there many hidden gems at Tatiana Tomatobase
Auria, Sabelka, Gallo plum and Petrovich are very dry. Auria and Sabelka almost have not seeds. Shedra Slivka Tarasenka has very thick gel.
Purple Russian a bit on juicy side but excellent in taste and makes great addition to sauces.
VB Russia is one of most productive plum tomatoes, as well as Khirkiv and L'espagnol Lefebvres
Heidi has been around and well liked I hear.
Keep in mind that heart shaped tomatoes are often not juicy and have few seeds with outstanding taste.

Here is a link that might be useful: paste

Agree with the hearts rather than pastes. If you pull up all the previous discussions here about "sauce" you'll find numerous recommendations in those discussions. But one need not limit themselves to just the paste types for making sauces and pizza toppings.

Search 'brokenbar' here for a great list of the best varieties for drying.

Dave

Thanks for the links.

I don't have much experience with the heart types but was looking at them. I already have a fairly good idea of what I think does best in the NE and for the purpose at hand. Most of my tomatoes will be San Marzano Redorta because I am so familiar with it and besides my dog would kill me if I didn't grow it ;) (She devours them by the bucketful). The Redorta version is much drier than the regular San Marzano both taste much better than say Roma VF. I agree though complexity. It's like painting you want to achieve depth. I'm going to still wind up with quite the variety. Not so sure about purple tomatoes or even any large tomatoes(especially the soft shelled/ribbed types). We got lucky this year with the weather being dry. We sometimes have complete washouts in August. I wont grow any large thin skinned tomatoes.

I ordered

Amish Paste
Aunt Lucy's Italian Paste
Italian Heirloom
Jersey Devil Heirloom
Reif Red Heart
Rosalie's Paste

And 3 variety of San Marzano(2 out of 3 I've used for years).
The ones above I've never grown before. They're only the beginning though.

Oh btw WOW Tatiana has tomatoes up the wazoo. This make take some time.

From Tatiana I ordered:

Auria
Sebelka
Perito Italian
Petrovich
Shedra Sliva Tarasenka
Mayo's Delight
Italian Plum
Gallo Plum

Think I might have enough to play around with! Really queer Italian names there ;). Like the fact Tatiana's website has a lot of sliced shots. The site is a little Atari'ish though. She definitely has variety and thank you for that. I already but almost exclusively from seed savers.

I looked up the recommendation for drying and one is very high on his list and has always been high on mine, the San Marzano Redorta. I also use that tomato in other ways. There was another high on one of his lists I will try out Amish Paste.

I've added quite a few tomatoes to experiment with. Lot of variety to create complexity. Lot of hearts lot of pastes. Lot of room for combination.

I just better be on the ball when it comes to labeling the seed trays.

Look to Tatiana's Tomatobase and check out "Ukrainka".

I grew it last year and it is most likely what you are looking for. It has the taste and size to be used on sandwiches, and the "roma" insides that will satisfy your drying and your various sauce needs. It also puts on a heavy load of fruit.

It really is special.

Ted

Thanks Ted,

I've already ordered though and I might shy away from that one based upon the picture alone. She should really reconsider a new picture. I know tomatoes aren't perfect but...There's also a limit to how much I can grow because I want to have more than just a couple of plants so I can get a better indication. 17 varieties in a backyard suburban backyard? That's a lot.

Ted, hopefully I will be growing Ukrainka next year, I have plans for quite an increase in my paste- plum varieties and seeing which ones do better for me.
Although I think it is important to remember that good varieties for drying often have poor taste for eating... this is why I have such love for heart shaped tomatoes which are nearly universal in use. I have dried quite a bit of tomatoes this past summer using brokenbar recipe.
Williammorgan, I see you got another one of my favs, Mayo delight! I loved it this summer, was very vigorous and quite early for me, def a must grow.
San Marzano is not a reliable performer here and I think it is local thing. My friend also has poor results from SM here, his son, still in IL just few hours away grows SM and gets beautiful yields... go figure

WilliamMorgan, you must have spent a lot of time looking at the photoshopped pictures at most of the websites one can visit out here on the web. There are eight different pictures on Tatiana's site. The one that shows a mature fruit with good color blush is still on the vine and will continue to darken to a perfect red.

I recommended this tomato because I grew it last season and it "TASTED WONDERFULLY GOOD". It also dries well and makes excellent tomato juice (you don't have to reduce the juice so much to get a good thick product to put into canning jars.

Anyhow, have a good day and a good next season.

Ted

As I gather the elongated tomatoes often referred to as "HEART". But I think not all of them are heart shaped. Roma, San Marzano and few others are not that shape. But it seems that elongated tomatoes are meatier. I have only planted Roma and San Marzano in the past. I gave up on them partly because of BER problem and partly because I am not a big time canner. I make some sauce with what ever is left over after fresh daily use.
What I do (after removing skin and seeds) is just mash them in the pot real good and sieve the juice (for drinking, making soup). Then I have already reduced the volume by 1/2 ; more meat, less juice.Then I proceed with canning sauce.

Seysonn

Ted I am aware of photoshopped or airbrushed photos over the years. It's just on that one the plant had several problems and I was more critiquing her choice for a featured picture. I did point out I appreciated how she showed many sliced shots.

I was feeling adventurous on that day. I picked out some on my own and took Linda's advice on some others. It went very fast. Tatiana sent me an extra pack too (Grushovka). I think I've got enough for one year.

I don't know Linda. I grow mostly the Redorta version of the San Marzano and like how it does. I like to cheat on mother nature too. She'll probably seek a divorce next spring if I get my way(have plenty of resources for greenhouse framing and plastic(sunmaster). Last year my Redorta's only grew maybe 4 feet tall but i let them get bushy. It was a new garden bed and I got a late start. The year before the bed was 1 years old and I put a hoophouse over it. It was a rebuild that got a little shorter. Center peak was maybe 8-10 feet. As much as I think that is too short those tomatoes loved it. I think I set them out early April to harden them off. I used weed cloth before setting them in the ground. It was probably mid April when they went in. They got a cup of slow release and Alaska fish fertilizer(which Sarah Palin can smell from her house lol)until they were vegged out enough. Not really enough room above. Plants were probably 12-13 feet tall. Many varieties besides Redortas. I just found they loved that heat so much. Last year I used Jobes Heirloom fertilizer on tomatoes and peppers and had a lot of production. Best way to veg the plants out is with heat. The thing I would change is I'd want all the sides to be 8 feet tall so I could roll up the plastic that far and get more of that Summer Breeze Seal & Crofts sung about ;).

Some tomatoes Seysonn are very dry and certainly much drier than Roma VF for example. Why San Marzano Redorta is much drier than regular San Marzano but I think San Marzano is drier than Roma. Some of those other ones Linda and Ted mentioned are just all little hunks of meat. Redortas are huge though so that's something to consider. I sometimes just split em, and toast them with cheese. Toasting burns off a good amount of their juice.

Sandhill has Piennolo del Vesuvio. Look it up on google and watch the videos.

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/tomato.html