Consumer complaint about Jimmy Dean sausage [moved from General Chowhounding board]

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I was directed to the following page, on a blog called The Consumerist, by a link from NPR's The Bryant Park Project. This is an apparently real consumer complaint about Jimmy Dean resizing their breakfast sausage chubs from 16 ounces to 12 ounces. As a native Texan with about a half-dozen chubs of Jimmy Dean sage sausage in his basement freezer (that kind is hard to find in Boston, so I stock up when it shows up), I agree both with the gist of his argument and the appropriately sweary spirit in which it's delivered.

Warning: contains rude language inappropriate for work:

http://tinyurl.com/35ddk3

[dave_c]

Anyone have a recipe for sausage gravy that they're willing to share?
I can make biscuits and bacon gravy, but my sausage gravy just doesn't taste right - kind of bland. I can't pinpoint my problem. Actually, I'm thinking it's the sausage. Personally, Jimmy Dean seems kind of bland to me and I haven't ventured into making my own breakfast sausage.

Thanks!

[Sam Fujisaka]

Well, the key is starting with a 16 ounce package of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage chubs...

[vvvindaloo]

you're such a troublemaker....!

[Davwud]

I use Tennessee Pride. It has more fat in it and makes a tastier gravy. Also, salt and pepper are key once it's made. Season it up and you should be fine.
The recipe is pretty easy, sausage, flour, milk. The season.

DT

[alkapal]

agree with davwud. brown the sausage (a nice fatty one, like tennessee pride or winn dixie -- or try your local southern grocery store store brand some time). brown it well. and crumble it well. sprinkle with some flour, stir for a while to cook it, like roux. well, in fact, roux.... let roux get at least golden to golden=brown. add room temp milk, stir, let thicken to gauge how much more milk needed. then add more milk to thickness you like. add (enough) salt and pepper, pepper and, did i say pepper? it will thicken as it cools down, so take this into account. i like medium heat sausage. you can use hot sausage, too, or add some cayenne. don't add vinegar-based hot sauce, unless you want it to taste strange! undersalting will result in blah gravy. be not afraid. add little by little to taste, but do bring salt level to where you can taste it!

[fluffernutter]

The great thing about sausage gravy is that you don't have to use much sausage to flavor it, since the grease is so flavorful. On the deciennial occasion that we eat sausage gravy, we fry one extra patty, chopping it as it fries. Leave it in the skillet after you remove the other patties. Eat it hot -- it loses its charm as it cools.

For a serious sausage treat, we spring for a roll of Tucker's, which is cured and smoked and hung and is a porcine pleasure in every chewy morsel. Less fatty, too, so you don't get that biscuit-and-gravy reflux.

[alkapal]

yes, surely eat it hot!

[alkapal]

as i recall, the "maple" and "light" jimmy deans have always been smaller.(12 oz) no downsizing involved....i like the jimmy dean sausages as they are very lean. not the"bold" flavors or the "maple" flavor either.

was this call for real? i cannot imagine a texan eating a maple flavored sausage!

[Davwud]

It probably was. There was a customer complain circulating around the GTA in the mid 90's from the answering machine at a cable company. It's interesting to hear the guy get madder and madder as the calls went on. He wasn't able to watch his "Automag" and he was some kind of upset. Someone added classical music to the background. It was priceless.
It was all I could think about when I heard this complaint.

DT

[SweetPea914]

PersonalIy I thought this call was hysterical, in a really scary way. I even left it up so my husband could hear it when he came home. We have been debating it's authenticity all evening. My husband works in Advertising (and I formally in Public Relations) he thinks it would be somewhat brilliant to "leak" such a phone call. At the same time they risk allienating a large portion of their consumers. We have never purchased Jimmy Dean sausages, but suddenly my husband is craving them. I find it all too funny!

[jfood]

That is wonderful. But the question is where did the tape come from, Mr Taylor or Mr Dean?

1 - Can't feed a family of 5 on a 12oz roll of sausage. Yup, jfood gotta agree that 2.5 oz of sausage ain't gonna feed a hungry appetite
2 - More data - OMG the five people consist of three men each weighing over 200 pounds, a women who is described as "a little plump" plus a daughter. Now we find out that it's not just the sausage but also includes "couple a dozen eggs". So the meal cart has about 5 fried eggs per person and 2.5 oz of JD sausage. OK the meal has some legs.
3 - But wait there's more. In addition to the eggs and sausage we find out that the meal includes a T-Bone steak. So the gravy boat has 5 eggs, a t-bone and 2.5 oz of sausage.
4 - In case we were wondering where Mr Taylor is from, he tells us. He's from Texas. Glad he cleared that one up. And we all know that Texans don;t eat no sausage with maple and sage. Jfood is glad he never made that mistake. Whew
5 - And lastly the comment that he will not buy 2 packages because of various reasons explained at the end. Yup No need to go from 16 oz to 24 oz to feed this family. That extra amount of sausage (jfood would guess about the size of Mr Taylor's thumb) is definitely going to cause them to go over the daily allowance of fat or something.
6 - Mr Taylor - There is an end button on the phone. That is what you normally press when you are done leaving a message. The conversation you had with the others in the room when you thought you were disconnected will probably not win you point at Jimmie's Corp HQ.

Gotta Love It!!! 5 eggs, a t-bone and this guys griping about less than one ounce of sausage on the plate. Guess you gotta pick your battles. Jfood is smiling from ear-to-ear.

But in all honesty, Mr. Taylor does have a point. A lot of product containers have been downsized and it is upsetting that these imbedded price increases are not always easy to find. Likewise it makes for a very difficult time when using recipes that call for a "24 oz can of" and the only cans now sold are 18.5 oz. Has ANYONE seen a recipe that calls for 18.5 oz of tomato sauce?

[Davwud]

I'm sure jfood does what I do and rejig the recipe to match the sized can/package/chub/box/whatever and record said change so as not to have to do so every time.

DT

[jfood]

Ok, OK.

That why there is always a pencil next to the recipe book and many note on the recipes on the C drive.

Caught with his can-opener down

[psb]

That's awesome. Thanks for posting. What next, 8oz "side" of bacon?

[coll]

I've bought bacon on "sale" a few times, got home and saw it was 12z. Buyer beware!

[psb]

Buyer beware -> The Large Print giveth, and the Small Print taketh away.

Anyone else notice the irony of a GIANT man from TEXAS complaining about
being "nickle and dimed" by "Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Back_to_the_Five_and_Dime%2C_Jimmy_Dean%2C_Jimmy_Dean

I wonder if they have rec'd any complaints about being unSuperSized from
the South Pacific:
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2007...

[Davwud]

Okay, so here's my observation.
The new 12oz. chubs are along side of the 16oz. chubs and are clearly marked 50% LESS FAT.
My guess is they're trying to market something a little more......less.
They don't seem to have replaced the full pound chubs.

DT

[kkak97]

Interesting part is that Jimmy Dean is still in a 16oz roll at any store I go, to and I'm in DFW.

[alkapal]

that is absolutely correct,kkak! i think the "lean" is 12 oz.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Its not about the size of the sausage, its about a great example of American enthnography.

[Uncle Ira]

Boy, I wish I had a nickel for every time I had to tell someone It’s not about the size of the sausage....

;-)

Uncle Ira

[Davwud]

How so??

DT

[vvvindaloo]

yes, sam, i too appreciated the "slice of america" aspect of that call, which was really the most interesting aspect, i think.

[Davwud]

First of all, I hate when places make stuff smaller and charge the same. It feels like someone is trying to pull the wool over my eyes.
Secondly, they have to realize that a lot of recipes call for a pound of JD sausage. So either they don't care or they figure people will then buy two tubes and they make more money. Also bad.

I don't however get this guys argument. He's essentially saying he has a fat family. They live off 1lb of JD and 2 dozen eggs. How long does that last?? One day?? So he has to open another tube the next day anyway. What's the difference if you're finishing one and opening another the next day or just opening one??
I don't really see the problem with buying 8 tubes to get the same amount of meat that you would in 6 tubes. If he's on that tight a budget, there are plenty of cheaper alternative's out there anyway.

I just hope Tennessee Pride doesn't follow suit.

DT

[vvvindaloo]

i thought his argument was two-fold:
1) convenience- his family can no longer make one package per meal, as they are accustomed to doing. and your comment re: recipes requiring 1 lb. fits into this category.
2) pulling the wool over people's eyes- like you mentioned above, he is angry because he is a long-time customer who feels cheated.

[Davwud]

I just find that getting all bent out of shape because you have to open a second package to get your 1 lb of sausage in the morning not worth it.
I suppose that it's not really what he's mad about. It's just how he's venting it. He's probably like me and as you said, it's about the feeling of being cheated.

DT

[Sherri]

You've just got to hope that nothing really bad ever happens to the caller. If a 200 pound man can work up this much anger over the size of a sausage roll, imagine what he would do in the face of a tragedy. Time for a reality check, Mr. Taylor. Jimmy Dean isn't worth your coronary.

[Blueicus]

Perhaps the repackaging of the sausage will help his family shed some fat.

[bear]

That is just too perfect.

[danhole]

I feel his pain! That is a scream. I am amazed at how he didn't start yelling. He needs to check out Owens. I think it's better!

[vvvindaloo]

thanks for link, bfp. i think we can all relate, in one way or another. i, for one, recall when coffee cans were reduced from 16 oz. to 13, then 12.... and the price stayed the same. my family was none too happy about it.