Mushroom Taste Test

Hey Foodies,

So, I was making spaghetti and my family decided they wanted to throw in some mushrooms. Now don’t get me wrong, I love mushrooms, but I like to choose them and cook them myself. Since we had this assignment, I thought it would be a good idea to taste three brands of canned mushrooms as potential components of my spaghetti sauce. The three brands I am trying are: ShurFine (found at Lowe’s, our local market store), Giorgio (purchased at HEB), and Green Giant (also purchased at HEB). I have always been one of those people that insists on only fresh vegetables, but I recognize that is not always possible. Sometimes canned mushrooms are the only option.

I decided to have my mom put them in three different bowls that were labeled on the bottom with the brand. I did not know which product was in each bowl. This gave me an unbiased tasting. Before tasting, I rinsed my mouth out with water to ensure a cleansed palate (a little overboard for something so simple, but I wanted to be able to relay my most honest opinion).

To my surprise, they all looked pretty similar. The ShurFine brand seemed to be a bit smaller and thinner sliced than the rest, but only slightly. The color of the Green Giant brand and the ShurFine brand was slightly darker brown than the Giorgio. This could be because of packaging, Green Giant and ShurFine are in metallic cans while the Giorgio brand is in a jar.

The first one I tasted seemed to have a metallic taste. I assumed it was one of the canned products rather than the jarred Giorgio brand. It was slightly salty, but tolerable. There seemed to be nothing wrong with this product until I got to the aftertaste. It was almost unbearable for me, but I wanted to see how long it would take for it to dissipate, after about 3-4 minutes I rinsed as it seemed to have gone. The first product turned out to be the Green Giant brand. The second one I tried was pleasant all the way around. It had a spongy texture like I would look for in a canned and preserved mushroom, and was not seasoned with salt at all. I am sure it had some in it for preservation purposes, but it was simply undetectable. This product tasted like a real mushroom to me. The second product I tried was the Giorgio brand. The third product I tasted was the Shurfine brand, and I immediately spit it out. It seemed to grow in my mouth as I chewed. Nothing was good about this product. It tasted like how I imagined licking the inside of a rusty can would taste. It was far too metallic tasting, and the mushroom itself was rubbery (like chewing a latex glove). It was impossible for me to ingest it. Thinking I may have gotten a bad can, I went back to Lowe’s and purchased another can, but it too was awful.

Overall, I went with the Giorgio brand. I would definitely buy this again, in fact, I would recommend it to my fellow mushroom lovers for its great taste and texture. Although it is more expensive, it is definitely worth the price. As for the other two, I would use Green Giant if there was no Giorgio’s, but it just was not quite right. As for the ShurFine brand, I would live without mushrooms forever before buying it again.