6-in-1 Tomatoes. Where are they?

So, my favorite sauce tomatoes seem to be in short supply in my neck of the woods (SW Side). I can usually find them at the Pete's Market, Shop & Save, or Jewel, but I haven't seen them for weeks. Anybody have any leads where I can stock up on some?

Binko wrote:So, my favorite sauce tomatoes seem to be in short supply in my neck of the woods (SW Side). I can usually find them at the Pete's Market, Shop & Save, or Jewel, but I haven't seen them for weeks. Anybody have any leads where I can stock up on some?

Not near for you at all, I'm sorry to say, but they always have them at Fresh Farms Niles.

Angelo Caputos in Elmwood Park was loaded with cans at $2.29 each.

EvA wrote:

Binko wrote:So, my favorite sauce tomatoes seem to be in short supply in my neck of the woods (SW Side). I can usually find them at the Pete's Market, Shop & Save, or Jewel, but I haven't seen them for weeks. Anybody have any leads where I can stock up on some?

Not near for you at all, I'm sorry to say, but they always have them at Fresh Farms Niles.

No, that's fine. I've been up in that area twice in the last week, so I'm always happy to stock up.

Angelo Caputos in Elmwood Park was loaded with cans at $2.29 each.

Oh, and that works, too. Thanks!

EvA wrote:

Binko wrote:So, my favorite sauce tomatoes seem to be in short supply in my neck of the woods (SW Side). I can usually find them at the Pete's Market, Shop & Save, or Jewel, but I haven't seen them for weeks. Anybody have any leads where I can stock up on some?

Not near for you at all, I'm sorry to say, but they always have them at Fresh Farms Niles.

Hmm... Unfortunately, I just struck out here (in terms of the tomatoes--found plenty of other stuff I wanted) and the guy at customer service couldn't help (he didn't seem to know what they were.). I wonder if there's a reason for it becoming scarce lately. Have to check Caputos next.

Binko wrote:

EvA wrote:

Binko wrote:So, my favorite sauce tomatoes seem to be in short supply in my neck of the woods (SW Side). I can usually find them at the Pete's Market, Shop & Save, or Jewel, but I haven't seen them for weeks. Anybody have any leads where I can stock up on some?

Not near for you at all, I'm sorry to say, but they always have them at Fresh Farms Niles.

Hmm... Unfortunately, I just struck out here (in terms of the tomatoes--found plenty of other stuff I wanted) and the guy at customer service couldn't help (he didn't seem to know what they were.). I wonder if there's a reason for it becoming scarce lately. Have to check Caputos next.

Wow, I'm sure I've bought them there in the last month.

EvA wrote:Wow, I'm sure I've bought them there in the last month.

I wonder if maybe there was another area to look at it for. Like I said, the customer service guy had no idea what I was talking about, so I was on my own . I just checked the section where the Muir Glen, Hunts, etc. tomatoes were, along with the jarred pasta sauces. It was very close to the customer service desk, maybe one aisle over from it. This was my first trip there, so I am not familiar with the layout. At any rate, I made it out of there with plenty of other goodies. It's quite a market!

Binko wrote:

EvA wrote:Wow, I'm sure I've bought them there in the last month.

I wonder if maybe there was another area to look at it for. Like I said, the customer service guy had no idea what I was talking about, so I was on my own . I just checked the section where the Muir Glen, Hunts, etc. tomatoes were, along with the jarred pasta sauces. It was very close to the customer service desk, maybe one aisle over from it. This was my first trip there, so I am not familiar with the layout. At any rate, I made it out of there with plenty of other goodies. It's quite a market!

That sounds like the right aisle.

Agreed...does sound like the right aisle. I will add, fwiw, I've been there more than once--looking for the same thing and have almost given up before I saw them. There are so damn many varieties that they don't really stand out and even though I know the label cold and have used them for a long, long time, I still can miss them if I'm not careful.

OTOH, maybe they just weren't there. ;-(

Gypsy Boy wrote:Agreed...does sound like the right aisle. I will add, fwiw, I've been there more than once--looking for the same thing and have almost given up before I saw them. There are so damn many varieties that they don't really stand out and even though I know the label cold and have used them for a long, long time, I still can miss them if I'm not careful.

OTOH, maybe they just weren't there. ;-(

Yes, 6-in-1 Brand tomatoes are a bit difficult to spot. Seems like every store I go to that has them, I can't just scan the aisles, but have to go can-by-can looking for them, saying each brand name to myself to make sure I don't miss them.

Probably no help to you, but Village Market on Dempster in Skokie has some 6 in 1 ground tomatoes. Never noticed that they carry these before.

Never heard of 6-in-1 tomatoes. They certainly aren't in either Kansas City or Montréal. Are they Chicago area? And what makes them special??

Just curious.

Geo

They're just crushed tomatoes with extra heavy tomato purée and a bit of salt. The flavor is very clean, the consistency is perfect for tomato sauces, and they're usually pretty inexpensive to boot. The main thing for me is the pure flavor and the texture. I also believe it's used quite a lot by the local pizza places, and I could see why (because of the above.)

I feel pretty sure I've seen them at our Mariano's, in the specialty Italian foods section, big cans on the bottom shelf.

Katie wrote:I feel pretty sure I've seen them at our Mariano's, in the specialty Italian foods section, big cans on the bottom shelf.

Good call on Mariano's. Finally found them here on Ashland, both the 28oz and 105oz cans. And thanks for the Italian section tip. Not sure why they're here, being the only domestic tomato among the Italian imports, but I finally got em!

Binko wrote:

Katie wrote:I feel pretty sure I've seen them at our Mariano's, in the specialty Italian foods section, big cans on the bottom shelf.

Good call on Mariano's. Finally found them here on Ashland, both the 28oz and 105oz cans. And thanks for the Italian section tip. Not sure why they're here, being the only domestic tomato among the Italian imports, but I finally got em!

I'm glad that I remembered correctly and was able to help. I have a neat little book called The Great Chicago-Style Pizza Cookbook, written by the late Pat Bruno of the Sun-Times. He calls 6-in-1 his first choice among canned tomato products for making pizza sauce, and he mentions that they are used by many Chicago-area pizza restaurants.

I just bought a dozen 29oz cans from Gourmet Italian Grocer, for $50, delivered to upstate NY. That's not bad, if this stuff is as good as y'awl say it is. I'll let you know!

Geo

Geo wrote:I just bought a dozen 29oz cans from Gourmet Italian Grocer, for $50, delivered to upstate NY. That's not bad, if this stuff is as good as y'awl say it is. I'll let you know!

Geo

Yeah, here's a very old thread on pizzamaking.com where you can see some pictures and comments about them. At the Mariano's they were $1.99. I only came across them maybe 10 years ago when they were on sale at my local Pete's Market and gave them a shot. I'm sure I must have seen them before, but I always glossed past them since they kind of look like generic tomatoes and the name was completely unknown and also generic-sounding to me. But I found them perfect for any saucing application, and it's my go-to for pizza and especially long-simmered tomato sauces. For pizza, I pretty much just use them straight out of the can, sometimes adding a bit of garlic or a shake or two of oregano if I feel like it. Plus they're only three ingredients--crushed tomatoes, extra heavy tomato puree, and salt--so no citric acid or calcium chloride or anything else. I can't honestly say I know exactly how or if the lack of those ingredients affects the tomatoes, but I find them very "bright," fruity, and unbeatable at that price for those types of saucing applications.

$5.99 for a 6 lb 9oz can at Gordon Food Service Store.

Dave148 wrote:$5.99 for a 6 lb 9oz can at Gordon Food Service Store.

Huh. I'd never even heard of this place, and apparently there's one I must have driven by countless times over the years in Burbank. I'll have to check it out and see what else they got.

Just picked up a few cans at Cermak Fresh Market in Rogers Park.

Gordon Food Service (GFS) Always in stock or can be ordered and picked up in a day or so.
What's so good about Escalon 6-1 is that they are picked ripe (California) and processed immediately. They are excellent.

Just picked up my case here in Plattsburgh NY. Can't wait to try!

Geo

Katie wrote:I feel pretty sure I've seen them at our Mariano's, in the specialty Italian foods section, big cans on the bottom shelf.

Yes, the Mariano's near me (Ashland and Webster) has both 28oz and much larger cans in the Italian section.

Geo wrote:...if this stuff is as good as y'awl say it is. I'll let you know!

Looking forward to a positive report, 'cause I'll add my support to Binko's comments. I'd never heard of them until I read about them on this board years ago. I won't use anything else now--the taste is remarkable because it tastes like exactly what's in the can: tomatoes. I find it, like Binko said, a very "clean" taste without anything getting in the way of the pure tomato flavor. What's more, while I wouldn't call it an intense tomato flavor, it's a good "hearty" tomato flavor. Encomiums (encomia?) anticipated.

Binko wrote:

EvA wrote:

Binko wrote:So, my favorite sauce tomatoes seem to be in short supply in my neck of the woods (SW Side). I can usually find them at the Pete's Market, Shop & Save, or Jewel, but I haven't seen them for weeks. Anybody have any leads where I can stock up on some?

Not near for you at all, I'm sorry to say, but they always have them at Fresh Farms Niles.

Hmm... Unfortunately, I just struck out here (in terms of the tomatoes--found plenty of other stuff I wanted) and the guy at customer service couldn't help (he didn't seem to know what they were.). I wonder if there's a reason for it becoming scarce lately. Have to check Caputos next.

Fresh Farms in Niles had the 28 oz cans for $1.99 each today. Picked up two, left more. Same aisle as the other canned tomatoes. Thanks for the tips; wasn't familiar with them. Now to dream of what to make....

Yeah, I found myself near FF Niles again yesterday, and this time, they did have them. Must have just been a fluke day when I went last time. They were pretty easy to spot.

$1.89 at the A&G (5630 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60634), with the other canned tomatoes. Bought two cans, will report back.

Just some more data points: at the Mariano's on Milwaukee Avenue in Vernon Hills, 28-oz cans of 6-in-1 tomatoes are $1.99 (I picked one up today), and the 160-oz cans are $5.39.

Geo, if you end up liking the 6-in-1 tomatoes, I'll gladly mail you some more after you go through those cans you bought.

28 oz cans for $1.89 at the Lakeshore East Mariano's as of yesterday.