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Comment by andai | Hacker News Reader

Top HN comment from similar article (4 months ago):

"pro tip: Use canned tomatoes instead of fresh whenever out of season; canners use varieties that have not been ruined for shipping, and seal at the peak of freshness."

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13520563

Dr. Klee's tomato shenanigans have appeared on HN a couple times:

4 years ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4182279

also 4 years ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5254216

View on HN

The same idea applies for other fruits and vegetables, like corn, peas, and especially peaches and pears. The trick is finding a good canned variety. Most mass produced versions from the familiar large names (Dole, Del Monte, etc. in the US) are not great. However, for example there is a smaller grocery chain near me which brands their own delicious version of canned peaches from a regional producer annually at the peak of ripeness.

Trader Joe's cans tomatoes and they're pretty darn good. Not sure about other fruit.

Corn kernels and peas both freeze very well. The large surface area to volume ratio means they can freeze very quickly, which keeps the ice crystals small, so there's minimal damage to texture. They also taste closer to fresh vegetables than the canned ones do, and they're usually cheaper.

But the canned tomato experience is never going to be the same as fresh tomato. Perhaps as good or better in someways, but there are going to be fundamental differences in texture and taste.

There may also be a health issue with BPA exposure particularly with acidic canned contents.

Also food portions being routinely over packaged (here in small metal containers) is looking increasingly dubious in these times of overstretched and wasted resources.

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