When a friend overheard me talking about tasting raisins, she said, "That's easy, the Dole raisins in the blue container are unbeatable."
Our panelists liked them also - but not quite as much as Publix ($1.29 for six snack boxes).
Taster's Choice put both up against 10 other brands. Publix received 51 out of 80 points, and judges gave 46 points to Dole ($2.59 for an 8-ounce container). All four judges would buy both brands.
"This one is very good; it must have had a happy life as a grape," said one panelist about the winner. "It's comfy in the mouth."
"I'd eat these right out of the box any time," said another judge. "Each one of these is moist, and they have a nice, uniform size."
Dole raisins got high marks for their shiny skins and plumpness.
"These are moist and dark, and they melt in your mouth," said one panelist. Another said he liked Dole because they were sweet and didn't have any sticklike stems still attached.
The raisins from Wal-Mart, Great Value brand ($1.57 for 15 ounces), placed third. Judges said they were juicy and looked like they came from Napa Valley. Two of the four judges said they would buy the Great Value raisins.
The three top choices stood out because they were raisins you could eat plain, add to an oatmeal cookie or sprinkle on ice cream. That couldn't be said for many others we sampled.
Some of the brands were so shriveled that judges said they looked "like dead bugs." Others were so chewy we couldn't get them out of our teeth. And some "were old and crusty and as dry as Fort De Soto Beach."
The judges gave the lowest score, 2 points, to the raisins from Del Monte ($1.99 for 15 ounces). As a test, I mixed them in the food for our family's two guinea pigs, Oscar and Felix. They didn't like them either. They picked around the raisins and ate everything else.
Also sampled were raisins from Sun-Maid ($1.79 for six snack boxes); Newman's Own ($1.59 for six snack boxes); Made in Nature Organic ($3.19 for six snack boxes); Albertsons Natural ($1.69 for six snack boxes); Woodstock Farms ($4.49 for 16 ounces); Pavich Organic ($4.79 per container at Nature's Finest Foods); Kash n' Karry ($1.79 for 15 ounces); and Fairfield Farms from Sav-a-Lot ($1.49 for a 12-ounce pouch).
Panelists were: Monique Massaro of Pepin Restaurant, Gary Kawalec, chef/owner of Supper Club, a make-and-take meal assembly business soon to open in Safety Harbor, personal chef Julie Overton and Bob Devin Jones, artistic director of Studioat620. All products were tasted blind.
Send suggestions for product testing to Taste section, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731 or e-mail them to krieta@sptimes.com Please put TEST SUGGESTION in the subject line. To read past Taster's Choice columns, go to www.sptimes.com/food
