Hello all! The planting season is fast approaching for us Mid Westerners...and as I do every year I am planning to can tomatos! Can anyone tell me what variety of tomato is best for canning? I would love to find a tomato that is not so seedy as my father has Diverticulitous and is supposed to stay away from any kind of seeds!!! I plan on making him some homemade tomato juice....but he loves homemade canned tomatos to cook with so I am just wondering if there is a variety out there that does not have so many darn seeds!!! Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!!!

-- Kathy (Philli@Peoplepc.com), March 15, 2002

Answers

Try roma type. They have less seeds and more "meat". Great for salsa, sauce, stewed , or chili and such. jack

-- Jack C (injack1@aol.com), March 15, 2002.

Kathy,

I agree with Jack that paste type tomatoes, such as Roma, Amish Paste, ect. usually have fewer seeds. In fact they're bred to be that way.

If your father doesn't mind using tomatoes that have been cut in half, it's very quick and easy to seed any type of tomato. Just cut the tomato in half horizontally and squeeze the seeds out into a bowl. We always seed our tomatoes. No particular reason, just habit. It actually goes very quickly if you cut a bunch first and then squeexe the seeds out of all the cut ones. Much faster than cutting and then removing the seeds one tomato at a time. Another benefit to seeding them is that you can use any variety you want.

-- Murray in ME (lkdmfarm@megalink.net), March 15, 2002.

I vote for Roma .I like them best for paste and soup.For whole tomatoes I like beef steak. Country Friend Jack Bunyard

-- Jack Bunyard (bunyaed@cnz.com), March 15, 2002.

Roma gets my vote too. We make salsa, tomato juice and freeze a lot of them for cooking or stewing. Also they are quite easy to grow and we have not had a problem with diseases with them.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), March 16, 2002.

only ever canned Roma....

-- Oscar H. Will III (owill@mail.whittier.edu), March 16, 2002.

I use Better Boy. Very good dual purpose tomato. A nice slicer but meaty enough for cooking. For me a food mill is indespensible (sure wish we had a spell checker). Skins and seeds tomatoes in one step.

-- Diana in FL (dvance4@juno.com), March 16, 2002.

ripe ones

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 16, 2002.

I grew and canned a variety of paste tomato called Italia, I liked it. I've canned Amish paste also.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), March 16, 2002.

I like the Roma variety for more meat at preserving. My mother just says its the Sicilian heritage from her side that makes me like em (boy thats strong heritage, she adopted me :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002.

Kathy, Roma's are great. Morton and rutger are also excellent varieties. You may want to try Ox Heart, they are huge, very meaty and have the fewest seeds I've ever seen in a tomato. You would want to plant a few more then usual because they are not heavy producers but worth the effort.

-- JJ Grandits (JJG@aol.com), March 16, 2002.

We have always started our tomato seeds early and moved them outside into a cold frame. We've always grown Romas for canning. This year we ordered Roma seeds from Harris and were amazed to find that they originated in China. We planted about 8 different kinds of tomato seeds, and these Romas were the only ones that didn't sprout. Just goes to prove that we should BUY AMERICAN!!!!

-- chickadee (chickadee@treetops.com), March 16, 2002.

I like amish paste for canning because they are so big that it takes less to can.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), March 16, 2002.

Hello Kathy,

We can Goliaths (beefsteak type) for canning as they are easier to peel and usally just a couple will fill a jar. If you are making tomato sauce I would suggest Romas as I believe they have the best flavor for that sort of thing.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

I have used Olpalka for the past two years and love them. They are a paste tomato that tastes GOOD! Slightly sweet and acidy and they make great sauce or diced canned tomato. They are so good you can also use them for sandwiches. They also have fewer seeds. You can get them from Tomato Growers Supply. They are OP too, so you can save seed.

-- Lynelle SOwestVA (X2ldp@aol.com), March 16, 2002.

I like romas too but haven't tried the amish paste yet. The other reason I like romas is that they all ripen at the same time, or a lot ripen all at once anyway. When I want to can, I want to do big full loads and get the kitchen mess over with (or just on to the next type of vegetable)

-- Terri in NS (terri@tallships.ca), March 17, 2002.