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Canned Diced Tomatoes

I love, love tomatoes in this venue!! whole tomatoes are a PITA to deal with, stewed are ragged looking.

My friend in cities with nice markets rave about Muir Glen. But here we have S&W and I have tried them side by side with Safeway store brand and not exact, but close enough for this persnikity old broad.

Was in Seattle visiting a very serious foodie friend, she took me to a bulk gourmet food outlet. This is where the top chefs there shop. I was hoping for Tom Douglas and hoping Anthony Bourdain was passing through. As I type I am drooling remember it, there was a whole aisle of Muir Glen tomato products. Pastas that dreams are made of, chocolate, chocolate and more. Oils, freakin' beautiful dry and fresh herbs. Cheese and Sausage and, time to wipe my chin before I must wipe my keyboard. Oh no can't think about the olives and anchovies and----
this gal then took me to my first Ethopian Resturant,
was a lucky day, we also had sun in Seattle--

Nan
 
I like Cooks Illustrated, CanMan... thanks for sharing this!

Nan- where do you like dining in Seattle? For Italian, I like "Tulio's" on 5th, and of course Flying Fish on 1st Ave. For EZ burgers and dogs I like Dick's drive-in on Capital Hill...
 
Great info. CanMan! The one item I must always have on hand in my pantry is a canned tomato product, if I run out as soon as I discover it I will jump in the car to go buy & restock my canned tomatoes! I do not think we can get Muir Glen here but S&W we can!
 
shipscook said:
Was in Seattle visiting a very serious foodie friend, she took me to a bulk gourmet food outlet. This is where the top chefs there shop. I was hoping for Tom Douglas and hoping Anthony Bourdain was passing through. As I type I am drooling remember it, there was a whole aisle of Muir Glen tomato products. Pastas that dreams are made of, chocolate, chocolate and more. Oils, freakin' beautiful dry and fresh herbs. Cheese and Sausage and, time to wipe my chin before I must wipe my keyboard. Oh no can't think about the olives and anchovies and----
this gal then took me to my first Ethopian Resturant,
was a lucky day, we also had sun in Seattle--Nan
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Nan I am totally with you on that store you visited, I love places like that and just can't get enough! If I ever worked in a place like that OMG, I would spend every pay check at work:eek:

How was the Ethiopian food? I bet it was good and seasoned very nicely! Tell me all about it when you get time!
I am so glad you had a great get-away!

Cathy
 
We have an Ethiopian restaurant here in Columbus and it's some of the most delicious food I've ever eaten. It's one of my favorite places to go plus they make their bread from 100% teff flour so it's gluten free, Hurray!
 
CanMan, I have been watching along with Cooks Illustrated and have heard them discussing canned diced tomatoes and the use of Calcium Chloride. They themselves recommend the use of chopped peeled tomatoes. I disagree with them though. I don't really mind the use of Calcium Chloride, which helps the tomatoes dices hold their shape doing something with the pectin stength in the tomatoes.. I haven't found that it makes them mealy in the least. I don't know about all brands or the amounts of Calcium Chloride used but the brands I buy, I am pleased with the results.
I hold Americas Test Kitchen and Cooks Country in very high regards and they are above all, my favorite cooking shows but at times I do question their results.
A good example, they are out of Vermont. They did a show on corn bread many episodes ago. Now no Northerner is going to tell a southerner to put sugar in a corn bread. So no matter the number of taste test, the best recipes, it is all to the taste of the person doing the eating. Taste are different by regions and areas. A southerner that believes they own the rights to corn bread will tell you that no one should put sugar in their corn bread.

My taste for sauce will probably be much different than yours, I may like more salt or a different texture to my tomatoes or sauce. I Can up most of my own tomatoes but the diced go the quickest due to sauces and homemade salsa. I even like to process diced tomatoes, Italian herbs together and then to emulsify in some olive oil . Makes an excellent pizza topping.
 
I love using canned crushed tomatoes in marinara and especially in Italian wedding soup
 
You know the big difference between store bought canned tomatoes and my own homemade canned tomatoes? I used to open a jar of mine and the kids and I would stand right there in the kitchen and eat the whole jar and laugh and smile and get the biggest kick out of this treat! We nor I by myself Have never done that with store bought, that's for sure!!!

I guess there is a difference;) that those folks at Cooks Illustrated could never figure out:rolleyes:
 
Cathy, I can the half gallon glass jars of tomato juice. I have the same jars my grandmother used. I open one of them and I drink the whole thing right then and there. One of my favorites over all are home canned stewed tomatoes. I can't can enough of them.
 
The Ironic Chef said:
Cathy, I can the half gallon glass jars of tomato juice. I have the same jars my grandmother used. I open one of them and I drink the whole thing right then and there. One of my favorites over all are home canned stewed tomatoes. I can't can enough of them.
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It certianly doesn't get better than that does it IC? :) It is wonderful that you have kept the same jars your own sweet Grandma used, how very neat! Thanks for sharing that, it warms my heart.
 
I read that CanMan, it is interesting why they would not recommend tomato juice, as it is Acidic! Strange.....plus you add salt (a presevative) it just seems to me it would be fine if you had a very deep pressure canner and could can it properly. I always used ONLY a pressure canner for all my canning.
 
Not strange. Tomato are not as acidic as they used to be due to years of hybrid varieties to make them the way people want them. All canning recipes in the past 15-20 years have a requirement to add bottled lemon juice to the recipe to up the acidity since we don't know what the acidity is for individual tomatoes, especially ones out of our gardens.

Tomatoes are now rated at between 4.30 - 4.90 pH where acidic is any at or below 4.6 pH and those numbers my change even more.

It's a safe issue. Not much danger involved, but it is more of an issue with those old large 2-quart jars and getting temperature to penetrate all the way in.

"Salt" in canning is not a preservative and serves only as a seasoning.

As for pressure canning 2-quart jars, you cannot do it safely and there are no recipes published for doing do. If you are pressure canning "everything" you are running a serious food safety risk because you are not using tested times and temperatures. Just using a bigger hammer does not solve the problem in canning foods. Go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation and ask them, if you don't believe me.
 
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RE: "I love using canned crushed tomatoes in marinara and especially in Italian wedding soup"

My Italian Wedding Soup doesn't call for any tomato product, but like most regional morsels, there are so many versions...

I like using diced/crushed tomatoes in many things. I also really enjoy the deep, rich, complex taste of tomato paste.
 
Nothing like homemade or fresh, of course

But when necessary, I preferably use Pomi (which Cooks did not review), or Cento - specifically the smaller can that is labeled something like 'finest San Marzano tomatoes' (this runs for about $5 per can, and are not diced, but come as whole plums, and is fairly hard to find- versus Centos other selections, which are not nearly as good, and I agree with Cooks regarding not recommending those).
 
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I do not put it in my soup either-

chubbyalaskagriz said:
RE: "I love using canned crushed tomatoes in marinara and especially in Italian wedding soup"

My Italian Wedding Soup doesn't call for any tomato product, but like most regional morsels, there are so many versions...

I like using diced/crushed tomatoes in many things. I also really enjoy the deep, rich, complex taste of tomato paste.
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But I also do not put it in my pasta e fagioli, and I know that many cooks do. Whatever suits a persons taste! :)
 
I'll just keep chugging my tomato juice. I know that it may not be recommended but I personally feel safe enough doing it. I don't keep it stored more than several months and when it is stored it's in a cool dark place.
I also do most of my canning with a pressure cooker. Not tomato products though. I just add an acid to them.
I have friends that still can meats and non acidic items using a water bath and they swear by it and have been doing it all their lives and aren't spring chickens. Maybe they have built up immunities and developed cast iron stomachs through all their years. Maybe just everyone else through the over use of antibiotics and sterilization of everything can't handle the slightest bug anymore.
Either way, I'm sure that if there can be the slightest problem with anything the red flags go up and the warnings go out. Organizations have to protect their arses from pending lawsuits regarding information not released.
 
I buy the No Salt Added (NSA) canned diced tomatoes. I usually get the Great Value Walmart brand solely because it has less sodium then the Del Monte. When tomatoes are plentiful, like in the summer, I usually sub the fresh ones even when the recipe calls for canned diced tomatoes. That makes it not only healthier but I think it taste better.
 
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