I don't think we are over rating them Jessy. I'm not anyways. I love them so much, that I went and bought a case today. I use alot of tomatoes and tomato sauce, and I found that my Pasta sauce was better than ever!!! The Italian lady at my Deli said they were the # 1 seller there. Diana55

Janene, by Bay Cities Imports, do you mean Bay City Deli in Santa Monica? The last time I went there, they did not have 6-in-1 tomatoes, but if they have them now, I will definitely go back there. They have a very large selection of canned tomatoes, and so I was quite surprised that 6-in-1 was not one of the brands they carried. I guess I can call them before going there, since their parking lot is a nightmare. I like to buy their 3-year aged Parmigiano because it is a good price and I'm almost out. However, I can get Parmigiano at Gelsons in the Marina, and that's only a few blocks from my house.

Lars

Ok I just sat reading this entire thread while having my morning coffee.

I'm intrigued about these 6-in-1 tomatoes.

Cathy or anyone.... where can we get them in FL? Or do we have to order them from CA. I gotta try these maters.

Since I marreied my Italian hubster I've been on a quest to make the most incredible tomato sauce he's ever had and I'll bet this will do it!

So? Where to buy in FL? Thanks!!!

Yes, Lars, the Bay Cities in Santa Monica is where I bought the 6-in-1 yesterday. There were several cans left on the bottom shelf.

We tried some last night and it was very good. Thick texture and sweet with a little bit of tanginess. I used it on some salmon I was broiling and added garlic and oregano. It brought back memories of Italian food I had eaten in New York, years ago. I'm sure it would be good for marinara sauce or pizza topping.

The cans are big, so I will experiment with what's left and see how it freezes.

I plan to use the can of Rao's tomatoes in chicken cacciatore on Sunday, and will let you know how that turns out.

I have not been able to find these tomatoes anywhere. Have any of you ordered directly from Escalon?

Thanks, Patty

foodonastump, I hope you get your tomatoes soon. I personally didn't think the shipping was such a good deal, but I wanted to try them and am glad I did. (Convenience to my door is worth a little something!) Just tasting them out of the can, I can already tell they're not as acidic as the tomatoes I usually use, and I absolutely love the ''ground'' version. Texture is important to me, and the texture of these, especially when not always making a cooked sauce, is Just Right. I'm looking forward to trying them in a home-made salsa, which should really bring it on home. Besides being Queen, I am also Goldilocks!

I haven't tasted them on my pizza yet, since the dough is still rising, but I am looking forward to it. You know, thanks often to the CF, we eat very well around here. Thanks Jessy for bringing this to everyone's attention, and Lars for bringing it back. I appreciate it!

Shaun, The cost of the shipping is minimal. Think--how much time and gas would I be spending going into town?

As soon as I get my camera repaired, I will begin the tomato taste test. I'm pumped as I found some great brands (including NJ) at the Italian grocer the other side of the county from me. I should have known they would be a great resource.

Cathy

Ok I just ordered 6 cans from the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company. Woo Hoo!

Patty, Yes, I ordered directly from Escalon. That made each of my cans (with shipping) $4.54. Of course I live in the middle of the country, so there you have it. I'd love to find a more reasonable source, but that put these in my hands to see how much effort I really want to spend on tomatoes. Of course, I can make 8 pizzas from one can of sauce, so the cost per serving isn't that bad; although I'll keep looking for them around here.

Claire, Thanks so much. I will order from them. Their shipping is very reasonable.

Patti

I can't wait to hear the results of the taste test. Any chance that your husband could help out Cathy and make it a blind test so that you didn't know which tomato was in which bowl when you tasted??

Grace

Grace, If you think that I am going to let Raymond in the kitchen with opened cans ofsize>....well anyway, good thought I just don't think that would work. LOL

Perhaps I can solicit a neighbor friend. Or...I just found that two Cooking Forum posters who live in the immediate area.

Thanks Claire - I'm looking forward to them. Something seems wrong with your shipping. It's .25 per can, so if you order 6 or more cans and they come to 2.75 total per can. The shipping charge comes up even before you enter an address, so I don't think your "middle of the country" location should matter.

Mustangs, you just tell that hubby of yours to "step away from the tomatoes, Raymond!" LOL!

Teresa, You remembered!!!

That was so funny!!

Our local grocery store started carrying 6-in-1, so I quickly emptied the shelves. Last night I made my sister's recipe for cioppino, which has always been excellent even using Contadina products, but the 6-in-1 elevated the taste to audible mmmm's from all. I should have made a double batch since the entire pot disappeared within 30 minutes! Now, I'll have to see if our store carries Rao's...

hmmmmmm........

Should we buy stock in Escalon???

Shouldn't we be receiving a discount for CF member orders? I think that would be a....yes!

I just found Ferrante's "Jersey Fresh" crushed tomatoes at Kings in Morristown, NJ. The labels says no citric acid, concentrate, water, sugar, puree or paste. Has anyone tried them yet?!

Sue

I've only been able to find a commercial size here in SA -- a gallon for $4.11. Will open soon and have an Italian cooking frenzy. I dashed in restaurant depot with BIL and could have lingered there for a looong time, but he had several other stops to make.

Brenda

Teresa, I am thinking the same thing. They are probably thinking what's going on.

I should have bought stock in Amazon when I discovered them back in 1995. I told my friend Jimmy to buy Amazon stock back then, but he ignored me and kicked himself afterwards.

I went to Gelsons today and noticed that they still do not have 6-in-1 tomatoes (looks like a trip to Santa Monica), but they do have Rao's tomatoes, which I noticed are imported from Italy and contain citric acid. Because of that, I didn't buy any. I'm not out of the 6-in-1 tomatoes I got at Sorrento's, but if shipping is 25¢ a can for buying 6 on line, then that would be easier than the short trip to SM. Right now, I think stock in food/agriculture is a good bet, since people always have to eat.

Lars

I had to zap an email to Escalon telling them what we are talking about and ordering. Here is the response...

Dear Jessica,
Thank you for forwarding the link to your forum praising our tomatoes! We are excited to see how passionate consumers get over our products, especially since they are rather difficult to locate at retail.
The tomatoes used for our famous 6 in 1 product are hybrid tomatoes grown especially for Escalon by our selected growers.
As you probably already know, the majority of our tomato products are packed in #10 gallon size cans and sold exclusively to the foodservice trade via our national distributor network. We manufacture two 28 oz. size products which are for sale to consumers on our website (www.Escalon.net); they are Bella Rossa Tuscan Tomato & Herb Pasta Sauce and our famous 6 in 1 All Purpose Ground Tomatoes. The minimum order would be for three cans at $3.33 each, or $9.99 plus shipping charges.
We appreciate your support of Escalon and our products.
Linda Lockard
Escalon Premier Brands Marketing Dept.
"Home of a Better Tomato."
1-800-343-9556x6009
linda.lockard@us.hjheinz.com
www.Escalon.net

I did a taste test comparing the 6-in-1 and the Rao's straight out of the can. They are rather different products, so I'll describe each as best I can.

The 6-in-1 is a thick mixture of finely chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. The Rao's is whole plum tomatoes in a tomato puree with large whole basil leaves.

Both are sweet and tomatoey, with a pleasant degree of tanginess, and I like them so much better than the random brands I had been using.

The 6-in-1 is a thicker product with a somewhat higher sodium content, so its flavor is more intense. This would be something you could "eat with a spoon," as some suggested, or use as pizza topping or marinara sauce with the addition of some herbs and spices.

The Rao's is also very good. Because it has whole stewed tomatoes with a smaller amount of puree and much less sodium, it has a milder flavor. It would be suitable for use casseroles, stews and such because of the whole tomatoes, or you could cut or crush them for other dishes. I didn't notice the taste of the citric acid, so I don't think it contains very much.

I put together a chicken cacciatore using Rao's, but didn't cook it yet, so I'll post how that turns out later.

You all have me very curious! After seeing the loyal following of 6 in 1 tomatoes here, I thought I'd see if I could find them in San Diego. The only Italian market I could think of was the small market in the front part of Fillipi's Pizza Grotto in Little Italy. I knew they had italian tomatoes, as I have stood in many a long line waiting to get in to eat! Sure enough they have them. As I was paying for my four cans ($1.89 each), a gentleman came in and bought the remaining two cases. He must be reading this forum as well!

Can't wait to make pasta tomorrow night.

oh how funny Cindyinsocal I was just in Little Italy. Had dinner at Buon Apetito and got pastries at Cafe Zucchera. Walked right by Fillipis. What lines! I was going to walk up to Mona Lisa's to see if they carried it, for grins.

In Sacramento, Whole Foods has 6 in 1 and I think my husband said that he also found them at Safeway so those of you in Southern Cal might try those places too.

We don't have Safeway in SoCal, as far as I know, but we do have Whole Foods. So far, I've only had luck at Italian delis, but that's not a problem.

Lars

Well I screwed up. I went to the Escalon site and first reviewed all their products then went to buy 6 cans of 6n1. At the last minute switched 2 cans to their Bella Rossa Pasta Sauce thinking to try a couple of products. On the site it did say you had to order in 6's but I didn't realize you couldn't split an order and got all 6 of Bella Rossa pasta sauce.
I haven't tried it yet - do you think I can use it for pizza sauce (I am gearing up to make my own first dough and all sometime soon)? I was watching them make pizza at a local pizza place (Marion's in Dayton) and it looked like they use straight tomato sauce and I realized, isn't most pizza sauce very lightly to unseasoned? Anyway besides the point.

Here are the ingredients for Bella Rosa for the curious.
Vine-ripened tomatoes, EVOO, salt, garlic, carrot puree, dehydrated onion, sugar, basil, oregano, black pepper, spice.

When I try it I will report.

As for spreading the word - I would think that if they got too big their selected farmers and the ability to use vine-ripened would diminish. The fact that they aren't Heinz and Hun'ts is what allows them to have a better tasting product. So - shhh.
It would be nice if they had something like a dealer locator feature on their site though.

Before I saw the Escalon site mentioned I googled 6n1 tomatoes and found a place in Pennsylvania who sold them so I ordered from them. When I got the confirmation email I noticed the shipping was more than the product so I called them to cancel the order.

First call they were closed so I left a message and then followed up with an email requesting they cancel my order. Second call, a gal answered the phone I explained that I wanted to cancel my order and she told me the dept I needed wasnt in. Then she got irritated with me because I told her I wanted my ordered canceled and I had already called twice now and sent an email, she said she wasnt in the same building and I'd have to call back. Then she hung the phone up so hard it hurt my ear. It took 3 calls and 2 emails and finally on the last call the woman abruptly informed me that my order had already been canceled.

Well dontcha think they would have at least called me or emailed me to tell me it was canceled? Gosh what horrible customer service.

Anyway I put in my order for 6 cans with Escalon yesterday. Shipping was just $2.95 or something ridiculous like that. The Pennsylvania place was $18.95 for shipping. Can ya believe that?????????

So my tomatoes are on the way. Can't wait to try them.

Shaun, Good for you; your persistence and patience will be rewarded!

I just can't bring myself to spend the money because I will have to add duty charges on top of it but I did buy some chopped tomatoes (brand name Pomi) which didn't contain any citric acid and there is a huge difference. Next time I cross the border I will be looking for the real 6in1. I probably never would have bought this brand as it was twice the price. I really like the flavour so it's worth it. Thanks.

WTG Shaun.

marys1000, Escalon IS owned by Heinz....but not yet run by them!

I have looked all over SafeWay, FredMeyers, Yokes, CashNCarry. I can't find them anywhere & I'm on the west coast. I'm putting in my order today.

I got mine late Tuesday and just opened the first can. To me it has a very "cooked" flavor (not sure how to better describe it) and my immediate thought was that it tastes very much like tomato paste.

I've never paid a whole lot of attention to the taste of crushed tomatoes straight out of the can so I opened up two more cans: Scalfani, because it's another "no citric acid" brand, and Tuttorosa (blue label) because it was rated tops by Cooks Illustrated.

The Tuttorosa really could not be compared because it had a very strong basil presence. The Scalfani definitely had a much brighter flavor than 6 in 1.

At this point I'm going to have to mix two for tonight's dinner, braciole; the Tuttorosa is in the freezer. So I'll reserve final judgement for another meal. But my honest impression at this point (subject to change!) is that it might be better suited for pizza sauce than a big pot of gravy. After tonight I'll have 14 more cans with which to make up my mind.

The chicken cacciatore with the Rao's plum tomatoes came out very well. The juiciness was appropriate for that kind of dish and it already contained basil leaves so that was one less thing to add.

As I said before, I had used the 6-in-1 when broiling salmon with the addition of garlic and oregano and it was excellent for that purpose. I froze the rest of that can and will try a little bit on some ravioli for lunch.

Who knew you could have so much fun with canned tomatoes?

Just put my order in at Escalon, 12 28oz. cans 6 in 1 and 3 cans of the Rosa. $41.25 included shipping. Shipping is very cheap...I think 25 cents a can.
I looked all over the valley and couldn't find them here, so I'm thrilled :)

Here is a link that might be useful: order Escalon tomatoes

In preparation for the big taste off, I ordered four different brands of crushed tomatoes and I got the camera fixed - at no charge I might add, I whined about missing out on all the grand baby pictures.

Again, in preparation for the taste off, I ordered the following:
Sclafani Crushed Tomatoes 28 oz Can @ $1.99
Asti Re-di-Tomatoes @ $2.89
Pastene Crushed Tomatoes 28 oz Can Calif @ $2.89
Vantia Crushed Tomatoes 28 oz @ $1.99

However, I can't Ferrante's "Jersey Fresh" crushed tomatoes. The only NJ tomatoes I found are Ferrara from Thorofare, NJ.

Oh, I do have fresh frozen from my tomato garden.

Post pictures. darfc.

Hey Jessy, That's why I got my camera fixed!

mustangs - see my note above, I just found them! Want me to send you a can?

Sue

What about adding some "regular" store types such as Muir Glen and Cento.... although you may have tomato overload already. What are you going to do with all those cans of tomatoes after they're opened??

And I'm still lobbying for a blind taste test!

Grace

Sue, I saw your note and took a note on Ferrante's Jersey Fresh crushed tomatoes" with me to our Italian stores. Yeah, send a can to me, that would be great.

Grace, I am going to include other brands, my list was just of brands that I had to special order. About the opened cans, I woke up at 3 am thinking about what I would do with the opened cans. One of my strategies was to make sure I had POOFed all I could out of the freezers before the test. Another was to invite the neighbors over for chili.

Cathy

Cathy I hope you have an electric can opener. You're gonna get carpal tunnel opening all these cans of tomatoes! hahahaha!

Ok - reporting on the accidental buy of the Escalon Bella Rosa pasta sauce.
Its ok/pretty good for a "jarred" sauce. I have 5 more cans and don't have a problem with eating them. I typically have used commercial pasta sauce in the past and actually had a thread about which ones people liked because I was finding that they were all sort of leaving me luke warm. I still like the convenience and still try them - trying to stick with the ones with short ingredient lists (i.e. no weird gums and chemical names) and no HFCS andnminor sugar. I posted the ingrediants of Bella Rosa above. I pulled an old half jar of Barilla out of the fridge.
Barilla - diced tomatoes, tomato puree, basil, onions, sugar salt, olive oil, sunflower oil, garlic, natural flavor (whatever that means).
Essentially the Bella Rosa fits in with many of the other jarred sauces but I don't see any reason to mail order more when mine is gone.
The question becomes....
is this made with 6 N 1 tomatoes? Will I be underwhelmed by my expectations? I haven't ordered them yet but plan to.

Mustangs - Did I miss a separate thread with your taste test results?

Valid question Foodonastump. In my defense, I did call Jessy and explain why the taste test was on hold after only testing 3 brands. Okay, this is probably too much information but...

I found out that LindaC was coming to town so we arranged a get together. One of my offers to Linda was to spend the night at my house and I would take her to the airport for her flight home. This offer had a caveat--we would conduct the taste test together. I thought who better to add credibility to the test! As it turned out, I will pick her at the airport, have lunch on the bay, then take her to Sarasota where she will spend the week with a friend. I am very excited to meet Linda; her flight gets to Tampa in a few hours baring a blizzard in Chicago.

Bottom line, I will resume the taste test shortly and I'll post on a separate thread.

Dianna55,

Could you please tell me the name and location of the deli you found the tomatoes in? Thanks a bunch. (nice to see you posting again)

Shelley S.

I've never heard of this brand....will look around in town and see if we carry them in Nevada....
If not I'll use the web site to order them on line.

Linda

I just used the tomato sauce I ordered from Escalon, delicious is all I can say!.

I melted butter added some oil,sauteed onion, garlic, added basil, s & P, and capers. Then added the tomato sauce. This was very delicious. Served it with cheese and caramelized onion ravioli.

Thanks to everyone who mentioned it on this board.

Patti