I bought a small package of these, how well do they do and do they can well?

Roxanne,

Have you tried growing out Big Mama F2 seeds saved from your previous season?
If you've got the space, you might find plants that replicate.
I have a few F1 Big Mama seeds and some F2, but I never grew out the F2.

Have you tried Polish Linguisa? It's open pollinated and about as big.
Same shape, etc. Great flavor.

Have you tried Romeo from Peters Seed Research? I get 1 - 2 pound elongated paste tomatoes from that variety
... and it's open pollinated and comes true each year.
Bonus with Romeo is that it's meatier than either Big Mama or Polish Linguisa.

28 ounce Romeo is on the left grown early in the season:

These two Romeo tomatoes are more typical of the variety (3/4 and 1 pound) during the middle of the season:

Romeo is much meatier than Big Mama and nearly seedless.
But the seeds you get are viable and stable to type.

Bill

How is the flavor? I am planning on growing Opalka because I have been told about it's great flavor, but I am very concerned about it being succeptible to early blight.

Well if you Google them you'll find several seed suppliers - Reimers, Cooks Garden, Burpee, eBay, Petes' Herbs, etc. But I agree with hoosier - there are better ones.

I am planning on growing Opalka because I have been told about it's great flavor, but I am very concerned about it being succeptible to early blight.

ohiogrower - any tomato is susceptible to early blight. Opalka no more so than any other. Cause is fungus Alternaria solani and it is soil, seed, wind, water, etc. borne. But it can be prevented with a good antifungal spray program from day one if it is a chronic problem for you.

Dave

Roxanne & Bill, I am up to F4 of Big Mamas. They grow true every year. Opalka is the only other plum tomato that I grow, thanks to Bill for starting me on those.
John A

John this is my first year of big momma, how is the taste? We are growing one indoors as sort of a science project. Thanks
Larry

Link to our project

Here is a link that might be useful: Inovative tomato grow

Opalka is the tastiest "paste" tomato I've ever grown. But I didn't mention it above because I never used it as a paste tomato ... ate them all fresh in salsas or on salads, if they even made it all the way inside.

The original poster was asking about extra large paste tomatoes (Big Mama), and that's why I mentioned Polish Linguisa and Romeo ... as they are the largest two paste types I've grown so far.

Bill, who is kicking himself in his butt for not growing the Big Mama F2 seeds John sent me back in 2006!

I was very disappointed with the flavor of the Big Mama tomato. I also found it to have a high BER rate, moreso than other romas that I've grown. I threw away more tomatoes than I ever kept on that plant. It is definitely on my Never Again list.

Well, if that doesn't beat all. I've never had a single BER fruit on a pointed paste tomato.

I was incorrect about having F4 Big Mamas. I thought I had saved some seed from my F3's last summer, but when I went to look for them they weren't there.
John A

Those in the commercial nursery business can order the Big Mama seeds at a reduced wholesale price from the 2010 Ivy Garth Seed catalog under the original name of 'Amish Paste'. 250 seeds at 3.95 or 1,000 seeds at $12.00
Michael-Pecan Hill Nursery

Here is a link that might be useful: Pecan Hill Nursery-Brookshire, Texas

I grow the Amish Paste every year but I don't think that they are the same as the Big Momma because they are small.