any good tomatoes around

The tomatoes from the store lately seem especially bad. Very mealy with no flavor at all. I know they are always lame compared to fresh real ones, but they seem worse than normal. We have tried romas,"vine ripe",slicers, and got an ulgi that was pretty bad as well. For cooking we go with canned, but looking for fresh if they are around.

Sorry, should has posted this in the Louisville Kitchen section.

[Robin Garr]

Sorry, should has posted this in the Louisville Kitchen section.

That's easy to fix!

As to your original question, it's not easy ... frankly, I usually swear off tomatoes out of season, or go over to quality canned tomatoes, either Italian San Marzanos or - no flames, please - the regional supermarket brand <b>Red Gold</b> is surprisingly good. Not for salad use, but if you're cooking with tomatoes, I would far rather use good canned product than pink, flavorless "fresh" in the winter.

If price is no object, check Creation Gardens, which will likely source the best out-of-season product available. But it won't be as good as a ripe, fresh summer tomato.

Thanks for the move. Love San Marzanos, nothing wrong with canned. They are most often packed at peak ripe flavor. I have noticed though that alot of San Marzans are from California in Italian looking cans.Think there is any difference? Whats the deal with Red Gold?

Thanks for the move. Love San Marzanos, nothing wrong with canned. They are most often packed at peak ripe flavor. I have noticed though that alot of San Marzans are from California in Italian looking cans.Think there is any difference? Whats the deal with Red Gold?

I believe Red Gold recently won the Cook's Illustrated tasting of canned tomatos.
My guess about the CA San Marzans is that since there are stiff import taxes on tomatoes packed in juice from Europe it is easier just to grow them here and make them look Italian. According to the tasting almost all Italian tomatoes are packed in sauce, which imparts an off, cooked flavor, but which incur a much smaller import tax.

[Robin Garr]

Thanks for the move. Love San Marzanos, nothing wrong with canned. They are most often packed at peak ripe flavor. I have noticed though that alot of San Marzans are from California in Italian looking cans.Think there is any difference? Whats the deal with Red Gold?

Red Gold is based in Elwood, Indiana, just a bit to the northeast of Indianapolis, fairly close to Anderson. It's far too big to rank as "artisanal," and their products sell in supermarkets alongside Hunt's and Heinz and at similar prices.

It's not mega-agribusiness, though, but a three-generation family firm that's distributed only regionally in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky mostly. They claim a strong commitment to quality product and ethical business practices, and I have to say that I've experimented with their canned tomatoes and juices and tested them against Italian and Italian-style tomatoes, mass-market tomatoes and high-end brands like Muir Glen, and I'm convinced. I always keep a half-dozen cans in the pantry for use when I want to make "gravy" or just about any other red-sauce Italian dish out of season. Also, I prefer their tomato juice and "vegetable juice" to V-8.

<b>This link</b> from the Red Gold website tells a bit about the company and its philosophy. You can link from there to explore the rest of their site.

I just realized my mistake- I was thinking of Red Pack not Red Gold in my previous post- must get my bifocals changed. It's good to know about Red Gold though. Thanks Robin.

Out of season, we use canned for cooking and cherry tomatoes in salads and the like. And in fact if I'm buying from a grocery store any time of year (if I don't have my own), I'll always take the cherry tomatoes over anything in the veggie bins.

[Robin Garr]

I'll always take the cherry tomatoes over anything in the veggie bins.

For cooking, plum tomatoes are usually halfway decent out of season.

I'll always take the cherry tomatoes over anything in the veggie bins.

For cooking, plum tomatoes are usually halfway decent out of season.

Yep, and I routinely slow roast a few pounds of them for bruschetta. Super easy to work with.

I think Grape Tomatoes and Romas are your best choices/only ones with any flavor out of season.

Deb

I purchased some tasty grape tomatoes at the Iroquois Manor Valu Market on Saturday!

I use Muir Glen Organic canned tomatoes for cooking. They taste really fresh, and were rated number one by Fine Cooking magazine. I don't know if they compared them with Red Gold tomatoes, however. I'll definitely have to check them out!

[Robin Garr]

I use Muir Glen Organic canned tomatoes for cooking. They taste really fresh, and were rated number one by Fine Cooking magazine. I don't know if they compared them with Red Gold tomatoes, however. I'll definitely have to check them out!

Tanya, probably they didn't address Red Gold because they're distributed regionally only, and perhaps also because Muir Glen is organic (I think) and Red Gold is conventional.

That being said, I did a taste-test a while back and - at least with two random cans - found Red Gold seemed fresher, more red and just plain more 'tomatoey' than Muir Glen. Cost less, too.

If you (or anyone else) try a side-by-side taste test, I'll be interested to hear what you think.

We drink a fair amount of v-8, and based on the recommendation that Robin gave ,we tried Red Gold veggie juice. We found it to be better, not by much... just different, but what a difference in price. My hats off to Red Gold.