Has anyone ever tried this stuff (Gourmet Garden tubed herbs)?

[Tab]

I picked some up for lemongrass... it looked like an interesting alternative to keeping fresh herbs for the ones lesser used - a step above dried, but maybe not quite the same as totally purely fresh.

[chefgirl]

1. Interesting

I haven't even seen them before. Have you used yours yet? How was it?

-chef-

[Stinky The Clown]

2. They got a really crappy review in Cooks Illustrated

Our soopermarkets have them. Or at least they did.

They never sold very well and they dropped the line.

on edit .... I never tried them myself, so I am only reporting what others have said and what I observed. No first hand knowledge.

[Warpy]

3. I'd rather bite the bullet and pay the price for fresh

The local market just changed hands, but the new owners have the old owners running the produce and bakery departments (YAY!) so there is a stock of fresh herbs at all times.

I even found epazote last weekend. Nobody's gonna put that stuff in a tube.

[politicat]

4. The basil's not bad when the crop finally gives up the ghost.

Local basil fails around here about the first week of January, and I can usually nurse my plants through the end of the month before they give up and die, even though they're potted and inside. The stems get too woody and they can't get water to the leaves, so they stop producing. Getting it imported from California is a pretty expensive proposition, since it does not travel well.

At that point, I switch over to the tube stuff for about 10 weeks, until the baby basil plants are getting big enough to be of use.

It's not great, but it's not fresh. But it's a hell of a lot better than that dried crap. I can use it with other stuff to make either a pesto or to spread on my goat cheese and grape tomato pizzas.

I tried the ginger once - it's cheaper and better to buy a big hand, peel it and grate it and freeze it in teaspoons. I haven't tried the others.

[Phentex]

5. I have tried several of them....

and the good thing is you can keep them in the freezer (so they last) but they still squeeze when you need to use them. I mainly use them in soups or a recipe that calls for 1 or 2 T of something and I don't want to buy a whole package of fresh from the store (or if I can't get to the farmer's market.) Have used the dill, basil, ginger, italian blend, chili pepper, and garlic but I don't care for the garlic. I tend to use a lot of garlic and I'd rather have fresh.

I have to agree they are no real substitute for fresh, but they can be better than dried depending on the recipe.