Canner Tomatoes?

[DayLilyDude]

Those of you that can alot of tomatoes, which one works the best for you?

[Rita]

I really Like the Amish Paste for canning they are like 3x the size of romas and have little seeds

[coppice]

Probably one of the semi-determinate ones when I lived up on the tundra. Oh like Rutgers, Mobil, traveler.

Any of the more vigorous interminates will do if you have the trellis for them. Any of the cow horn shaped pastes Oplaka (or so I'm told), Cows Tit, Gilbertie.

The downside for canning with indeterminate tomatoes is that can get to be a LOT of trellis. Most tomato cages are inadaquate to indy needs.

[Pharmer Phil]

that's the truth about cages, so, I built our's and they are 6 ft. tall, a few 5 foot tall...Ya know what...still too short...
We like the Amish paste for canning too

[strongtower9]

Do yall dry any tomatoes? I was going to dry some this year, and going to do the Romas..maybe check into the Amish paste.

[Rita]

Jan 5, 2011 14:05:10 GMT -6 strongtower9 said:

Do yall dry any tomatoes? I was going to dry some this year, and going to do the Romas..maybe check into the Amish paste.

I have yet to dry any but I would like to maybe this year .. IF I remember I was going to this year and forgot

[coppice]

I have yet to dry any but I would like to maybe this year .. IF I remember I was going to this year and forgot

A possible trial for them are growing towards self sufficiency might be one of the storage tomatoes like Piennolo Cherry, aka winter grape. This was picked plant and all in Sicilly and hung to cure under cover.

[bluelacedredhead]

I dried some in 2009 for a neighbour but I'm not sure what variety they were? Celebrity maybe? They were his tomatoes. They used them on pizza. Said they were awfully good.

Canners..I grew Jersey Giant this past summer. Really liked them. Few seeds, lotsa meat. But it didn't can them. I froze a few, and they stood up to freezing well. They are on the list for many more plants this year.

[Pharmer Phil]

Never tried the Jersey Giant, sounds great
for drying, an old Italian variety "Principe Borghese" is great for drying, the story is that they would throw the plants on their roof tops to dry them in the sun

[bluelacedredhead]

That would be a good idea on a steel roof perhaps, but I wouldn't recommend it with asphalt. You might run the risk of leaching arsenic into your food.

Easier just to slice 'em up and put them in a warm oven overnight or pop them in the dehydrator.

[colorado]

Phil, they also hang over te fence to dry. I did dry them and I had watered a bit too much and were juicy so split them and dipped out seed and dried.

[Pharmer Phil]

Jan 6, 2011 7:57:24 GMT -6 bluelacedredhead said:

That would be a good idea on a steel roof perhaps, but I wouldn't recommend it with asphalt. You might run the risk of leaching arsenic into your food.

Easier just to slice 'em up and put them in a warm oven overnight or pop them in the dehydrator.

I agree, I think tin or slate roofs are more common over there..
I do know that I wouldn't throw them on my shingled roof...and should have said that in me post.....

We do use the dehydrator, and I have in the past used the oven...

How is the best way to store them after drying then? I see them dried in the store, but I also have seen them dried, and packed in oil...
we only did a few, and they went quick so no storage was needed

[bluelacedredhead]

I store my dried fruits and veggies in canning jars or storage containers (1/2 gallon honey jars or pickle jars; sometimes tupperware) with tight fitting lids.

[strongtower9]

Hummm, coulda just throwed them on the roof stead of laying out all that money on the dehydrator !!

I always can tomatoes, but thinking to dry this year, see how they do..they pretty in the picture.

[strongtower9]

o yeah, Dried lots of fruit and some onions last year. Stored in jars, and zip lock bags, (depending). Main thang was to keep it in the dark.