Newbie trying to find varieties

[lee53011]

Hello everyone! Just migrated over here from Gardenweb, or whatever they call it now. I have tried very few tomato varieties so I am looking for some help to narrow down my list. We eat very few large fresh tomatoes, mabe a few dozen a year. I like to can lots of spaghetti sauce, and diced tomatoes. Right now I grow Opalka and Sunsugar cherry tomatoes. I would like more, or better varieties to make sauce, and maybe one or two varieties to eat fresh in salads and BLT sandwiches. I am hoping to grow Robeson, Black Prince, and some type of oxheart, all for sauce? I am guessing pink or yellow tomatoes would make my sauce a weird color? Help!

[Cole_Robbie]

Welcome to the site.

Paul robeson is one of the best varieties I have ever tasted, but I think too juicy for sauce. (I am not a sauce maker so perhaps others will disagree) The one plant I grew made about 3 tomatoes. There is a dwarf variety called tasmanian chocolate that has done better for me, virtually identical flavor.

There are many high yielding oxhearts that originate from russia and former soviet states. I am sure there are a lot to be found in seed swaps with the other members here. I got all my best varieties from my tomato site friends.

[Whwoz]

Welcome to the Junction from down under first.

For sauce pink tomatoes will give you the same color you get from red - the difference is in the skin, not the flesh. Yellow tomatoes give you a yellow sauce, shade of yellow/orange depends upon variety of tomato grown. For some people sauces that are not red can be difficult to get their heads around to accepting, personal preference comes into it.

You want to look for fairly dry fleshy tomatoes for sauce to cut down on the cooking time mainly. Flavour varies with an individuals likes/dislikes and if you want to grow just one variety for sauce rather than a mix, it may take a few years to select what you like. Look for some of the Italian ones that have been grown for sauce for hundreds of years - the Costulotos, there are a number of different varieties and strains, the large pear shaped tomatoes that weigh around 8 to 10 Oz and yes hearts, although some regard them as too moist. Do not necessarily expect the best sauce tomatoes to be the best tasting raw, cooking alters flavours and what is good raw may not be as good cooked and vice-versa.

[Shule]

Welcome, [mention]lee53011[/mention]!

I wrote the following paragraph before I saw Whwoz's post (but I don't skin my sauce tomatoes, and I only agree about the absence of pink flesh for some kinds of pinks; many tomatoes are pink all the way through for me, but pictures I see of the same varieties online often don't look as pink: e.g. German Pink; they looked about like this Burpee Picture of Caspian Pink, but not as juicy, and probably a lighter shade):

Pink tomatoes will make your sauce pinker (think dark pink), but it's not much different than regular red sauce if red tomatoes are in the mix, too. Yellow tomatoes will make a yellow sauce, but if you mix red tomatoes in, the sauce will either be red, orange, or orange-ish red, depending on the proportions.

Black tomatoes like Paul Robeson and Black Prince will make your sauce browner.

Paul Robeson is quite tasty. I never tried it cooked, but I imagine it would contribute well to a sauce, flavor-wise. I agree Cole_Robbie about its juiciness.

How concerned are you about production vs. earliness vs. flavor?

How concerned are you about juiciness vs. meatiness?

What all is on your list, besides your sauce tomatoes?

How many plants do you plan to grow? How long is your season? Are you in Wisconsin?

Matina's a great salad tomato. Same for Mountain Princess, Manitoba, New Yorker V, and Early Girl F1. Sasha's Altai is decent, too.

See this thread about sauce:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1705

I wonder how Thessaloniki would do as a slicer/dicer in your area.

[lee53011]

I am not that concerned about earliness, most go in the freezers until late fall when I don't mind heating up the house to can. Yes I am in Wisconsin. I plan on growing about 20 indeterminates and maybe 5 or 6 determinates, not counting cherry tomatoes. Prefer meatier and good production, but also good taste, if that is possible. MissS has sponsored me for which I am grateful! I hear great things about Robeson so that's number 1. Then Trip L Crop, Black Prince, Italian Heirloom, Russian 117, Amish Paste, Pink Oxheart, Supersauce, Cherokee Purple, and Black Krim. Anna Russian also looks good. Some are just because I have heard of them for years and never tried them, and some were recommended. I love eating Italian cooking, so would like to grow as many tomatoes as I can use in a year for sauce, and canning. Our season is from about May 10th to October 10th.

[Shule]

[mention]lee53011[/mention]
That's the same date range I say for my season, down to the day.

[lee53011]

Shule, I see in another post that Sheboygan is one of your favorites. I grew up in Sheboygan, and now live only 15 miles away. And I have never seen that variety in any of the local greenhouses!

[Shule]

Shule, I see in another post that Sheboygan is one of your favorites. I grew up in Sheboygan, and now live only 15 miles away. And I have never seen that variety in any of the local greenhouses!

Huh. Interesting. I like Sheboygan for fresh-eating, as it has very good (but mild) flavor, but it's not a good winter storage tomato (because it's bland if ripened indoors). It's pretty soft, and I'm not sure what the sauce and the flavor of the sauce would be like. It's a big, pink, pepper-shaped paste (it's not dry like Gilbertie, though). It can be prolific (but like most tomatoes, the soil does seem to matter there). The flavor is similar to Polish Linguisa's, if you've tried that.

Napoli and Sausage are my favorite pastes, but they're not favorites for flavor. Sausage's flavor is pretty decent, though, but it doesn't really seem like a sauce tomato texture-wise. I like both their production and consistent fruit quality. Napoli is very compact, and Sausage is very not-compact (but it has much bigger fruit). Napoli has very thick walls, which should be great for sauce, too.

Pakenham Pear is similar to Sausage, except with a more paste-like texture, and maybe a somewhat later maturity.

[rossomendblot]

Black Prince was just OK for me. Decent production but not a particularly interesting taste profile for a black tomato.

[lee53011]

Any thoughts on Cow's Tit?

[Nan6b]

I will recommend Stump of the World. It's a large pink beefsteak. Let me tell you the wonders of it:

This year we had late frosts and drought and I forgot to fertilize the plants and my garden only gets 5-7 hours of sun. Stump was vigorous, producing CLUSTERS of LARGE BEEFSTEAKS despite all that abuse. Nothing did well except Stump, which really churned out the tomatoes.

The taste was great, even with the adverse conditions. And then at the end of the season we fried them green. OOOOHHHH!!!!!! Best. Fried. Greens. Ever.

I had fungus gnats in my basement and septoria in the garden. Nothing fazed this plant. Just awesome.

If any tomato is "too juicy" for cooking down, take it from the freezer, thaw in microwave, and put into a colander so the clear juice can drain off before milling and cooking. I also cook down the clear juice to add some of it as flavor to the sauce, if needed, or put in anything that needs a little kick of flavor. While I don't cook the tomatoes for hardly any time at all, I let the clear juice simmer until about half of it is gone.

Nan

[lee53011]

Nan6b, I normally freeze most of my tomatoes. So much easier to get the skins off and get rid of the water. Really cuts down on the cooking down time! I will have to try Stump of the World.

[Tormahto]

Captain's got his eye on this thread. Whatever varieties mentioned, if I have, will be sent. Whatever varieties not mentioned, will be sent.

[lee53011]

Tormato, thank you!

[zeuspaul]

I don't grow tomatoes for sauce. The best ones for me are the ones I have in surplus. I prefer the larger productive ones because the smaller they are the more picking and handling I have to do. Medium have some advantages because I don't have to slice them before dropping them down the throat of my tomato mill. Just rinse and mill.

Water content is a non issue since now I reduce in the oven over night. Just put the sauce in a stainless steel baking pan and bake over night. No need to stir and the sauce is ready in the morning and it tastes great.

I was very happy with the sauce using about 50% Carbon this year. I will probably plant more of them this coming year. Of all the tomatoes I grew this year those were the ones that disappeared first from the counter. My better half knows nothing about various tomatoes so she has no bias. Nice size and few blemishes or splits. She just asks for more of those purple ones even though the counter is still full of tomatoes.

I too started at Garden Web many years ago. Welcome to The Junction.

[lee53011]

I had heard Carbon was a good one. Have not tried it yet.

[lee53011]

What would be your must grow determinate tomato. Not really interested in cherry or micro, just full size tomatoes. I have a few 5 gallon buckets, as well as a few 25 gallon grow bags that I will be putting tomatoes in this year. How is Black Sea Man?

[MissS]

You ought to check out some of the Dwarf tomatoes. The plants usually stay about 5' or less and have full sized tomatoes. They were developed for home growers to grow in pots on patios and decks.

I prefer Paul Robeson over Black Sea Man but it can be finnicky.

[lee53011]

Have you tried Dwarf Beauty King? It looks awesome, not sure on the taste etc.

[Nan6b]

I liked Heinz 1439 for a determinate. Perfect round smooth reds, 2-3". I think I got a 4-6 week harvest, plus a second flush later on. Taste was good.