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Nine months out of the year I’m forced to use canned tomatoes in the kitchen, a sad decline from the glory of ripe summer versions. A lot of canned whole tomatoes on the market are crap, although I do love the Italian brand Pomi when I can find the boxed version. I’ve found that Muir Glen’s whole tomatoes have the best flavor of any canned tomatoes, so close to fresh that it’s tough to tell what I used in a long-simmered sauce—but the texture is kind of yucky. Cook’s Illustrated agreed with me, calling them “waterlogged,” “chewy,” and “stringy” in a 2005 review. I won’t link since the reviews are for website subscribers only, but if you’re curious, the magazine liked Progresso Italian-Style Whole Peeled Tomatoes with Basil best.
The texture is better in Muir Glen’s crushed and diced style of canned tomatoes, but it seems to me that the flavor is off. They taste too cooked somehow. But I’ve finally found the answer: Muir Glen Organic Ground Peeled Tomatoes. They’re smooth enough to use in a sauce without pulsing in a blender, but they don’t have that cooked taste. They’re bright, fresh, and clean tasting.
Though it hasn’t reviewed the (relatively new) Muir Glen crushed ’maters, Cook’s backs me up here, reporting that canned tomatoes with tomato purée listed as the first ingredient on the label are usually the worst tasting, because the purée has to be cooked at a high temperature. That high temp breaks down an enzyme, lipoxygenase, which destroys the tomato-y flavor. First ingredient of MG’s ground tomatoes: organic tomatoes, not purée (though it is the second). Ha! In your face, summer.
Chowhounds have debated the different brands of canned tomatoes exhaustively (and yet, there’s more.)
Muir Glen Organic Ground Peeled Tomatoes, $3.29
The Jersey Fresh canned tomatoes are the best- I buy them by the case down here in Cape May County- at shoprite in the winter and at Marlboro Market and Legates Farm market during the season. You hardly need anything to add anything to make a wonderful spaghetti sauce.. Love them..
The best canned tomatoes, by far, are Jersey Fresh crushed tomatoes. There is nothing in the can but tomatoes. As it says on the can, no citric acid,concentrate,water, sugar, puree or paste, just world famous Jersey tomatoes. We have been using them for the last year and the beat out all the other canned tomatoes no matter where they are from. They are hard to find but can be found in central NJ...+READ
The best canned tomatoes, by far, are Jersey Fresh crushed tomatoes. There is nothing in the can but tomatoes. As it says on the can, no citric acid,concentrate,water, sugar, puree or paste, just world famous Jersey tomatoes. We have been using them for the last year and the beat out all the other canned tomatoes no matter where they are from. They are hard to find but can be found in central NJ in Monmouth and Ocean counties in Super Foodtowns. So support your local farmer and get a great product.-COLLAPSE
Any idea about the BPA warning on canned foods, particularly canned tomatoes?
Great to know which ones taste the best but if they're going to poison us in the long run... :(
I haven't had to use canned tomatoes in a while, mostly because of greenhouse grown tomatoes. I can get them fresh and ripe all year. Companies like Eurofresh Farms have some great Roma tomatoes that are perfect for cooking with.
But if I had to used canned, the Muir Glen tomatoes sounds pretty good.