If you want to spend more time with your family and friends this holiday season and less time in the kitchen, our judges suggest serving Hormel's mashed sweet potatoes. No need to wash, peel and heat potatoes. Just pop the container in the microwave oven and creamy sweet potatoes will be ready for your table in minutes. Our judges sampled four brands of
prepared sweet potatoes and found a couple they liked well enough to serve alongside their birds this week.
Kathy Saunders, Times correspondent
Product/Score (out of 100) | Hormel 90 | Birds Eye 65 | Hanover 54 | Simply Potatoes 40 |
Judges' comments | The first ingredients in this product (sweet potatoes, milk, brown sugar, butter and salt) were no different than what our judges would use if they made mashed sweet potatoes from scratch. Our panelists loved the rich, orange color of these along with the smooth, homemade texture. "They look natural, smell wonderful and have just the right amount of sweetness," said one panelist. "I would eat these right out of the container." All of the tasters liked the hint of cinnamon and nutmeg in the mixture. "This is ready for doctoring with pecans," another judge said. She said she would heat this up and serve it in a fancy dish, adding that her relatives would never know they weren't homemade. | Judges said the Birds Eye sweet potatoes were the bright, orange color that dinner guests would expect to see on the table. To the delight of our tasters, these lacked some of the spice and sweetness of the other options. "I liked the stripped-down nature of these," said one judge. "If you want to add marshmallows to these after they are heated they wouldn't be overly sweet," she said. Another said she liked the fluffy look of the potatoes. A couple of panelists said they were a little salty, but they would still buy the brand. | All four judges said they tasted a hint of fruitiness in these potatoes. One said it was "kind of like apple puree" and another suggested apple juice might have been added to the mixture. The potatoes were more of a golden brown color when heated. "This doesn't read like a savory dish but it might be nice alongside a ham," said one panelist. Another judge said she would mix this with golden raisins, carrots and perhaps fresh herbs and serve it alongside a baguette or crackers. | These sweet potatoes were too smooth for our tasters when they came out of the microwave oven. "The texture is too much like baby food," said one judge. Panelists liked the color of the potatoes but said they were a little gummy and lacked robust flavor. "They are just very bland," said one taster. "They just don't stand out." |
Would they buy? | Three of the four judges said yes. | Two of the four judges said yes. | Two of the four judges said yes. | None of the four judges said yes. |
Shopping information | $3.99 for a 23-ounce tub from Publix. | $4.29 for a 12-ounce box from Publix. | $1.98 for a 10.5-ounce box from Walmart. | $3.79 for a 24-ounce container from Publix. |
Serving size | Two-thirds cup | Half-cup | Half-cup | Half-cup |
Calories | 170 | 120 | 160 | 110 |
Fat/Fiber | 6g / 20g | 3.5g / 3g | 3g / 5g | 1g / 2g |
Sugars/Sodium | 18g / 340mg | 12g / 510mg | 20g / 55mg | 13g / 160mg |
Carbs/Protein | 27g / 2g | 21g / 1g | 31g /2g | 22g / 2g |
Panelists: Kay Hodnett, personal chef; Janet Keeler, assistant professor of journalism at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg; Julie Overton, consumer and mother of four; and Laura Reiley, Times food critic. All foods were tasted blind.
Send suggestions for product testing to: Taste section, Tampa Bay Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731 or email them to mstark@tampabay.com. Please put TEST SUGGESTION in the subject line.