Best Paste/Sauce tomato?

[ChefBertMor]

I really need to get in gear. I'm looking for recommendations on the best paste/sauce tomato that you have grown. Hopefully they will thrive in SoFl (zone 10?) and have superior flavor. We get plum or Roma's at the restaurant and I want something that has real flavor.

What say you?

[BigVanVader]

I've found that heirlooms make the best sauces. I tried many paste tomatoes over the years and keep coming back to my favorite eating tomatoes for the best tasting sauce and salsa. A good one is Wes. Few seeds and balanced flavor, but using one type of tomato for processing taste inferior to me compared to mixing all types.

[BigVanVader]

I wanted to add that when using beefsteak tomatoes for processing, halving then squeezing the seeds and juice out prior to running them through a foodmill saves tons of time and you can then save all your seeds. 2 birds 1 stone. I also like to do that then roast them in the oven on broil for 10 mins or so. The skin comes right off and your tomatoes will be much dryer which also saves time.

[PS1452]

I've yet to find a paste tomato with great flavor, but I still usually find room for a couple of plants. The best for me has been Hungarian Italian, great production and the least blossom end rot of any I've ever tried.

This year I'm trying Wes and Kosovo for the first time, hoping that they'll eventually be replacements for the paste, with the added bonus of being something that I'll actually want to eat fresh (unlike most pastes).

[Cole_Robbie]

Fred has an orange paste that I thought was very good. Yield was tremendous:
https://store.growartisan.com/produc...caprese-tomato

I grew a green plum variety two years ago called Prune Verte. I didn't really care for them fresh, but I got the impression they would make an interesting green sauce.

A few years ago, I grew a hybrid paste called Pompeii. I thought it was an heirloom when I bought the seed, but it's a hybrid. It did well for me, hardly any BER and good flavor.

[carolyn137]

I've grown many paste/sauce tomatoes in the past but a couple of decades or so switched to using almost entirely heart shaped varieties of the heirloom type since most have much better flavor and few seeds.And many others have done the same thing.

Another negative for the common roma type paste ones is that they are very susceptible to BER (blossom end rot) as well as Early Blight(Alternaria solani).

Of the paste tomatoes that I think DO have good taste they would include and not in any order and only listing a few

Heidi
Opalka
Martino's Roma
Sarnowski Polish Plum
Mama Leone
Jersey Devil
Ludmillla's RedPlum
Casino
Kiev
Tony's Italian
Albenga
Liguria
Kukla's Portuguese Paste

If you need a place to go to find descriptions,comments,seed sources, etc., please go to Tania's superb data base if you don't already know about it.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...itage_Tomatoes

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Another negative for the common roma type paste ones is that they are very susceptible to BER

Carolyn, I have a theory that it is the oblong shape of the fruit that make pastes get BER, more so than just being pastes. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that idea? Oblong cherries get BER just as bad for me as any roma variety, yet the cherries have a much higher water content. They have nothing in common at all with a roma, except for the shape.

I think the shape of a variety's fruit is the most predictive trait regarding BER. To further advance that theory, I don't think I have ever had a heart-shaped variety get BER. That shape resists it the most.

So that's my theory. I seem to keep testing it every year, by somehow managing to let my soil dry out too much, even though I'm not trying to do so. I have mostly given up on growing anything that isn't round or heart-shaped.

[ChefBertMor]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I've grown many paste/sauce tomatoes in the past but a couple of decades or so switched to using almost entirely heart shaped varieties of the heirloom type since most have much better flavor and few seeds.And many others have done the same thing.

Carolyn

Well, that answers another question I've always wanted answered, "Why the big interest in heart shaped tomatoes?" Few seeds and flavor. But do hearts have a firm flesh like the Roma style? I've found many beefsteak varieties are just too juicy and not firm enough to hold up to making sauce. They require more cooking that affects their flavor.

Thanks for feedback.I think Im going to try a heart shaped tomato for sauce and salsa and see what results I get

[Gardeneer]

I think making "paste" is something of way past. Most canners nowadays just make sauce. And to make sauce, you can make them from any and all good tasting heirloom/op tomatoes. Most so-called paste tomatoes that I know of (Roma, San Marzano ) do not have great taste.
I make sauce for canning from a mix of everything that I grow. Then I am not a big time canner/jarrer. IMO

[rhines81]

Most any good tasting tomato will do. I grow a few San Marzano plants each year, but they haven't been as productive as I like, so they are always largely supplemented with the many leftover non-paste tomatoes I have. If making sauce, I quarter all the tomatoes and let them sit in a large colander for about 30 minutes to drain, then run them through my mill to extract the seeds and skin. If making juice, I quarter and process immediately and reprocess the scrap again to extract even more juice.

[KarenO]

I think there are some really good determinate hybrid Plum shaped sauce tomatoes available if you want a big crop all at once for canning/ cooking. Viva Italia is one. The OP Roma VF is also well known and commonly available in garden centres in my area. If you want indeterminate OP, there are lots of European origin. I have not had issues with BER beyond a couple of the earliest fruits on paste types In my garden so feed them well and water consistently to avoid that problem for the most part.
Tomatoes bred for cooking need cooking to bring out the flavour and are not that great fresh so if you want a plant that is good for both I also grow heart varieties although the strong traditional tomato taste can be lacking depending on the variety. I like to use black tomatoes in my sauce as well, they add a richness and a darker colour.
Enjoy your garden whatever you choose!
KarenO

[gssgarden]

Shannon's

Ive grown it for many many years and find it to be my favorite. Meaty, little seeds, and full of flavor of course. I've made sauce from strictly Shannon's seeds and the flavor was intense.
PM me if you'd like seeds. Look around here for pics and descriptions.

Greg

[Fusion_power]

I think the shape of a variety's fruit is the most predictive trait regarding BER. To further advance that theory, I don't think I have ever had a heart-shaped variety get BER. That shape resists it the most.

The most predictive trait for BER is flesh density and how little water is in the fruit. Look at most slicing tomatoes such as Eva Purple Ball and their density is less than the density of most heart shaped tomatoes and the hearts are less dense than most paste tomatoes. I agree that elongated fruit is more susceptible, probably a result of the "el" gene Most non-elongated tomatoes get BER, especially if they are "dense, meaty" tomatoes. Density of flesh is still the most predictive trait.

I'll add one tomato to the list that is not discussed above. Costoluto Genovese is a very dense flattened tomato that makes superb paste and sauce. The flavor is incredibly intense. The only caveat to this recommendation is that it is not a sweet tomato. If you prefer sweet sauce, grow a few sweeter tomatoes to mix with the Costoluto Genovese or add some sugar/honey.

[k3vin]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

I agree that elongated fruit is more susceptible, probably a result of the "el" gene Most non-elongated tomatoes get BER, especially if they are "dense, meaty" tomatoes. Density of flesh is still the most predictive trait.

Does anyone have experience with calcium nitrate fertilizer? BER is associated with Calcium deficency. A Perdue extension specialist says that regular ammonium nitrate fertilizers inhibit calcium absorbtion. The recommendation is to start early and do a monthly feeding of Calcium nitrate fertilizer. This is also supposed to decrease blossom drop and encourage fruit set. Soil pH can also be amended with lime or gypsum to improve calcium uptake. What commercial product(s) have Calcium nitrate?

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by k3vin

Does anyone have experience with calcium nitrate fertilizer? BER is associated with Calcium deficency. A Perdue extension specialist says that regular ammonium nitrate fertilizers inhibit calcium absorbtion. The recommendation is to start early and do a monthly feeding of Calcium nitrate fertilizer. This is also supposed to decrease blossom drop and encourage fruit set. Soil pH can also be amended with lime or gypsum to improve calcium uptake. What commercial product(s) have Calcium nitrate?

I think I read in some other thread that Tomato-Tone has Calcium. Maybe someone else can confirm you that.