracle whip dressing” that might be replacing food service sized Miracle Whip Salad Dressing. I wonder how long a gallon would keep in the pantry sealed?
May 14th, 2007 at 1:58 am
I’ve realized that Kraft hasn’t just changed Miracle Whip. Velveeta, Light Done Right dressing, Kraft American Cheese are all different and all taste bad now.
Kraft basically told it’s comsumers, “You WILL still like your FAVORITE brand, even though we just killed the original recipe to make it cheaper to produce.”
ANY KRAFT product will never taste the same again. Now the question is, “What do I substitute?” Since I’m never buying a craft product again.
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:43 pm
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November 30th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
[…] To make matters even worse, Kraft recently changed the formula of Miracle Whip. Water is now the first (main) ingredient, rather than soybean oil. Apparently this means that many dishes that have to sit overnight, such as coleslaw or potato salad, turn into a watery mess. […]
April 30th, 2008 at 2:53 am
Isn’t that awful? I, too, grew up on it. Why these stupid kids and grandkids of the food barons get in there and think “change is good” is beyond me. All they do is water everything down and then fill it back up with toxic additives.
I agree that getting “real” mayonnaise and doctoring it up is about the best I’ve found so far. Not the old Miracle Whip, certainly, but who wants what they’ve got out NOW! I surely don’t. Good luck.
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