Author Topic: Stanliaus SuperDolce canned Pizza Sauce (Read 6056 times)

Jackie Tran · « **on:** May 06, 2010, 11:57:21 PM »

After reading numerous glowing reviews on Stanilaus and Eschalon products I decided to order a bunch of stuff from PennMac (thanks for the tip Bill!). When ordering from them, shipping seems insane. $50 worth of product and about $50 in shipping. The more your order the more you save on shipping. So i ordered and then added some more to the order.

Pic 1 are 6# cans.

thought I would try one of each of the most popular ones.

I decided for tonight's pie, I would try the Stanilaus SuperDolce first. This is a heavy and sweet pizza sauce. When I first open the can, I notice the paste was a bright red color with glistening like gold in sunshine. Smell wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I took a spoon and tasted a bit and WHOA!! Really naturally sweet, very tomatoey taste. I was blown away by how sweet this was. I looked at the can and on the label and it says "packed from fresh tomatoes, not from concentrate". hmmmppp...

Next I noted how thick and pastey this stuff was. It's a pizza sauce so you can use it straight from the can as is. The ingredients list fresh vine riped tomatoes, salt, basil, and naturally derived citric acid. So the sauce is basically super thick tomato paste.

I like thick sauces but this was really thick, so I diluted it down a bit with bottled water and retasted. Wow! just as sweet as before. So immediately I'm thinking what a deal. A 6lb can would really make 8 or more lbs of sauce. The sauce was really great by itself. But I couldn't help but added some of my usual spices. A bit of oregano, basil, ground red pepper, OO, a bit of salt and WOW! still really really good.

Baked a pie with it and was blown away at how much better the pizza tasted over my usual pies. I have used Cento (SM DOP, italian whole tomatoes, crushed, puree), Ferarre (sp?), Glen Miurs (reg and organic), etc. Being a newbie, I haven't gotten a chance to try all the best out there, but these were seriously great.

Now onto what a potential value this product is. The can i got is 6lbs 13oz or 109 oz. I made 6 oz ziplock packages for storage. I figure I could add another 2 oz of water and get 8 oz of sauce, enough for 2 - 12" pies? That's about 18 packages or 36 pies. This can without shipping was about $6. Hard to calculate shipping since it was in with other things but I'm guessing about $5 per big can. So some simple math and you get around 30c for sauce per 12" pie. That's cheap.

How to store the extra sauce. Well I'm currently doing a test between jarring vs freezing. Will post results when ready. In the meantime here are some pics.

I can't wait to try the other Stanilaus products. I'm sure they are just as good.

Matthew · « **Reply #1 on:** May 07, 2010, 06:02:28 AM »

I'm not a big fan of prepared pizza sauce but I have yet to try a Stanislaus product that I didn't like. The pizzaiolo is really good on Sicilian & the Full Red on New York. They are a great company. I get newsletters from them monthly.

Matt

Bob1 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 07, 2010, 07:22:56 AM »

Tranman,
I have local access to buy cases of all the Stanilaus products. In March I decided to go through most of the products for about $25 to $30 per case of #10 cans. I have a few friends that take some of the cans. I loved all the products. The only complaint would be the naming. For instance, a lot of people use the term Full Red but it gets confusing because there are a few types of Full Red. I agree with Matt about the Pizziola being good on Scicillian. I found that the Full Red Fully Prepared is similar to the Pizziola but not quite as strong. I used the Sapporito "Crushed Tomatoes" for meat sauce on Lasagna and loved it. You can taste the citric acid but I did not mind it because I grew up with that taste. Because of your passion I would suggest trying the stick Oregano I think you will be very happy. It seems like that is one of the major spices added to the prepared sauces.

Bob

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #3 on:** May 07, 2010, 08:03:37 AM »

IMO, the sauce was so good, it made a great pizza out of mediocre crust and mediocre cheese. It just really heightened the experience for me. It even had me 2nd guessing my tomato growing project. I'm still going forward with it but just really glad I can always buy this stuff as back up.

If canning (jarring) or freezing the sauce works out well, it would be tough for me to keep trying other brands of tomatoes. They have me hooked.

Bob you are forunate to not have to pay shipping for such a wonderful product, but I would gladly pay it for access as well. Good to know their sauces also go well with pasta. Several times last night, I kept thinking how great this would work on meatloaf and other dishes.
By stick oregano, are you referring to the italian oregano? If so I have 2 pkgs on order with Thezaman. I'd loved to get seeds for growing it if possible.

BrickStoneOven · « **Reply #4 on:** May 07, 2010, 08:36:35 AM »

Tran if you have a RD near you they have all the sauces you got except the one with the queen infront.

Bob1 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 07, 2010, 08:54:13 AM »

So far I have tried two types of stick Oregano Krinos-http://www.greekinternetmarket.com/1150-05002.html and Gangi Dante-http://www.manicaretti.com/sellsheetOregano.pdf. The Krinos is very good and if you try it straight it can actually burn the tongue a slightly. I love them both but the Gangi Dante is better for my taste. It was discussed at this link http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,3800.0.html. I was really confused looking at the leaf structure. It is so different from the store brought fresh. I looked for it all over the net and finally came up with this site that appears to have the same structure- http://www.bertonseeds.ca/herbs/711.htm at http://www.bertonseeds.ca/. The dried stick seems to hold it's oil until crushed so I do not know if the fresh would be much better, but i will have to try it.

Bob

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #6 on:** May 07, 2010, 10:01:50 AM »

BSO, I checked and called around a no RD here locally in Albuquerque, NM.

Thank you for the links Bob. That sure doesn't look like any oregano I've seen before, but I bet it's good stuff.

So after going to the link, that IS the same stuff thezaman is sending out to me! 2 packages to be exact. The site for the seeds you posted Bob, have your order those seeds and have you grown them? I'm curious to know if it's the same stick oregano as the Ganji Dante.

Does it hold it's freshness and potency if stored properly?

Tran

widespreadpizza · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2010, 10:35:14 AM »

TM, the stuff zaman gets is great either way, I forget which brand it is. he got me some a while back, and it does hold its freshness. wait till you try the alta cucinas too, they are fantastic pure, simple, near perfect tomato taste. -marc

Bob1 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2010, 04:22:18 PM »

I have not ordered the seeds yet. I just found them the other week. I doubt they are the same as the Gangi but it does appear to be stick type. The Gangi link states that it is a cross with Marjoram, but when I compare it to the Krinos Greek it looks similar, but the Krinos is a little greener. I just started getting both a few weeks ago and I read that it keeps it's taste until crumpled. Here is a great link for researching oregano-http://www.homolaicus.com/scienza/erbario/utility/botanica_sistematica/hypertext/1457.htm#014049 I would assume the dry climate may influence the flavor also.

Bob

PizzaHog · « **Reply #9 on:** May 07, 2010, 06:40:36 PM »

Hey Tran
Recently had a similar experience with the full red fully prepared - way better than I expected right outa the can and a super value. In fact, I had no reason to use any other sauce until the whole giant can was gone and everyone who tasted it agreed. Which brings me to storage. I learned from RedNovember when reading about his uncooked sauce that it lasted almost indefinitely in the fridge. He was correct of course and I noted this same phenomenon with the full red. Five + weeks after opening the can it was unchanged and I bet it would have still lasted on.
I am not familiar with the ganji stick oregano you are all speaking of, unless it is what I ran into once before, but it was outrageously expensive! The guy pronounced it differently but I just could not figure out why it was so costly so I passed.

Bob1 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 07, 2010, 07:05:29 PM »

Pizza Hog,
Wow that's a hell of a count. Where did you get the picture? I paid $5 for a 25 gram bag which is not to bad for the quality IMO. However, I have seen it for much much more. The Krinos is $3 for 56 Grams.

Bob

Jackitup · « **Reply #11 on:** May 07, 2010, 07:15:22 PM »

Tranman,
Go for the freezer and the ziplock bags. I've been doing that for years with all my soups, sauces etc and works great and much less PIA. I usually use the quart size freezer ziplocks and freeze in 2 cup batches, tap on the counter a few times to get the bubbles out, squeeze the air pocket to a corner and out and zip shut, date and freeze flat. No change in the product like canning would do and are good to a couple years like that (though it never lasts that long to often).
Jon

pcampbell · « **Reply #12 on:** May 07, 2010, 08:05:17 PM »

Quote from: Tranman on May 06, 2010, 11:57:21 PM

After reading numerous glowing reviews on Stanilaus and Eschalon products I decided to order a bunch of stuff from PennMac (thanks for the tip Bill!). When ordering from them, shipping seems insane. $50 worth of product and about $50 in shipping. The more your order the more you save on shipping. So i ordered and then added some more to the order.

Pic 1 are 6# cans. thought I would try one of each of the most popular ones.

I decided for tonight's pie, I would try the Stanilaus SuperDolce first. This is a heavy and sweet pizza sauce. When I first open the can, I notice the paste was a bright red color with glistening like gold in sunshine. Smell wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I took a spoon and tasted a bit and WHOA!! Really naturally sweet, very tomatoey taste. I was blown away by how sweet this was. I looked at the can and on the label and it says "packed from fresh tomatoes, not from concentrate". hmmmppp...

Next I noted how thick and pastey this stuff was. It's a pizza sauce so you can use it straight from the can as is. The ingredients list fresh vine riped tomatoes, salt, basil, and naturally derived citric acid. So the sauce is basically super thick tomato paste.

I like thick sauces but this was really thick, so I diluted it down a bit with bottled water and retasted. Wow! just as sweet as before. So immediately I'm thinking what a deal. A 6lb can would really make 8 or more lbs of sauce. The sauce was really great by itself. But I couldn't help but added some of my usual spices. A bit of oregano, basil, ground red pepper, OO, a bit of salt and WOW! still really really good.

Baked a pie with it and was blown away at how much better the pizza tasted over my usual pies. I have used Cento (SM DOP, italian whole tomatoes, crushed, puree), Ferarre (sp?), Glen Miurs (reg and organic), etc. Being a newbie, I haven't gotten a chance to try all the best out there, but these were seriously great.

Now onto what a potential value this product is. The can i got is 6lbs 13oz or 109 oz. I made 6 oz ziplock packages for storage. I figure I could add another 2 oz of water and get 8 oz of sauce, enough for 2 - 12" pies? That's about 18 packages or 36 pies. This can without shipping was about $6. Hard to calculate shipping since it was in with other things but I'm guessing about $5 per big can. So some simple math and you get around 30c for sauce per 12" pie. That's cheap.

How to store the extra sauce. Well I'm currently doing a test between jarring vs freezing. Will post results when ready. In the meantime here are some pics.

I can't wait to try the other Stanilaus products. I'm sure they are just as good.

could you tell us the ingredients of this super heavy super sweet sauce? any oil added or no?

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2010, 08:51:53 PM »

PizzaHog, that's ganji alright and it's the smoking kind not the pizza kind. You can tell by the ghetto fabulous toe nails and leopard heels.

Also thanks for posting the info about refridgerated sauces lasting that long. I had read a thread about it but I believe it said it was good for a week or so. I need longer storage than that. I will store some in the fridge for 6-8 weeks and report back to confirm your findings.

JackitUp, I'm sure freezing will produce a good result for purees, paste, and sauces. However it doesn't product a great result for whole tomatoes. I froze whole tomatoes one time. I froze just the whole tomatoes (no juice) from a can and when I went to thaw it out, the bag was half filled with liquid that had leeched from the tomatoes. After draining that, I made sauce and any liquid would separate shortly after stirring. The sauce had a rather dry taste to me if you know what I mean. Hard to describe but I wasn't crazy about doing it again. My guess is that freezing causes cell wall rupture. It may very well be an entirely different deal with sauces, paste, and purees.

I'll post the results of the jarred vs freezer sauces next week.

Pcampbell, the ingredients of the Stanilaus Superdolce off of the can: Vine-ripened fresh tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, salt and naturally derived citric acid.

PS - I think they forgot to list one ingredient, "crack".

BTW folks thezaman sent out 2 pkgs yesterday and should be here tomorrow. I just got my hands on some caputo pizzeria. Mixing a batch tonight and it should be ready tomorrow or sunday. The oregano should go well with the caputo dough, and superdolce sauce. I can't wait. Hope all goes well.

Jackitup · « **Reply #14 on:** May 07, 2010, 09:36:48 PM »

Hi Tranman,
Yes, many things have a lack in translation 'so to say' when froze and thawed, but, sauces and such I think do best froze and I've had little to no change when thawed. Now on the other hand I've taken fresh salsas I've made and canned them with a total change in texture and body. Freezing changes a bit but not as much, keeps most of the original result. Be looking forward to your findings.
Jon

Jackie Tran · « **Reply #15 on:** May 07, 2010, 11:03:19 PM »

Thanks Jon. It's great to have your experience. This forum has some very knowledgeable ppl with real world experience such as yourself that I appreciate so much.

I did a search for canning vs freezing and seemed to get mixed results with it being about half and half. Mostly ppl having tried one method and liking it and sticking to it. But I didn't see anything that said the user has tried both methods and definitively one was better. If could be a case of one method being better for some foods while the other better for other types of foods. So I'm curious myself as to which will be the better method for tomatoe paste, sauce. I did put 2 bags of superdolce sauce into the freezer last night. I even froze some of the spiced up sauce to compare it to refridgerated spiced sauce.
Aside from wanting to know more about storage of tomato sauce, I also was curious about the canning process itself. Before I started I was really clueless about canning. I didn't know if I needed a pressure cooker or not. I didn't know if I had to add chemicals or any of the sort to the sauce or tomatoes, etc.
So I went out and bought some canning jars after having read up a bit on them. I successfully got a proper seal on 2 jars of sauce last night with relatively little effort. So I'm excited to see the results myself. I'll do a proper post for the comparison and a dummies tutorial for canning for those interested.
Thanks for the input folks.

JConk007 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 08, 2010, 08:13:26 AM »

I have the full red in storage but I did try the Piziola sauce and found that very good straight as well not as thick and loaded w/ basil flavor!
Happy testing
John

pcampbell · « **Reply #17 on:** May 08, 2010, 12:13:33 PM »

looks good. they have a lot of these by the can at Restaurant Depot. ITs about $5 per can (big can, not sure 6 pounds? or 5 pounds?). if anyone wants I can get and ship or drop off

I have been using 28oz cans of Jersey Fresh because I'm worried about the big ones going bad but it sounds like this is not that much of an issue?

PizzaHog · « **Reply #18 on:** May 08, 2010, 01:34:28 PM »

Quote

I have been using 28oz cans of Jersey Fresh because I'm worried about the big ones going bad but it sounds like this is not that much of an issue?

PC
It has not been an issue for me when storing uncooked sauce in the fridge. Have the last of a batch based on 6 in 1's in the fridge now that I will be using tomorrow that is 3 weeks old today. Just checked it, looks unchanged, smells and tastes better than fine and seems to improve as is ages. Have gone 4 weeks many times.
Not sure about whole tomatoes or just tomato without any added herbs or spices since I have not tried that.

Bob1 · « **Reply #19 on:** May 08, 2010, 02:01:09 PM »

If you add Herbs you should saute in oil first to sterilize them. Otherwise you can introduce bacteria to the factory sterilized tomato.

Bob