- 16 times more expensive.
(fanfare music)
- Hello. - Hello everybody.
How are you doing, Mrs B?
- Very well, thank you.
- Hope you guys are well.
Welcome to our kitchen.
Today, we're doing the return of Cheap Versus Steep,
a playlist that we started about,
I want to say over 18 months ago now where we did brownies?
- Yeah.
- Oh! There's more to that.
- Can I take this off now?
- So basically, if you don't know what it is,
we compare the same recipe with budget ingredients
and gourmet ingredients from a high range supermarket,
high budget sort of thing.
So, it has interesting results,
and I tend to prefer the cheap, and
(Mrs B chuckling) - I don't.
(cash register clacking) - Yeah.
But what we're finding,
is it's kind of like a balance between the two,
especially with today's one,
where you could probably pick and choose between the two,
because, what is it?
- It is an English cooked breakfast.
- An English cooked breakfast.
And as an American who reached out to me on Twitter, said,
"Oh, you put baked beans in your cooked,"
but we do have baked beans you know.
"You must get a lot of wind."
And it's kind of the same type
of having a cooked breakfast, you do.
There's hash browns and black pudding,
which some people have on there.
We couldn't really find to compare those,
but we've got most of the basics, which we'll show you.
- Now?
- Yeah.
- So we've got bread for toast,
eggs, mushrooms, beans, sausage, bacon, and tomatoes.
- [Barry] Yup.
And the equivalent with the more expensive,
up-market supermarket, a lot of them, organic.
- Yup.
- Free range, all that sort of stuff.
And what we did last time actually,
a couple of times,
is we kind of just compared the basic receipt.
So this shop came to eight pounds, okay?
And the expensive one.
- Came to 18 pounds 95 pence. (cash register clacking)
- 18 pounds.
Yeah, but to be fair, that doesn't sound that bad,
because it's kind of like double,
and you're thinking well you go
from complete budget, basic range to gourmet.
- Yeah.
- But last night, while Mrs B was,
what were you doing last night?
- Putting the kids to bed.
- Putting the kids to bed, that's right. (Mrs B chuckles)
I was doing the other dad task
of detailed analysis on this cooked breakfast.
This (laughing), I had to take two on that
'cause we were laughing so hard.
This is my life, this is exciting.
This is my detailed analysis, on this thing, okay?
We'll talk through it as we go, right.
- You're very proud of this,
aren't you? - I am.
I got the calculator out, I was like,
why did we need Pythagoras's Theorem and all that in school?
Now I know why.
- Just draw a chart.
- Yes, so we'll come on to that as we go.
So let's get going.
Mrs B is preheating the oven
because our bread is apricot and fennel sourdough.
- Yes.
- But you have to finish baking it in the oven
before we can then turn it to toast.
Now that apricot and fennel sourdough was three pounds,
but, it weighs, this is how we're doing it,
we're doing it by weight now, 400 grammes.
But the alternative,
this loaf of bread, this basic budget one,
that's 800 grammes for 36 pence,
which means if you ratio that out
that apricot and fennel bread,
which is gonna be really interesting, isn't it?
- It is.
- I quite like the sound of that,
16 times more expensive
for the the same weight equivalent.
16 times. - That's extortionate
This better be like, tastes like gold, this bread.
(Barry and Mrs B laughing)
- Speaking of the mushrooms, look, this is the cheap ones.
You get three in a pack.
The more expensive ones you get five,
and they're portobello.
- These ones are one pound 80,
and these were 85 pence.
- Yes, which is actually 2.25 the cost
but you are getting nearly double the amount of mushroom
and it's not wrapped like I would (laughing).
It's like they were all like that in the shop.
Like someone's just wrap mastered it.
- I have to say you're gonna
have to do the taste comparison.
- Oh yeah, you don't like them do you?
- I don't like mushrooms.
- All right, so we'll roast those and also,
should we look at the toms?
Tomatoes, 350 grammes.
These ones, look at that 67 pence, right?
- Yeah.
- They don't look that ripe either do they?
- No, some of them look riper than others.
- For 225 grammes, you get these distinctive,
intensely sweet pomodoro tomatoes.
- These are very nice.
- Two pounds, which is actually,
the equivalent weight transferred around
five times the price.
- (gasping) I have to say, though,
I would pick these up off the shelf rather than (laughing).
- See what that turns out like.
- Just smells like bread.
- Just smells like bread, yeah. (Barry and Mrs B laughing)
- Wait, let's get it on the tray,
we'll put it in the bottom of the oven.
Next up it is baked beans,
which I am very passionate about.
I'm interested to see this.
We've got some expensive ones.
- I always know when the baked beans are cheap
because you have to open them yourself.
- [Barry] Yeah I was wondering that is that part of it?
Tins generically are 400 grammes.
The budget beans, 22 pence, okay?
- Yeah.
- And the organic baked beans, one pound.
- One pound?
One pound for one tin of beans?
- Yeah. - You can buy a pack of four
of a certain brand.
- [Barry] So that is four and a half times
the price of that.
- Just got a waft of the mushrooms cooking.
- Do you really not like mushrooms that much?
- I can, if it's in something like a stir fry
and they're disguised, I'll eat them,
but I couldn't just eat like mushrooms on toast like you do.
Or a mushroom, no.
- I think it's a very typical thing.
It's not quite pineapple on pizza,
but people either love or hate mushrooms.
And I love them.
- You do. - Hopefully for you,
you'd wish there was not mushroom for them in the oven.
The last three, it might get a bit noisy
'cause we're gonna fry all of this.
We're gonna do fried egg, fried sausage, fried bacon.
Let's just talk about them as a whole, okay?
So the bacon, Mrs B.
- Organic bacon and you get six,
- Six slices.
- Six slices of bacon in here.
- That's 184 grammes for four pound 50,
okay? - Okay.
- And it is from pigs reared on an organic diet
on farms with high welfare standards.
So very nice organic bacon
while the equivalent is an unsmoked.
They do do smoked, but I think it must be quite popular.
That is a one kilogramme.
- That is heavy.
- It's like a bag of flour. (laughing)
Value three pound 49 packet of bacon.
Now to make it even
that is 3.4 times the weight of this, okay?
So if you were to round it,
that would make this bacon cost 24 pounds and 48 pence.
- What?
- Yeah, so that is actually seven times.
Seven times!
Seven times. - Seven times.
- [Barry] Seven times.
- Seven times.
Seven times the price of bacon.
- Wow.
I think they're almost done.
- Almost done slash lightly charred,
but the cheap ones are getting
a nice char blister on there. - Okay.
Nice. - So I'm turning the oven
right down to keep it warm
and then we'll get that bread out.
But should we talk about the eggs?
- Yes, let's, so we've got 15 eggs from caged hens.
- I'm going to drop these.
The woman in the supermarket did say to me,
because the bag was so thin,
she was like, "Don't put them in a bag love.
"They tend to split and we have a massive accident
"at least twice a day."
- They are one pound 18.
And that works out 7p per egg.
- Yeah.
- And then you got these ones, which six eggs,
- Six eggs.
- For 3 pounds and 5 pence.
And that works out 51p per egg.
- 51p? - For your
lovely calculations.
- For my calculations,
that is seven times more.
Seven times!
Look at that.
- That is gonna be one-- - That's dirty.
- We'll it's only on the outside.
- It's got bit of chicken poop on it.
- It has.
- But seven times more.
- That's extortionate.
But you've gotta look after your animals.
- You do. - And your hens.
- You do
(Mrs B laughing)
Last but not least sausages Mrs B.
- Sausages! - Sausages!
For the budget ones in a pack of 12, that is one pound 20.
And just like the eggs,
it's kind of like easier to do it per sausage.
So that is actually 10 pence per sausage,
12 pork sausages.
That is basically it.
What have you got there?
- And these are six Cumberland pork sausages, free range,
- Free range Cumberland.
- And they were three pound 50.
And that works out at 58p per sausage.
- 58p a sausage, but there's six in a pack as well.
So that's why the ratio is so high.
And that is 5.8,
the 0.8 is so critical.
5.8 times the cost.
Now you do get some sort of grizzly sausages
when you cook them and they're a bit, nah.
- Can I say something?
I was just looking at this,
these sausages, these 12,
they are all on the fat and stuff,
the nutritional amounts are orange and green.
- Right. - Right.
And on the organic ones,
they've got lots of red in the fats and the salts.
- Yeah but sometimes the fat counts not always a bad thing.
Like, you know,
sometimes when you get a good steak
and you get like marble with fat in there.
- I do you think when you say cheap sausages
that they're gonna be fat and grizzly,
like that? - Yeah.
You can get from like a bulk buy supermarket
that some cafes use, some, extremely naughty ones though,
I think they just basically contain, I don't know,
plastic and chairs. - Toenails.
- Toenails.
- You can see like air pockets in these on the skin.
- On the cheap ones?
- Yeah. - Oh dear.
- [Mrs B] You going for expensive?
- [Barry] Yeah, going in.
Right, there we go.
Cheap.
Steep.
- Look, they shrunk.
- [Barry] They've shrunk.
They've browned really quickly.
And they're letting out more oil.
- [Mrs B] They are.
- [Barry] They're nearly done aren't they?
That's crazy. - They are.
I think these might be done.
(Barry laughing) - That is crazy.
I've been able to step away from those,
they're on the same heat, same amount of oil.
Look at the colour difference.
That smells amazing.
- I know, I can't believe these others shrunk so much.
- Yeah, they've grown and they've shrunk.
Cheap bacon is going in
and I've obviously got the steep rashes,
but they are thinner and look they will shrivel up.
Look that,
as it cooks it's shrinking already.
Are you happy with that mate?
- I am happy with that crispiness so far.
- It almost looks like incinerated.
That's very American style, isn't it?
There's the cheap.
I don't know folks.
If it's still bacon, does it really matter?
Just while we get the eggs ready,
this is that freshly baked bread.
Oh my gosh, an apricot piece
fell out of it. - Oh wow!
Look at that.
- [Barry] Is this not more for breakfast with the fruit in?
I'm not sure.
Oh my gosh, that is so warming to hold.
Oh, yes.
- Oh gosh, that smells amazing.
I can smell the apricot.
- Ah, folks.
So for the eggs and we wanna keep the food warm.
We're gonna rush on this.
We've got a trivet ready and both the pans ready,
but we want to try and show you the difference
between the two.
- [Mrs B] Is this steep or cheap?
- That is steep.
Look at the colour of that yolk.
- That is good. - Remember that.
- Oh, look at that pale colour.
- Look at the difference in that.
Look at that.
I think as part of this playlist,
this is always gonna surprise us.
That is huge.
- Yeah, can't believe it.
- [Barry] The toast is going down
and we'll get the beans in.
All right, this is egg cam.
You probably hear the microwave
still going in the background.
This is the cheap plate.
Oh, just trying to find room on this steep plate.
The fried egg, the bacon.
We've managed to do it, so it's all still warm.
We've got the bread done.
I've never worked that fast in my life.
- No. (laughing)
- We don't think we recorded most of it,
but there we go.
Sausages, these are like cutting through like they're mush.
This is the cheap one.
- These are really like tough to cut through in like
how you would expect a sausage to be.
Oh wow.
They are good sausages.
- Oh.
Sausage, cheap or steep?
- Steep - Steep.
- You can tell the difference. - Yeah.
- I never thought you could
but these are herby,
really good. - The texture, the flavour,
the strength in it, yeah.
The other, yeah.
Toast.
(toast crunching)
That fennel gives it like an aniseedy taste,
and a little bit of apricot.
And to be honest, it worked quite well.
But I think sometimes bread is just bread.
- Cheap, me for that one?
- Yeah, cheap too.
I can't justify the difference.
Cheap beans, I'm looking forward to this.
Oh, the flavour and the depth for that.
- There's not much flavour today.
- But I think beans are so specific.
If there was a middle ground, I would say that
because I don't think the budget ones quite cut it,
but they're, - These are good.
- You'd chose steep? - I really like these beans.
Yeah, steep.
- There goes our shopping budget.
(Barry and Mrs B laughing)
Mushrooms?
- You gonna go for it? - Go on then.
Go on then.
- Oh, it's a mushroom (laughing), you know?
Are you okay?
That is identical.
- Are they?
- It's a mushroom.
- It's a mushroom, a mushroom's a mushroom.
- Cheap.
- Okay. - You?
- I mean-- - Neither.
(Barry laughing)
Tomatoes.
That is rude and naughty.
- That's got like a bit of a sour tang.
- These are good. - It has.
- Steep for me.
- I'm going cheap. - Are you?
- 'Cause I don't like tomatoes that much.
I still get that tomato hit.
I think you could let them maybe ripen another day or two
and it would justify it.
- Bacon?
- I prefer the cheap,
that tastes, and normally I don't like it cooked like that
its too crumbly,
but I'm not getting smoked flavour in that at all.
I'm getting smoked in the unsmoked Valley bacon.
- I'm definitely steep, that, is really salty.
- And maybe that's why I like it.
- Maybe.
Oh, it's too salty for me.
- It is salty, yeah.
Last one is the egg.
Oh.
No, that tastes, I can't explain it
like more wholesome?
- It does. - Richer?
- Yeah.
- And it's just the yolk mainly.
- Yeah, that's a good egg.
- It just feels like a lot of, yeah,
like fresher and like, hmm. - Yeah.
Steep.
Steep that one.
- That's it, is that it? - That's it.
I kind of feel like steep's been the overall winner.
- It has, yeah, I think bread, was it bacon for me,
but that's the saltiness,
the sausage nah.
The mushroom, I think with the mushroom I like.
You see it comes from the ground,
but then the price, wasn't that different was it?
- No.
No, no, it wasn't at all.
But I do prefer, there's certain things
like I'd could swap the bread.
- Yeah.
- Definitely, but I do overall think it's the steep,
that's the winner.
You pay for the good quality ingredients.
- Yeah, I absolutely agree.
- Ladies and gents steep.
Then I think we can both agree for a change.
'Cause I normally go for the cheap.
- You do.
- The sausages, I think that was what did it mainly.
Overall winner today,
but it is all about balance,
finding the right thing, like I say,
just picking it from there.
And as you see on the other Cheap Versus Steep,
if you've missed them already, we've done beans on toast,
- Yeah, mac and cheese . - Mac and cheese.
- Brownies . - Brownies.
And we've had fish and chips suggested,
we've had lasagna suggested,
we've had spaghetti bolognese.
So any other suggestions let us know down below,
and we will work our way through it.
But hopefully this is a bit of an eye opener for you.
It certainly is for me.
- Yeah.
- I'm off to buy some cheap bacon.
Oh no, I've got about a billion kilos.
- Oh no, you don't need any.
- Yeah.
- Goodbye. - Bye.
- See ya.
♪ Take your level player ♪
♪ No matter what your style ♪
♪ The kitchen's for me ♪
♪ Sideburns, moustache, goatee ♪
♪ Maybe all three ♪
I just tried some of the cheap bacon again
and the salt, I literally feel like I've just drunk the sea.
So I might just switch to steep now.
- Just read the back of these sausages and it says 52% pork.
- [Barry] What's the rest?
- I don't know.
- Water, rusk.
- [Barry] Rusk?
- Wheat starch, - [Barry] Rusk is a baby food.
- And a load of things
that I've never heard of before (laughing).
No wonder they shrunk.