Hi, it's Michael Sullivan from Wirecutter, the product recommendation service from the New York Times.

And today we're in the kitchen testing canned tomatoes.

We'll be tasting them two times right out of the can, and then again in Marcelo Hazan's tomato sauce.

I'm seeing lots of peel on these. Everyone will take handwritten notes, and then I'll compile them all in a spreadsheet.

You really want it to be something that is collaborative. I label them by a letter or a number because we don't want anyone to be swayed by a particular brand.

We're tasting for sweetness, acidity, definitely the color, the texture.

We're doing 195 grams of onions per batch of tomato sauce.

See, so these are a little firmer because this had calcium chloride added to it.

These tomatoes, they're pretty velvety.

Like, they break apart easily with a spoon.

The guides that we write are living, breathing things.

It's a piece of fruit in a can, so it's going to change every year.

At Wirecutter, we do the work so you don't have to.

For independent product reviews and recommendations for the real world,

come visit us at NYTimes.com slash Wirecutter.

I'm talking about my mouthful.

Christine, have you ever bought something and thought,

wow, this product actually made my life better?

Totally, and usually I find those products through Wirecutter.

Yeah, but you work here.

Yeah, that's true. I do. We both do. We're the hosts of the Wirecutter show from the New York Times.

It's our job to research, test, and bet products, and then recommend our favorites. For instance,

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