My wife gave me a pressure canner / cooker for Christmas, and I'm looking for a great variety to grow in 2016. Will likely have about 12 plants this season, which isn't very many, so that is why I am asking for a prolific producer. I know the standard answer is likely Roma, but I would prefer something I never grew before.
Philly area.... and I guess indeterminate because I plan to can over several weeks.
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Gardener123
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There are so many more really great choices other than Roma for canning. My interest for the last dozen years or more has been heirloom/open pollenated tomatoes, especially large beefsteaks and heart shaped tomatoes. Heart shaped tomatoes generally are very meaty and tend to be sweeter. There are a great variety of sizes and shapes and colors all with excellent flavor. Most of the varieties I grow produce in the 30 pound per plant range.
We canned full sized tomatoes for many years and getting away from the traditional Roma style tasteless tomatoes was the best move we made. Lately we have been freezing tomatoes as well as canning.
Even a few hybrid varieties are being developed with flavor bred back into them but nothing like the old fashioned tomatoes. Don't stop at a single variety; grow as many different varieties as possible in the space you have. It will pay off nicely.
We canned full sized tomatoes for many years and getting away from the traditional Roma style tasteless tomatoes was the best move we made. Lately we have been freezing tomatoes as well as canning.
Even a few hybrid varieties are being developed with flavor bred back into them but nothing like the old fashioned tomatoes. Don't stop at a single variety; grow as many different varieties as possible in the space you have. It will pay off nicely.
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dustyrivergardens
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I grow three variety's of tomatoes for canning- Rio Grande a determinate great producer of egg shaped 4-6 oz tomatoes easy to peel great for canning whole and there also the first to ripen for me... Next San Marzano which produce tons of tomatoes which I use for sauces and there the next ones to ripen. the last one is a late producer of a great tomato Amos Coli - I have had really good luck with this one extra large paste tomatoes with a super good taste as good as any tomato I have sliced and ate on a sandwich. I purchased my Amos Coli seed from wild boar farms great tomatoes from Brad Gates
So I have an early determinate Rio Grande Next the San Marzano which will ripen a couple weeks later I use the San Marzano Lungo No. 2 and Next Amos Coli great tomato for canning or the table.
So I have an early determinate Rio Grande Next the San Marzano which will ripen a couple weeks later I use the San Marzano Lungo No. 2 and Next Amos Coli great tomato for canning or the table.
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Vanisle_BC
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We can or pulp & freeze some of nearly everything we grow - not specially for paste but just general cooking.
My favourite by far is Camp Joy, also known as Chadwick Cherry. It's sweet like Sweetie but not so prone to cracking, and bigger; generally inch to inch-and-a-half. (seems to be getting bigger as I plant successive generations of saved seed). We eat them straight off the plant; can't pass them by! We add basil when canning and the result with C. Joy is specially good unless you prefer tangy acid flavours. Together with blended sweet red pepper they make a delicious spaghetti sauce.
My favourite by far is Camp Joy, also known as Chadwick Cherry. It's sweet like Sweetie but not so prone to cracking, and bigger; generally inch to inch-and-a-half. (seems to be getting bigger as I plant successive generations of saved seed). We eat them straight off the plant; can't pass them by! We add basil when canning and the result with C. Joy is specially good unless you prefer tangy acid flavours. Together with blended sweet red pepper they make a delicious spaghetti sauce.
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applestar
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I think the most prolific sizable non-cherry or saladette tomato I've grown is Kamatis Tagalog. It's clear skinned deep red-fleshed with convoluted lobes and clefts. It's way too much to peel but easy to cook then run through the food mill. Not paste so it is juicy, but I drained and saved the broth and juice.
I'm still trying different paste varieties -- not really happy with any of them yet.
I do like Wes, large red oxheart fruits, fantastic flavor, good but not super productive, I guess.
I tend to sort and freeze the fruits according to color -- red, pink (flesh), orange, yellow/white, brown (red with green gel), green when ripe... Then when I have an excess, I might can them.
I'm growing to find the best flavored tomatoes that grow well in my garden -- mostly heirlooms and stable OPs. Mixed fabulous tasting fruits make sauces to die for when I have more than can be eaten fresh. Meh and average flavored fruits are better roasted and cooked down anyway.
I'm still trying different paste varieties -- not really happy with any of them yet.
I do like Wes, large red oxheart fruits, fantastic flavor, good but not super productive, I guess.
I tend to sort and freeze the fruits according to color -- red, pink (flesh), orange, yellow/white, brown (red with green gel), green when ripe... Then when I have an excess, I might can them.
I'm growing to find the best flavored tomatoes that grow well in my garden -- mostly heirlooms and stable OPs. Mixed fabulous tasting fruits make sauces to die for when I have more than can be eaten fresh. Meh and average flavored fruits are better roasted and cooked down anyway.
Again I say: I grow about thirty-five different heirloom/open pollenated varieties every year and can, make juice and paste from whichever is on hand at the time. Makes for very good tasting tomato products and a neat variety of colors. There are so many bland flavored "canner, juicers and paste types" that real tomato flavored products is a treat. I am especially fond of the very meaty heart-shaped varieties.
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Gary350
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Can tomatoes with flavor you like best. My favorite tasting tomato is Beef Steak for, salads, sandwiches, soups, stews, chili, sauces, other beef steak type tomatoes with different names like, big beef, beef master, more. They have a great flavor. They are good slicing tomatoes too, they don't fall apart. Very good in, salads, sandwiches, soup, stew, tacos, sauces.
Plant a variety in your garden to decide which flavor you like best.
I use to grow a lot of variety, Roma, celebrity, early girl, Rutgers, German Johnson, heirlooms, others. Roma have a tomato paste flavor. Celebrity are very bland no flavor tomatoes. Early girl and Rutgers are long in flavor too. Heirlooms are just weird flavors. German Johnson is good but plants are low produces about 75% less tomato crop than other tomatoes.
Plant a variety in your garden to decide which flavor you like best.
I use to grow a lot of variety, Roma, celebrity, early girl, Rutgers, German Johnson, heirlooms, others. Roma have a tomato paste flavor. Celebrity are very bland no flavor tomatoes. Early girl and Rutgers are long in flavor too. Heirlooms are just weird flavors. German Johnson is good but plants are low produces about 75% less tomato crop than other tomatoes.
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Gardener123
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OK, so to follow up, I did get oxheart style and San Marzano seeds. Thank you for the suggestions.
I will also be trying Mortgage Lifter again. It did poorly for me last year, but I am sure that was my fault.
And I never canned anything before, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Cherokee Purple, and will be trying to can those as well. Or maybe not, as they seem to get eaten as fast as they get picked.
I will also be trying Mortgage Lifter again. It did poorly for me last year, but I am sure that was my fault.
And I never canned anything before, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Cherokee Purple, and will be trying to can those as well. Or maybe not, as they seem to get eaten as fast as they get picked.
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Taiji
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My all time favorite tomato for flavor is a freshly picked, large, fully ripe cherry tomato. But, that's just me! But, that doesn't answer the for canning question. Don't know. Maybe cherry tomatoes would have a little bit too much skin and seeds vs. pulp for canning? Rutgers is my personal favorite of the "normal sized" tomatoes.
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Gary350
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What taste good to me might not taste good to you. I like Beef Steak and all the Beef Steak varieties they have excellent flavor, great slicing tomatoes for sandwiches, great for salads, soup, stew, and Canning.
I plant, beef steak, big beef, beef master, jet star, 30 plants in 3 rows. I usually get about 2 bushel baskets of tomatoes on my first harvest and 2 bushel baskets of tomatoes every week until the temperature get in the 90s then production slows down until cool weather returns.
I CAN 100 pints and 20 quarts the first 2 weeks of harvest. Canning is finished early before blight has a chance to kill my crop. Blight runs in cycles of 5 to 6 years don't think there will any blight this year.
I plant, beef steak, big beef, beef master, jet star, 30 plants in 3 rows. I usually get about 2 bushel baskets of tomatoes on my first harvest and 2 bushel baskets of tomatoes every week until the temperature get in the 90s then production slows down until cool weather returns.
I CAN 100 pints and 20 quarts the first 2 weeks of harvest. Canning is finished early before blight has a chance to kill my crop. Blight runs in cycles of 5 to 6 years don't think there will any blight this year.
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Gary350
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Roma is a paste tomato with good strong tomato flavor for sauces like, spaghetti sauce and catsup.
Brandywine and German Johnson are low producers with different flavor than Beef Steak.
Celebrity is a good produces with poor flavor, these are sold in grocery stores.
Some tomatoes are geometrical inside with 5 equal sections that will fall apart when sliced, some people call them water tomatoes. Beef Steak type tomatoes have about 10 random sections inside that will not fall apart when sliced.
I don't plant heirloom tomatoes anymore, production is low, flavor is strange.
If your Canning low flavor tomatoes add about 5% Roma to give them better flavor.
For Canning I puree the cooked tomatoes 2 minutes in kitchen blender to turn skins and seeds to liquid. The skins will double the tomato flavor.
Brandywine and German Johnson are low producers with different flavor than Beef Steak.
Celebrity is a good produces with poor flavor, these are sold in grocery stores.
Some tomatoes are geometrical inside with 5 equal sections that will fall apart when sliced, some people call them water tomatoes. Beef Steak type tomatoes have about 10 random sections inside that will not fall apart when sliced.
I don't plant heirloom tomatoes anymore, production is low, flavor is strange.
If your Canning low flavor tomatoes add about 5% Roma to give them better flavor.
For Canning I puree the cooked tomatoes 2 minutes in kitchen blender to turn skins and seeds to liquid. The skins will double the tomato flavor.