The Kirkland Fridge Staple That Costco Shoppers Put Back To Buy The Name Brand Instead

"Store brand" is often used as an insult to call something an inferior knock-off, but Costco's Kirkland Signature label seriously bucks expectations. From Kirkland-brand jarred and canned goods to the Kirkland products that Reddit prefers over name brand, it's rare for these affordable items to disappoint shoppers — but not impossible. One dud that many customers leave on the shelf is Kirkland Signature Cream Cheese.

In one Reddit thread, a Costco customer complained that this cream cheese is "grainy and weird," and another called it "plastic-y and a definite do not buy." Multiple shoppers expressed a preference for Philadelphia cream cheese instead, a sentiment that carries over to a second post. Here, a Redditor alleged that Kirkland's product gave their cheesecake a strange consistency and the lower price compared to Philadelphia wasn't worth it. Other comments concurred, calling the cheese too sticky, oddly gummy, and bitter-tasting. "We bought it once and never again," one user wrote.

An even bigger horror story can be found in another Reddit thread. Speaking on a cheesecake made with Kirkland cream cheese, a commenter wrote, "Literally a decade later, we're talking about this cheesecake burned into our memories ... We couldn't even finish a single piece it was so bad." Some customers maintain that this Costco find is passable when used in recipes like spreads and salads, but others recommend returning it to save yourself the pain.

Costco superfans are all about pinching pennies, so an overwhelming preference for the more expensive Philadelphia cream cheese should not be taken lightly. Cream cheese is also a simple dairy product that seems hard to mess up, so where did Kirkland go wrong? Probably when it added three different gumming agents: carob bean gum, guar gum, and xanthan gum.

These ingredients all help to thicken and stabilize foods, including dairy products like cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, but using three in one product sounds like overkill. This might be why so many customers complain that Kirkland Signature Cream Cheese is gummy and adds an odd texture to desserts. In comparison, Philadelphia's cream cheese blocks contain only carob bean gum as a thickener.

What should you do if you've already bought Kirkland cream cheese and would rather use than return it? The product is clearly a crapshoot at best in recipes that require precision, like baked goods, so a good rule of thumb is to try it in simple preparations. Some customers say it's a decent base for DIY flavored cream cheese, and it might also be successful in an easy 2-ingredient pub cheese dip, though you'll want to watch out for any textural inconsistencies if you heat the mixture up. Serious dairy lovers should also start smoking cream cheese, and more than one Costco shopper has found success using Kirkland's product.