Favorite tomatoes for sauces and canning

[TexasGardenGirl]

I originally planned on growing regular paste tomatoes but since they didn't survive transplanting, I need to replace them. That means I need to go to the local nursery or (shudder) a big box store like Lowe's or Home Depot and get the plants. But I really would like some opinions on tomatoes that do well for sauces, canning, salsa as well as just plain eating tomatoes. I know there's so many varieties out there in so many shapes and colors. I'd love to find one that actually tastes great by itself. What are you favorite varieties that are easy to get hold of this late that also taste great and not like a grocery store tomato?

 

[marlingardener]

For canning, juices, and slicing for eating fresh, we like Celebrity. It is a medium-sized tomato (think something between a golf and a tennis ball) with great flavor. For sauces we plant Romas, but in a pinch we slice them lengthwise and use them on sandwiches.
We don't make salsa, since all of our friends and neighbors do and we get quart jars of home-made salsa. I think they use whatever is handy and just cook it down to the proper consistency. If you don't get a more coherent answer about salsa, I'll ask the best salsa makers what tomatoes they use and get back to you.

 

[TexasGardenGirl]

For canning, juices, and slicing for eating fresh, we like Celebrity. It is a medium-sized tomato (think something between a golf and a tennis ball) with great flavor. For sauces we plant Romas, but in a pinch we slice them lengthwise and use them on sandwiches.
We don't make salsa, since all of our friends and neighbors do and we get quart jars of home-made salsa. I think they use whatever is handy and just cook it down to the proper consistency. If you don't get a more coherent answer about salsa, I'll ask the best salsa makers what tomatoes they use and get back to you.

I may look into celebrity. I'm not very well versed in tomato growing. I just know I'm not going to grow roma tomatoes cause I can't seem to get them to stay alive. No rhyme or reason why from what I can tell. Only thing I can figure is the transplant shock got them. I thought I'd give a different variety a shot. So I'll see if I can get a celebrity.

 

[Chuck]

Celebrity IMO is the best all around tomato there is. Having said that I will say that there are better canning and sauce/paste tomatoes out there. I grow mostly sauce/paste tomatoes because I can only eat so many fresh tomatoes before I get tomatoed out. Paste tomatoes have far fewer seeds and liquids. Their flesh is much thicker than slicers, so when you cook them down it is much quicker and when canning whole tomatoes they stay together better and are firmer.

Unfortunately about the only transplants one can find for paste tomatoes are Romas and sometimes San Marzanos. Both are disease prone and notorious for blossom end rot, are at least they are in south Texas. There are two varieties of paste type tomatoes that do well for me, Amish Paste and Opalka, but you have to grow them from seed.

 

[TexasGardenGirl]

Celebrity IMO is the best all around tomato there is. Having said that I will say that there are better canning and sauce/paste tomatoes out there. I grow mostly sauce/paste tomatoes because I can only eat so many fresh tomatoes before I get tomatoed out. Paste tomatoes have far fewer seeds and liquids. Their flesh is much thicker than slicers, so when you cook them down it is much quicker and when canning whole tomatoes they stay together better and are firmer.

Unfortunately about the only transplants one can find for paste tomatoes are Romas and sometimes San Marzanos. Both are disease prone and notorious for blossom end rot, are at least they are in south Texas. There are two varieties of paste type tomatoes that do well for me, Amish Paste and Opalka.

Hmm I wonder if my roma plants got hit with one of the wilt diseases or if I just have bad luck. I just see soooo many different varieties of tomato that look so yummy. Like Cherokee purple. I noticed when looking at a sliced photo it doesn't seem seedy at all and seems like it's got loads of meaty flesh. I betcha it tastes wonderful as sauce. And I figure if I have a good mill any tomato can be a sauce tomato. Since I'm not huge on "slicing" tomatoes (trying to change this by finding some packed with flavor) I figure I need to find some that are more meaty. Thanks for the input. I appreciate it a lot.

 

[Chuck]

Hmm I wonder if my roma plants got hit with one of the wilt diseases or if I just have bad luck. I just see soooo many different varieties of tomato that look so yummy. Like Cherokee purple. I noticed when looking at a sliced photo it doesn't seem seedy at all and seems like it's got loads of meaty flesh. I betcha it tastes wonderful as sauce. And I figure if I have a good mill any tomato can be a sauce tomato. Since I'm not huge on "slicing" tomatoes (trying to change this by finding some packed with flavor) I figure I need to find some that are more meaty. Thanks for the input. I appreciate it a lot.

Cherokee Purple is my favorite slicer heirloom which means you can save the seeds. Celebrity is a hybrid. There are two drawbacks to CP. As a canner they have a LOT of juice (water) in them and second they have a much shorter shelf life. I have had CP's that were almost 3 lbs. Excellent for salads and slicing. Can't go wrong with them either.

BTW, the absolute worst tasting tomato I have ever had was wonderful.

 

[TexasGardenGirl]

BTW, the absolute worst tasting tomato I have ever had was wonderful.

I'm a bit confused by what you mean here...

 

[Beth_B]

Celebrity or Roma for freezing for sure. I really like the Cherokee purple for slicing and my other favourite slicing tomato is Mr Stripey (green when ripe.) l grow that one every year too; very firm and amazing flavour. Also black/purple cherry tomatoes and the pear shaped yellow ones...they are sweet like candy and l eat them right off the vine as well as using them for cooking.

 

[TexasGardenGirl]

Celebrity or Roma for freezing for sure. I really like the Cherokee purple for slicing and my other favourite slicing tomato is Mr Stripey (green when ripe.) l grow that one every year too; very firm and amazing flavour. Also black/purple cherry tomatoes and the pear shaped yellow ones...they are sweet like candy and l eat them right off the vine as well as using them for cooking.

I like the idea of sweet like candy... I may have to file some of this away for future years.

 

[marlingardener]

The main problem with Romas is blossom end rot (BER). I had two years of Roma failures until I found that putting about two tablespoons of ground up egg shells in the hole when planting took care of my BER problem. Romas, at least for us, are no more disease prone than any other tomato. We've grown them successfully now for four years, and they make great sun dried tomatoes.
If you like a sweet cherry tomato, you might like Sungold. It is an orange (when ripe) large vining tomato with fruit about the size of a quarter. Sungold is very hardy and disease resistant, and produces over a long season, even for us when most tomatoes shut down during the hot months of July and August. A word of warning, Sungold is a very large vine and really needs to be trellised. Last year ours reached about 7', but the vine can be topped to keep it shorter. We planted Sungold one year, and have had volunteers coming up ever since. Saving the seed from a ripe Sungold will give you enough seed to start a tomato farm!

 

[Chuck]

I'm a bit confused by what you mean here...

What I mean is, is that there are no bad tasting tomatoes. Especially when you compare them to what is crammed down our throats at the grocery store. My canned tomatoes taste better than fresh one's from the store.

 

[TexasGardenGirl]

What I mean is, is that there are no bad tasting tomatoes. Especially when you compare them to what is crammed down our throats at the grocery store. My canned tomatoes taste better than fresh one's from the store.

Ah, okay this makes sense now. I have only ever been offered grocery store tomatoes... they taste flavorless and have such a slimey texture. I thought all tomatoes were that way. I had one tomato I liked once and never got the name of it. All I get told is "home grown is better. No one ever gives me one to try, though.

 

[TexasGardenGirl]

The main problem with Romas is blossom end rot (BER). I had two years of Roma failures until I found that putting about two tablespoons of ground up egg shells in the hole when planting took care of my BER problem. Romas, at least for us, are no more disease prone than any other tomato. We've grown them successfully now for four years, and they make great sun dried tomatoes.
If you like a sweet cherry tomato, you might like Sungold. It is an orange (when ripe) large vining tomato with fruit about the size of a quarter. Sungold is very hardy and disease resistant, and produces over a long season, even for us when most tomatoes shut down during the hot months of July and August. A word of warning, Sungold is a very large vine and really needs to be trellised. Last year ours reached about 7', but the vine can be topped to keep it shorter. We planted Sungold one year, and have had volunteers coming up ever since. Saving the seed from a ripe Sungold will give you enough seed to start a tomato farm!

Wow to the sungold! I was gonna see about getting a sungold start but if it gets that huge I definitely don't have room this year for that! I'm thinking next year I'll dedicate the 10x3 bed to tomatoes and put a big trellis up. Man, all this talk of tomatoes makes me wish I'd gone to the farmers market today but I have to wait til payday.