Grow these tasty canning tomatoes to make the best sauces, salsas, and juice for preserving.
Tomatoes are at the top of the list when it comes to homegrowngarden produce to preserve.
Choosing thebest tomatoes for canningand freezing will help you make the job easier, and the results tastier.
Credit: Jason Donnelly
Choosing the Best Tomatoes for Canning
There are hundreds of tomato varieties in the marketplace.
Some are excellent sandwich toppers while others are more suited to sauce.
Let your finished product guide your tomato variety selection.
Credit:BHG /Crystal Hughes
Great tomatoes for making sauces are different than the best tomatoes for canning whole ormaking salsa.
Match your finished product with the tomato for the job and youll create a winning recipe.
These oval, palm-size fruit have small seed cavities that results in ample meaty flesh that will become sauce.
Credit:BHG/Niki Cutchall
Small seed cavities also meanfewer seeds to strain out in the preservation process.
After Roma tomatoes ripen,they store longerthan slicing and salad tomatoes.
This is beneficial when large quantities are needed to make sauce and paste.
Tomato sauce and paste is commonly canned or frozen.
It is a low moisture fruit which means most of the tomato will become sauce.
‘Amish Paste’ grows best in cool and moderate climates; it doesnt grow well in southern regions.
An easy-to-peel Roma tomato, ‘Big Mama’ has notable low moisture content and big yields.
Its 10- to 12-ounce meaty fruits make it a great sauce or paste.
It hasexcellent disease resistance, long, blocky fruit, and small seed cavities.
It has very little juice and few seeds.
Its tomatoes are usually 4 to 8 ounces each.
Their high moisture content is essential for juice and a benefit for salsas and whole canned tomatoes.
When choosing tomato varieties for salsa, juicing, or whole canning, flavor is the most important characteristic.
A tomato with poor flavor when eaten fresh will not improve when preserved.
Delicious tomatoes make great salsas, juices, and canned fruit.
Here are 3 excellent varieties to try.
The thick-walled tomatoes stay firm when cooked.
Its agood tomato for growing in potswhen staked.
Use the fruit to make unique salsa and canned tomatoes.
‘Rutgers’:This vigorous variety produces flavorful medium-size fruit that hold up well to canning.
The deep red fruits are uniform in size and are great for slicing and fresh eating too.
Be sure tostake these tall tomato plants.
Frequently Asked Questions
Four tomato plants willyield about 9 pints of tomato sauceor salsa.
Green tomatoes can be canned using the same recipes you use to can fully ripe tomatoes.
Any jot down of tomatocan be canned but some are better for canning than others.
Many extra large beefsteak and slicing tomatoes are not the best choices for canning.
Their tender flesh and high moisture content cause them to disintegrate in the canning process.
