There are no better canning tomatoes than Rutgers. there are a few just as good, Its a lot like taste some do and some don`t. Some ( like me)like them all, Heirlooms that is-----well some hybirds. what I`m trying to say is plant 2 or 3 or 4 varieties and make your on choice. Good luck Bill

Rather than for flavor, one reason why Rutgers was so popular as a canning tomato was simply because it used to be available only as a determinate type and so cropped most all the fruit at the same time over a couple of weeks period. That is handy for canning purposes. But most any determinate variety will do that. ;)

Now days many home canners, including me, find they much prefer the flavor and consistency that a mix of several different varieties provides for canning - either whole, as juice, or for sauce.

So to answer your question, yes there are many varieties that taste as good or better than Rutgers and that can be canned just as easily. If you plan to can just a few jars then even indeterminate varieties can be used. If you want to can 100's of quarts as many of us do then be sure to include several different determinate types in your garden and mix in some of the indeterminates as they get ripe.

Dave

digdirt,

What varieties would you suggest to start with?

Most of the canning discussions on this forum come up with the search term 'sauce' - linked them below if you want to browse through them.

But most of the canning discussions are over on the Harvest Forum here as canning and other methods of food preservation are the focus of that forum.

If you plan to make and can sauce then Opalka, San Marzano, Amish Paste, and many of the other paste and/or plum types are commonly recommended but any variety will work. Adding some beefsteak types gives a better flavor but does require more cooking down. Same goes for making/canning salsa - add some of the orange and yellow varieties for a very appealing salsa.

For juice and canned whole tomatoes or canned stewed tomatoes we use a mix of whatever we planted that year. Rutgers is often included as is Arkansas Traveler, Cherokee Purple, Aunt Gertie's Gold, Brandy Boy, Giant Belgium, and some of the various oxheart varieties. This past year we added NAR, Earl's Faux, Boxcar Willie, Crnkovic Yugoslavian, Supersonic, and many others I can't recall off the top of my head. Even added some of the cherry types like Sun Gold and Black Cherry.

Point is - any tomato cans just as well as most any other and you'll find many "favorite tomato" discussions here. But using a mix of varieties will taste much better come mid-winter than using just one of the plain old every day common varieties. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Sauce discussions