Preserving Tomatoes: A Primer

PASTE TOMATO CULTIVARS

Paste tomatoes, also called “canning tomatoes,” have dense flesh and litt le juice, so they’re the best type for cooking, canning, and drying.

‘Orange Banana.’ Bananashaped, fruity, and sweet, their orange color is rare among paste tomatoes.

‘Amish Paste.’ Bright red, Roma-type tomatoes that originate from an Amish community in Wisconsin. They're considered to be the ulti mate paste tomato.

‘Marti no’s Roma Tomato.’ These tomato plants require litt le staking and are resistant to early blight; plum-shaped fruits are very meaty, suited for sauces, salsas, and pastes.

‘Black from Tula.’ A Russian heirloom that's brownish-red in color, this tomato has a flatt ened-globe shape.

TOMATOES ARE ONE of the first foods that many people try to can, partly because canning them is relatively easy. However, gone are the days when you could simply smash some raw tomatoes into a canning jar, process them in a boiling water bath for a while, and call it done. To can modern tomato cultivars safely in a boiling water bath, you may need to add some acidity. Here’s why.

Over the past several decades, many tomato