Just saw the cheapest supermarket behavior I have seen in ages
 

I just went across to the supermarket across the street to grab some milk and saw the cheapest behavior I have seen in a long time.

The supermarket is selling corn on the cob with the husks on (actually a pretty rare item in UK supermarkets) and they were selling it by weight. There was a couple there actually husking the corn in the aisle and putting the bare corn into the bag for buying.

Not only was I amazed at how cheap that was but that the supermarket didn't even complain when they went to ring it up. I guess part of me should admire their ability to get away with such stuff.

In your 'Location' it says "American In London" and this isn't a normal thing for you?

I have seen this in every market I have been to. Here in MA and and even when I lived in AZ. Also when I visited other states. I never really thought twice about it to be honest hahah

You sell it by weight there? Here they sell it by the ear and it is common to have a barrel for people to put the husks in.

Where were these people putting the husks?

It's common in my area of the US, that corn is sold at a p/cob rate... not by weight.

Sometimes 5 for $1.00 or 10 for $2.00 etc...

Lots of people clean the cob, right there in the store, before purchasing it, so they can check them out, and they don't have to mess up their kitchens when they get home.

Maybe the people who husked the corn in the store were used to that type of thing, and were not from the UK. Who knows....

Actually, this is not cheap, but common. A lot of stores around us actually provide you will garbage cans beside the corn to put the husks. It's they are selling by weight, why buy the husks? This also give the buyer a chance to check out the corn to make sure it's a good ear before they buy it. Very popular.

I only peel the husk back enough to check the ear for health..about 1/4 of the way down.. I always buy my corn with the husks attached.. The husks make great food for the compost bin to feed the gardens

You lose lol.

I am outraged! see sig for current reaction:

:2 cents:

everyone does that here, despite the fact that its sold by the cob and not by weight. I guess they want to see if its good or not. I leave them on though because i bbq my corn on the cob with the husk on.

that stuff is growing all over northern cali
It's pretty common for people to peel it off in the market here, always a trash can set up next to it, I leave it one and cook it that way on the BBQ

yes, exactly my thoughts, what is totally acceptable in cali seems to be "cheap behavior' elsewhere lol

I always found it convenient that in Cali there were bins next to the corn for you to pull the husks off there and not have to deal with the mess at home lol

5 for $1 is common, not sold by weight here.

I swear I never saw that in the States but then we used to buy ours on the side of the road when I still lived there. I think it struck be because of them shedding it to beat the weight.

Cheapness indeed....

On the ground of the supermarket. Like I said, corn in the husks really isn't very common at all in the supermarkets here. Corn on the cob isn't tall that common in any form and when you do buy it it tends to either be frozen (always feels weird to me) or husked, cleaned and sold at a very high price in vacuumed sealed packs.

Guess I am just out of the corn buying loop then.

out here they do that also , they have a garbage bin for the skin and people skinn em first them put em in the bag its allllllllllll goodddddddddd

The husking thing isn't odd, what's odd is selling it by weight instead of by the ear.

two more years of shitty economy and we'll start seeing people eating the husk before going to the till

i go to the grocery store and eat fruit and vegetables there and then take a shit in a bag and only pay for the weight of the shit..

sure i have to stick around the store for a few hours, but the money i save is totally worth it... :thumbsup

I don't think I have ever seen anyone completely husk a cob in a store ever. I have seen people pull back the husk a little to check out the corn. I also have never seen it sold by weight either.

i see people doing it all the time and like other people noted, they have trash cans set up for that purpose. sold by the ear here, not by weight.

Good..I grew up where you live so good to know there would be a reason I had never seen that done.

Also, agree that back home I never saw it sold by weight but since that was the case here I was amazed the supermarket were letting them do it.

Unhusking them at home makes a mess, easier to just do it at the store... :2 cents:

No big deal, I peel all my bananas before I buy them, no sense paying for the peel.

since there it is strange, and by the weight, and no peel barrel, my guess leans towards your first inclination.
sometimes i peel or 'husker' them. other times no. they cook better on the grill with husks on usually. but burned husks are even messier than husking them over the sink or small kitchen trash can.
i've seen people throw husks back in the bin where there was no trash can. that's rude.

besides the mess, fungus, lack of polination, drought, disease, rot, worms can all cause 'bad ears' of corn. and some with just tiny kernals. it is nice to weed those out during purchase. i don't put back ones with small kernals. but if a ear is bad with rot or worms, etc, i do them a favor and put it in the trash can with the husks.

peeling the banana's. hehe. yeah, maybe i should stop peeling the oranges also.

When I've seen this done, I've seen a different price for husked vs raw.

its very common...

The only reason you didnt see it in the states was the stores you went to sold them by the ear rather than weight...

I personally dont husk mine... I buy it all i dont care... I never was one to save 3 cents on a dollar item...

But nonetheless its very common...

You should get an allotment and grow some corn, Sarah.

I havent bought it fresh in season in years, but I'd pull it back a bit just to be sure there was no corn worms or whatever ya call 'ems. Those are just yuck.

your sig kicks ass

:2 cents:

Hahaha...wise man!

You have to give the council your first born to get an allotment these days. They are really popular.

Give em some free passwords, lol. Ah well, yeah I heard it's hard to get a garden plot over there.

what some people will do to save a buck

Wow. Don't know what to say. Every time I see corn sold in the US with the husk, there's usually a large trash can right next the display - half filled with husks. This is the norm - even at my farmer markets. It's always sold by the unit (usually 2-3 per dollar), so it in no way reflects upon the final cost. I've never see it sold by the pound.

The pre-shucking insures healthy corn, and is a courtesy extended by the market - so you don't have the mess at home. Methinks you may be a bit naive about purchasing unshucked corn.

i see people at whole foods break off the stalks of the broccoli so the weight is less and then leave the stalks in the broccoli bin

it happens everywhere even high end stores like whole foods

Whats even cheaper is the fact that the produce guy has to spray that shit down every 2 hrs to maintain the moisture (weight).

the cheapest behavior i've ever seen in the grocery store was noticing some guy stealing ground beef.

i wanted to go tell him to steal the filet mignons/the good stuff. fuck the ground beef!

Here's it's sold by the ear, but people still throw husks on the floor. Maybe it's in our genetic memory?

i cannot belive you spotted us doing this.

i'd start a campaign to change corn pricing to a per unit model in the uk.

the husks don't weigh near as much as the cob. combined they prolly make up 80% of the weight.


the brits need to eat more corn anyway, it works as a floss

:Oh crap:Oh crap

Seems normal to me.. doubt people do that just to reduce the weight lol

No one was injured during the process :winkwink:

Next time clean up after yourself!

Well I'm with Sarah. My inclination is that they were probably doing it to be cheap.

Our stores have a shucking station for people to do just this.

yeah pretty common around here too.

I don't blame them, why would you want to pay for something you can't eat?

It's the same with broccoli v. broccoli crowns. The stem piece weighs the most yet is un-edible.

I say keep the husks on, leave them to soak then put them on the BBQ Mmmm :winkwink: