tip on chopping canned tomatoes. dunno how many of you do this, but...

[rvb]

my mom taught me to open the cans as usual and to open a vent in the bottom of one and chop with the can.

no mess draining the tomatoes.

btw, i look for italian plum tomatoes with no salt added.

 

[cheezz]

The vent is to drain the juice, then you pour the tomatoes into a bowl and chop with the can? Right?

 

[rvb]

nope. pour the whole thing into the saucepan, then chop with the can.

 

[curious1]

I just recently read that tomatoes canned in the US don't break up easily in sauces because of the

calcium chloride use in processing them. It is added to keep them from becoming mushy in the can. Italian processed tomatoes such as San Marzano don't have the calcium chloride, therefore they break up and become a sauce more easily. I read your post right after I had to run a can of Tuttorosso (sp) tomatoes through the blender to make a sauce for eggplant parm.

 

[moyn]

I use hands...

I tip them out and then squish them up with my hands, you can get them the size you want, plus.... have some fun!

 

[charlie]

That's what I do--and why I have red polka dots on all of my shirts---LOL

 

[rvb]

i call em polka dots too. laur calls em stains.

 

[luisa_calif]

What about the cleanliness of the can?

(sorry, posted in wrong spot)

 

[pat-nocal]

Hands here too, usually one hand, and I just throw a kitchen towel loosely over the bowl

or pan I'm squishing the tomatoes in to help reduce the splatters.

 

[aajay]

I think it's the diced tomatoes which have the calcium chloride to keep

them from mushing up. Most whole tomatoes or ground ones do not have cc regardless of the brand. It will be on the label.

 

[lisainla]

Kitchen shears work well.

 

[joe]

Now I get it. Thanks, Rick, it beats hacking at 'em with a wooden spoon.

 

[curious1]

I have Tuttorosso, Muir Glen and Progresso whole tomatoes, all have calcium chloride.

It seems to me that the plum or Italian-style tomatoes are even firmer than the round ones and that firmness varies from brand to brand.

 

[cheezz]

I've always used my pastry blender - works real well, but then you have another utensil to clean.

 

[charlie]

Now why didn't I think of that---doh!

 

[Marg CDN]

I use scissors, right in the same pot. I find them to be time-savers for various jobs.

 

[dawn_mo]

I love scissors...plastic is the bane of my existence.

I can never open anything in plastic. Potato chip bags, anything in a bag, I cannot open it with my bare hands. It drives me crazy. I now have scissors at hand all the time.