The Best Chopped Tomatoes You Can Buy in a Supermarket
Good canned chopped tomatoes should be sweet and vibrant, with a dense and dense texture, ideal for stews, soups, and sauces. To determine the best brand in the supermarket, Cook’s Illustrated ran a series of tests, checking everything from pH to Brix (sweetness) and texture.
You should read the detailed report (link below), but the best chopped tomatoes were both sweet and quite sour, with a Brix rating of 7.1 to 9.0 and a pH of 4.1 to 4.3. Another advantage was the packaging; Tomatoes that were packaged in enamel jars had a less metallic taste because the coating prevented the acid in the fruit from reacting with the jar. Texture played an important role as well, and the combination of diced and shredded tomatoes provided both a rich texture and “hard but tender” chunks. SMT’s San Marzano Style Chopped Tomatoes have become the number one choice, but click the link below to see four other top CI selections. How Much Should You Avoid Chopped Tomatoes? Stay away from Hunt’s, which, while very sweet, had a strong metallic flavor.
Chopped Tomato Tasting | Illustrated chef