Giant Eagle Market District in Pittsburgh PA does this too! It is the greatest thing because you can try small pieces of cheese that are $40/pound.

I have been looking for something like this since I moved away from Pittsburgh. It is great to know that Whole Foods does it. I will have to go check it out!

Thanks!

I recently shopped at Whole Foods for a small dinner party. I found pieces of three cheeses for a cheese plate that were plenty large enough in the discount basket. I think it encouraged me to try a couple new cheeses.

Maybe I'm cheap. But the basket of ends has been my friend for years.

The frugal side of me loves the cheese bin - but the discerning cook side of me thinks the cheeses therein taste a little too plastic-y. I think they've been in their cling wrap packages for a loooong time.

oh, how i miss the giant eagle market district! :) hi fellow pittsburgher

Yep-our WF has this too and I always try and pick up one or two new varities when I'm there.

I've never seen this basket in the cheese section...where is it at your Whole Foods?

I love when markets do this! I discovered this when I was living alone in college. The "reject cheese," as I dubbed it, was perfect for one or two people. I still do this!

I stopped in at Whole Foods several weeks ago, and noticed some small chunks of cheese at the salad bar. I picked up a Leyden. There wasn't much variety, though. Maybe this was not the main basket. I will look harder next time.

I, too miss the Giant Eagle Market district's Just Enough cheese selection in Pittsburgh! I think I had a dream about the Pittsburgh Strip District last night. Oh, how I miss Pittsburgh some days...

Oh, this concept is a good one. I'd definitely check it out.

I've been looking for a supermarket in my new neighborhood that does this with the deli meats -- that's what I use for the meat when I make jambalaya.

I love the 'picnic basket', but if you really want to try something that isn't in there, I've never been to a WF that wouldn't give you a sample, or cut down a larger wedge of cheese.

Damn!
I would love this! But I have seen no such basket at my local WF, or any other store. I want a discount cheese basket!

A local farm does this for just about everything else, but not their cheese.

I thought it was just our Whole Foods (Wisconsin = Cheese). It's a great way to try things that I wouldn't buy a whole wedge of. Love it!

Yes, and I love this basket! I don't think of it so much as a "discounted cheese basket" as a taste test basket. I pick out cheeses I want to try that sound/look interesting, and I've also picked out a few wedges for a party cheese plate.

I love this basket! I used a three different cheeses found here to make fun grilled cheese sandwiches. http://www.abusynest.com/2010/05/build-better-grilled-cheese.html

Yup, this basket is a good spot but I also don't consider this basket "discount" or "hidden." The chunks of cheese in that basket are priced the same per pound as they are at the cheese counter. And the basket is usually placed in the prepared foods area so while it is not right in the cheese area, WF isn't trying to keep it a secret or anything. But the chunks are convenient to grab and you don't have to wait at the cheese counter for a few bites. I find that quite a few markets in my area do this too, not just WF.

Yup, I absolutely love the $2 and $3 cheese baskets. I wouldn't call them hidden though. They're always positioned in amongst the other cheeses...kinda hard to miss if you're glancing over the cheese case.

And I agree that they're taste test baskets, not discounted baskets because there's no discount.

oh. How else do they sell it? because I've only ever seen cheese in random chunks and sizes at different prices.

yep! i used to love this at the old whole foods i used to go to--it made me try a bunch of new kinds i wouldn't have otherwise.

I sample these a lot and have one warning: if the piece is in there because it's along the rind, skip it.

I find that the cheese along the rind is less delicate and has something of the plasticky taste that GoodFoodStories mentioned, particularly for hard cheeses like parm.

And yes, they're not frugal per se, but they make for great samples.

these are awesome - their gouda is to die for =)

We have this basket at one of our Fred Meyer stores that has quite the cheese counter (sadly, not the one closest to me). They label the basket it "petite fromage." Another local gourmet store has this concept as well.

Yes! We call it the "snack cheese" basket! Our WF will even sometimes put prosciutto ends in there! It's a great way to try out different cheeses. Our problem is always trying to remember what that great one we got last time was...

Why does the author call it a "discounted cheese basket"? The cheeses in the basket are the same price per pound as the larger pieces of cheese.

the basket is convenient, but any cheese counter will custom cut a piece for you - no matter how small.

I love the cheese basket! I often go to it to buy small amounts of Parmesan--especially if I just want some rind for soup. But the people at the cheese counter will cut even the smallest pieces for you. I once had them cut about 3 ounces of romano for me. Especially nice when you want a higher quality cheese, but don't want an abundance of it.

The SuperTarget stores here (Orlando) sell ends too. I can usually get Swiss, cheddar, Colby, provolone and American. My mom used to buy them at the Hannaford store in Maine, too.

i grew up in pittsburgh, but moved to dc a few years ago. giant eagle market district is the best grocery store in the world.

In NYC we have East Village Cheese and Murrays. Not sure I've ever gone into Whole Foods :)

Just made some skillet potatoes with onions and cheese (from Deborah Madison's book) with odds and end cheeses. Yum!! Great way too try different (expensive) cheeses.

Yes, ChicagoCook, I agree; any good cheese counter will provide small slices and tastes. However, when I'm in a rush it's great to know there's a basket of already cut pieces ready to grab! Topazius, I've seen cheeses in the basket that were reduced in price (weekly specials, etc.), but you're right, most of the time the cheeses in the odds and ends basket are inexpensive because they are much smaller than the pieces in the display case. instantphoebe, some Whole Foods stores display this basket prominently, but others, like the NYC store on the Bowery, tuck it off to the side near the checkout. Look around for it!

At all of the northside Chicago Whole Foods stores it is located at the end of the salad bar in a basket.

@goodfoodstories, I'm a WF cheese-cutter and I must say that the 3 dollar cuts of cheeses are not left out a moment longer than any other cut. They are cut at the same time as pricier cuts. As the article mentions, they are just the weird parts that are left when I'm done cutting my wedges or what have you. All cheeses are tossed equally when their time comes.

I really need to get to a Market Basket now. We have a Giant Eagle here in Western PA but Pittsburgh is a hour and a half away but some day I will get to a Market District, the Whole Foods there and Trader Joes. I have been to a whole foods before but next time I will keep my eyes peeled for the cheese basket next time.

Whole Foods will let you sample any cheese you want and will cut you any size wedge of cheese you would like to my knowledge. You just have to ask and this is slightly dependent on the awesomeness of the cheese person.

Where I lived for several years the cheese people at my WF were fantastic. I would pop over and say I want to try a new cheese. We would discuss cheeses I like, they would give me something to taste and I would buy a new cheese. This is single handedly how I found and discovery Rofumo, which I love dearly. They would also just randomly give you cheese to try if you walked by.

At my current WF I am lucky that the idiot knows what cheese looks like. *deep sigh*

Great tip, and love that it's at Giant Eagle too! PA, hollaaa.

Metropolitain Market in Seattle has a cheese basket and when I was still at my old job (and closer to a store) I would pick up a new kind of cheese nearly every single day to go with my soup for lunch. I miss it so much! The firm that I work at now is about to move into a new space right down the street from a Whole Foods, and I can't wait to get back into this habit!

For those of you who have a Harris Teeter in your vicinity, they do something similar. They have a fantastic high-end cheese section and periodically run 50% off sales on certain cheeses--I suspect ones on which the sell-by date is approaching. I regularly get fantastic emmenthaler, aged goudas, blues, and other cheeses for under $10/lb. Allows me to try all sorts of unusual cheeses without much of an investment.

They don't do this in Stoke Newington