Hunts vs Heinz

I am in the market to buy some ketchup. I rarely use it, but keep it in the house for the few times I do. I've been somewhat oblivious to brands in the past. Hunts vs Heinz is probably a matter of taste. They appear to be the most popular brands. I note that most restaurants serve Heinz. What is the difference between the two brands?

I recently heard (I think on America's test kitchen) that Hunt's uses real sugar whereas Heinz uses HFCS. I've been a lifelong Heinz user, but the next time I'm in the market for Ketchup (which may be a while, damn you, Costco), I'll be checking the labels to confirm this factoid. If it's so, I may switch to Hunt's for a test bottle.

Heinz Organic brings back real sugar (and the memories of what ketchup used to taste like).

spinynorman99 wrote:Heinz Organic brings back real sugar (and the memories of what ketchup used to taste like).

thats our favorite brand also but Hunts with real sugar is ok too

Heinz has done a lot of research to hit maximum flavor "power": salt, sugar, sweet, and umami (not sure about bitter).
Everyone else tries to differentiate, giving something that doesn't have that fullness of flavor.

So I'm a Heinz guy, but at least I know why.

One upon a time, there was a Castup-a-Thon

I've had good results with the Heinz Organic...makes an astonishingly good meat loaf glaze, among other things.

Lots of good info here.........thanks. Cathy you are an amazing thread looker upper.

Cathy2 wrote:One upon a time, there was a Castup-a-Thon

Interesting that Hunt's was not a prat of that ketchup (catsup) tasting. Perhaps a rematch is in order.

Heinz has several HFCS-free options. In addition to their organic mentioned above, they have Simply Heinz. As far as I can tell, switching cane sugar for HFCS is the only difference between regular Heinz and Simply Heinz.

I think Simply Heinz is a good option - - you can cut out the HFCS without having to pay the larger markup for the organic option.

As you'd expect, Simply Heinz and organic Heinz are both pricier than regular Heinz - - and, unfortunately, appear to go on sale far less frequently.

Ronna

grew up on Heinz, switched to Huntz in the last year or so when i started working on my own bbq sauces, etc.

I like that Huntz is real sugar, really not interested in paying more for Heinz organic to get a Heinz version with no HFCS. Perhaps if Heinz ever switched their original brand to a non HFCS recipe we would go back

Simply Heinz isn't organic and doesn't have HFCS.

Must try the sugar Heinz ones (simply and/or organic).

Off the original topic - but based on the TJ's thread I picked up the TJ's organic ketchup and prefer it to the Heinz.

Funny to happen upon this topic. I've always blindly pledged my liege to Heinz. I reacted with disgust when, for the first time I can recall, my wife brought Hunt's home several weeks ago. Just last night, I remarked how little the swap bothered me. But for the label, I wouldn't have known the difference.

Not meaning to sidetrack but how about a third option for a potential condiment trifecta - Brooks Rich and Tangy Catsup:

http://www.catsupbottle.com/brooks/brooks.html

After 26-years downstate, I always have Brooks on hand even though I am the sole consumer in the Davooda household (the rest are devout Heinz fans). Brooks was made in Collinsville, IL for a long time but they were bought out by Birds-Eye. The Brooks catsup-bottle lives on though...

Davooda