breakstone sour cream: do you know of any better??

[MarkG]

i think it's THE BEST and i will eat it straight out of the container non stop. right up there with creme fraiche. one of the few products you will find in a supermarket today that you can have such feelings about.

[MarkG]

I made this original post. just tried breakst sour cream for the first time in awhile. as another poster wrote, it isnt as tangy as it used to be and is still good but not super good.

[dereuff]

Breakstone's is good, though not as tangy as it "used to be". Safeway used to have a sour half-and-half which was as good, maybe better, considering the reduced calories [it's not "lite", just that half-and-half has fewer calories than cream] believe it or not; I don't live in Safeway territory anymore, so I don't know if it's still available. That said, THE BEST sour cream I've found is Wallaby's European Style Sour Cream. It must be tried to be believed. Available at Whole Foods, and pricey, but worth a try. ( And just for the record, Russ and Daughters cream cheese is worthy a try, too: no gums or stabilizers. And Tofutti cream cheese is amazing!)

[housewolf]

I live in Oregon and recently bought a container of of Darigold's Extra Rich Sour Cream - "all natural, extra rich sour cream. Our European Style Sour Cream has enhanced flavor and performance that will exceed your cooking, baking and taste expectations." Darigold is a farmer-owned dairy cooperative. All their dairy products are made from milk from cows that have not been treated with rbST. Contains Cultured Cream and Milk and enzymes only.

This stuff is incredible. It's unlike any sour cream I've ever tasted before. If you can find it, give it a try.

http://consumer.darigold.com/Extra-Ri...

[Riatta]

Daisy

[MarkG]

Fage Greek Yogurt is so similar to sour cream that it can be included in this category

[HokieAnnie]

Breakstone's is great but also good is Axlexrod's, another nothing but sour cream offering. In fact I'd say it's even thicker and richer than Breakstone's. The local WFMs here in Northern VA carry it.

[coll]

Axelrods makes a really nice cream cheese too.

[Perilagu Khan]

Daisy.

Nuff said.

[charlieboy]

I agree with the OP about Breakstone, but unfortunately, its not sold in AZ. I buy the Daisy brand and find that its really good too.

[ianvlokewurth]

Last night (May 20th 2010) I bought a 16oz container of Breakstone All Natural Sour Cream at the "99 Cent Only Store" in Pasadena, CA and yes its a lot better than most other common brands.

[embee]

Western sour cream (made in Toronto) tastes better than any other sour cream I've had anywhere. It comes in lowfat (which I don't bother with, but which tastes fine), 14%, and 30% (which makes a wonderful substitute for creme fraiche at 1/3 the price). It has no additives at all. And it obviously doesn't need any. I don't know whether it's available in the US, but I've seen US posts about Liberte yogurt, which is made by the same company and is equally good.

[ekammin]

What puzzles me is that just about every other brand of sour cream in Toronto, except Western, is loaded with potassium this, calcium that, gelatin, several gums and various preservatives. How come Western can make excellent sour cream without these, and the others can't?

[embee]

Presumably rhetorical...but didn't virtually everyone who made sour cream in the past make it like Western does today??

[Candy]

You'd think Land O' Lakes would be able to turn out a quality product too but no it is full of all of that crap too.

On the subject but with a different dairy item. Why is cream cheese full of gums and stablizers? When I lived in Plattsburgh, NY we used to be able to cross the lake to Burlington VT and buy pure lovely cream cheese from the UVM dairy. i keep looking in WF, Wild Oats, Co-ops etc and nope they are all loaded with the junk.

[embee]

Western and Liberty sour creams, cream cheeses, and yogurts contain no junk at all and, allowing for personal flavour preferences, are better than anything else available in Toronto and Montreal.

The lesson seems to be that most producers of this stuff have reasons (likely economic) for using them and most consumers either don't know any better or don't care.

Using additives doesn't necessarily kill the quality/taste of products automatically either -- it's misuse. All stabilized ice creams (B&J; Gregs) are not necessarily worse than their all natural competitors (Kensington). Dairyland UHT whipping cream (with the typical additives) tastes much better to me than Organic Meadow. NY style cheesecake needs the gum in Philadelphia cream cheese to create the right texture.

But it is clear that products can be made without added junk and be better in every way (flavour, texture, even shelf life). I suppose that food chemists and molecular biologists (rather than cooks) create these products.

[ekammin]

If I recall properly, even Breakstone's cottage cheese (about which this topic originally was) has junk in it.

[gfr1111]

In 2009, I think, "Cook's Illustrated" did a blind taste test of vanilla ice creams and found that the ones with guar gum and carageenan outperformed the more natural ones. The magazine organizers of this study were surprised. When inteviewing the people who took the blind taste test, they found that the reason for the higher scores was that the guar gum and carageenan containing ice creams had a creamier texture, which the study participants preferred. This is not surprising. Guar gum and carageenan are emulsifiers. However, the participants also preferred the French vanilla ice creams that, of course, container eggs, which contain lecithin, an emulsifier. So, chemicals (albeit naturally occurring ones, not ones created in some chemist's laboratory) are sometimes good for the taste of a food.

Turning to sour cream, I love Breakstone's and Daisy. However, I would like to name another that began appearing at Publix Supermarkets around early 2009, here in Florida: Cabot's Greek Style. At that time, we couldn't get Fage's down here, but Cabot's filled the gap admirably. Creamy, thick, slightly tangy, and delicious!

[mcf]

I don't think of lecithin, guar or carageenan as chemicals so much as they're additives, like many other parts of a recipe not dreamed up by Dupont.

As for sour cream; it's Breakstone's with all the fat or I'll do without, thanks. Don't be passin' me no Axelrod's or Friendship. :-)

[Chuckles the Clone]

Sour cream curdles when frozen. Stabilizing gums keep that from happening. It may be that certain producers find that the loss of customers from adding "junk" is offset by the reduced loss of product in shipping.

[ekammin]

A good reason to eat locally produced foods.

[jinet12]

Am a fan of Breakstone's and Daisy, but these days I buy Horizon Organic...Very tasty...

[emilief]

Horizon organic is the best, even the low fat version.

[swsidejim]

I prefer a crema fresca style sour cream.

The brand I get at a local mexican specialty store is El Mexicano Crema Mexicana. I dont eat it from the container, but prefer it when eating mexican food to "regular" sour cream.

[sivyaleah]

I've always been partial to Breakstone, it's out of habit from growing up but I recently tried Daisy and enjoyed it just as much, maybe even a bit more. Only problem is I usually buy the lowfat version of Breakstone these days, and my supermarket doesn't always have the Daisy in the lower fat stocked.

I also do use the Fage nonfat yogurt, as someone else mentioned, as a substitute now for dips. I don't like nonfat sourcream at all, but do like the Fage nonfat yogurt a lot because the consistancy is exactly the same as regular sour cream. So, I'm not compromising texture, and I'm losing fat grams to boot :-)

[Howard_2]

You might find it very interesting to do a blind taste test of Breakstone's vs some other good (and REAL) brand of sour cream, and see how many identifications you can get right. I'd be very surprised if you can perform at a level better than chance!

That said...I've found some brands of so-called "sour cream" that, upon close examination of the label, contain all sorts of "extra" (that is, unneeded) stuff. I found this particularly in supermarkets in Salt Lake City, but it's no doubt true elsewhere.

[MysticYoYo]

I'm not a huge sour cream fan, but Daisy really made me take notice. Very fresh, creamy and rich taste.

[coll]

I've been using Fage Total Yogurt instead of sour cream for the last year or so, and stopped buying sour cream completely. Not sure if it's healthier or not.

[jmckee]

However, this is a thread about sour cream.

[coll]

Even though I posted that three years ago, I will defend myself. OP asked if I know anything better. Better than Breakstone, or better than sour cream itself? This seems to be a regional thing anyway, after reading the replies.

[melpy]

the fat free Fage should be healthier than the sour cream. Do they behave the same when heated is my question? I usually use the Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream but I was cowardly with my stroganoff recipe because of recent curdling episode and bought th esour cream. Anyone want to weigh in on that aspect?

To answer the original post Breakstones is tops!

[coll]

I usually serve the yogurt on the table to be mixed in after plating. I never notice major curdling with the leftovers however.

[Chuckles the Clone]

Nancy's
http://www.nancysyogurt.com/nancys_products/sour_cream.php
Again, none of the gelatin, perversatives, and other junk, plus organic.

Also, serious hippie cred:
http://www.nancysyogurt.com/our_cream...

When I eat it straight from the container, I like to stir
in a bit of sugar and a drop or two of vanilla.

[ccbweb]

I'm a fan of Daisy.

[Val]

I also love the Daisy brand...I buy the light version and it has excellent flavor for a "light" product. No junky ingredients either.

[ccbweb]

My wife and I were just talking about that last night. The "organic" light sour creams we find around town all have a pretty long list of ingredients. Daisy's light is still just sour cream.

[Bob W]

I grew up eating Breakstone's (yes, out of the container sometimes) and then Breakstone's Light but ever since I tried Daisy Light after we got a Daisy coupon I have generally stuck with that brand.

Both are very good but when Daisy is on special and we have a coupon, that's just unbeatable.

[mshpook]

another vote here for Daisy. the light version really does taste great as well.

[Candy]

Another Daisy fan but will buy Breakstones if it is all that is available.

[Val]

I tried the Daisy Light after someone on Chowhound mentioned it...same with Fage Yogurt...this website has taught me so much!!!!!

[jmckee]

I switched from Breakstone to Daisy some years back; it's just a better product, and I echo Val's comment that there are no "junky" ingredients.

By the way, their cottage cheese is similarly excellent.

[ekammin]

In Toronto, Western Dairy. None of the gelatin, perservatives, calcium this and potassium that and gums found in other brands.

Try putting this, or Breakstone's, on some nice, dry pressed cottage cheese and top with salt and pepper.