Tomato Tasting -- compare and share

[applestar]

For comparison, here is what I wrote about White Beauty from last year --

Rampant TRM too is taking its toll. But out of the varieties that did grow well, White Beauty is looking the most like […] in size and shape as well as the ivory white color. No pink blush, though, or so I thought. But one of the two I cut open had this tiny blush.



Both with and without blush tasted really great. But the one without the blush surprisingly was the one with more flavor. I was really expecting the bland tasteless often found in white and yellow flesh, but the front end started out salty and rich, then sweet, with lingering tang and acid. The pink blushed one which I expected to be sweeter was in fact less flavor at front end, then a teensy bit sweeter, and then tang but no acid.

[Lindsaylew82]

We tried White Pink Stripe and White Queen this year.

WPS, and a very noticeable blush at the bottom, and entire midportion of the interior was peach colored. Very pretty. They had pretty good flavor. Low-ER acid. They were mealy though. All of them. It was a very heavy producer, and disease resistant until blight hit.

White queen only gave us 4 tomatoes. Fickle plant, but slightly better flavor. Very little blush, but it had that silky texture I like in a tomato. Not worth it.... Was definitely more acidic. That is likely why I felt it had better flavor.

[KitchenGardener]

Are there conditions that may cause mealiness, like certain weather conditions, or do you attribute it to the variety? I ask because I've not grown mortgage lifter before, and some of the tomatoes have been mealy; I've grown tomatoes for years and this is the first time I've encountered it (okay, well sometimes at the very end of the season, say November-ish, when any self-respecting tomato plant would not still even be growing). So I'm wondering, since we've had extremely abnormally low temps this Summer, whether that could be the cause? Just ruminating here on your thread, lol...

[applestar]

Hmm I don't know for sure, but I usually grow "several" ( ) varieties at a time, so if others are not mealy but one variety is producing mealy fruits, I would attribute it to that particular variety. Remember, too, that sometimes saved seeds don't grow true because of accidental bee crossing, so if only one plant is growing mealy fruits, don't blame on the variety especially if it has a good review/reputation.

I have only encountered mealy fruits on lesser well known and/or new release varieties, or in grocery store hybrids... never highly rated heirlooms.

[Lindsaylew82]

The rest of the tomatoes were not mealy, just these. We had a particularly arid season, so in not sure that I would attribute this mealiness to outside influences. It was planted in an "optimum" spot in the garden that is particularly fertile. I did save seed, and plan on growing them again next year, because they were pretty tasty, and very productive. So we will see if it's a seasonal thing, or a trait that will persist. I'd be happy to share seeds also, if any else would like to experiment!!!

[applestar]

Oh! OH! MEEEEE!!!!

[Lindsaylew82]

Yes ma'am!

[pepperhead212]

I did a taste test on a bunch of my tomatoes on 8-11 with a friend. Many had stopped producing by then, due to the heat, and by now most have been killed by it, but that's when I had the most ripe at once to do a side by side taste test.

The Big Beef and Amish Gold Slicer won out again - he liked the Big Beef better, and I leaned toward the Amish Gold, I think because the only Big Beef one that I knew was a BB (I had a number of earlier picked tomatoes, that I didn't really know what they were), was slightly under-ripe. If it had been dead ripe, I probably would have liked that better.


Next was the Black Beauty. This has a very well balanced tomato flavor, with skin that's not overly thick, yet only some minor splits (the worst because I dropped one!). The flavor reminded me of the Gary O'Sena I grew before, as it was delicious, but milder than the best of the year - after I would sample green zebra that year, the Gary O'Sena tasted mild, as these did after the big beef. The plant is barely hanging on, with some new blossoms, now that it has gotten a little cooler out, but I doubt that I will have many ripen before frost.


The Chestnut Chocolate was very mild - not bad, but not much flavor. And not much production. And both of us noticed the thick skin, which really sounded loud when we chewed it!


The Lucid Gem was productive, though almost like a determinate. 10 ripened almost simultaneously, with 8 more semi-ripe. Unfortunately, the flavor is lacking, not just mild, but an off flavor - we both thought this immediately. So I thought that maybe it was a bad tomato, and went and got one that looked the ripest, and it was pretty much the same. Maybe I'll make some salsa with them - strong flavors might cover up the off flavor, and I hate to waste them! I had high hopes for them, as the color of it looks like that Beauty King I grew last year, but with black shoulders, and that one had the best flavor (I didn't grow it again because of the very large core in them, that I had to cut out).


Others that we sampled were the Sweet Carneros Pink, which was up there with the Black Beauty in flavor, but not as flavorful as the two at the top. Again, it is probably the most productive. That large one - Believe It Or Not - is very mild, despite being dead ripe. The other large one - Tres Contos - has better flavor, but still mild. The Creole and the LA Gulf State had decent flavor - the early ripening and fairly good production make them possible repeats, but they seem to be stopping from this heat (the reason they were given to me - heat resistance), so not sure. The Big Beef and Sweet Carneros Pink are still flowering, though the plants don't look good now, at the end of August..

The small fruited ones, Green Tiger and the Sunrise, we tested last, against the 4 top ones, and they were good - not quite as good as the top two, but stronger in flavor than the next two. The problem is, they were almost totally wiped out by the heat - something that didn't happen the last two mild summers we had here, the only times I had grown them before.

Others that I had earlier in the season, which didn't produce well, were Large Barred Boar, Maglia Rosa, Manalucie, and Royal Hillbilly. Nothing exceptional in flavor, and even if they were, there wasn't enough production to make up for it!

[Gary350]

If your new to gardening and growing tomatoes you should experiment and grow a minimum of 6 different varieties of tomatoes every summer for several years to learn what flavor you like best. For each his own.

40 years ago I experimented with 6 different type tomatoes every summer it took a few years to learn which tomato we like best. We like all the Beefsteak type tomatoes, Beef master, Big beef, Beef steak, Super Star. Everyone can tell you what they like best but that does not mean you will like it too. Beefsteak are large producers, large diameter tomatoes, good flavor, great slicing tomato for sandwiches and hamburgers, great for stew, soup, chili, salads, juice, sauces and canning in mason jars. Big Beef and Beef Master are the BIG PRODUCERS we get 20 lbs of tomatoes every day from 8 plants.

Celebrity tomato have about as much flavor as cardboard. Yellow tomatoes do not taste like tomatoes to me. German Johnson and Brandy wine are very slow producers about 80% less than Big Beef and Beef Master. I tried many heirloom tomatoes flavors are weird like comparing tomatoes to squash or cucumbers. Try it and see for yourself that is the only way to know what tomatoes you like best. If you find something you like then grow them.

My garden is 30'x50' we grow vegetables for the kitchen table and pantry to eat all winter. We want enough vegetables from our garden and pantry so we never have to buy grocery store vegetables.

[applestar]

We had our first indeterminate, big tomato of the season last night - July 25 harvested Mikhalych, ripened on the counter until it couldn't get any redder, shared among the three tomato-lovers in the family.

It was a full-flavored rich tomato. DH stared forlornly at his plate after eating his share and said ..."I need more." So I offered him the "lid" -- top of the tomato sliced off with the stem scar, which I was going to discard -- and asked if he wanted to nibble around the edge, and he said yes.

DD2 had hers in an Italian deli-hamburger. I also offered her a couple of "Buttercream Punch" (Maglia Rosa x Coyote F3-1) -- small white cherry tomatoes -- and she reported that they were "very good". (We are just starting this season's tasting, no doubt taste reviews will get more sophisticated as our palates become re-educated to the nuances of tomato flavors....)

I gave DH 1 each fully ripened Maskotka and Marz Pulcent, which he eagerly accepted -- he's been eating these -- both are determinate container size sprawling plants (good for growing in 11-14" baskets or 2 gallon containers. Fruits are walnut to small egg-sized fat oval. They are both deliciously rich when allowed to ripen fully, thick skinned, probably good canner. I had pan-fried some not fully ripe Maskotka that had skin split from heavy rain, and they were great, replacing my usual ketchup to eat with an omelet.

No pictures today, but there will be later.

[Ksk]

Over the years I have decided that "Super Sweet" is my favorite cherry tomatoes. My family can pick them out with eyes closed.

[applestar]

I can’t believe I didn’t post in this thread last year — the family stuff that took most of my time away must have been more time consuming than I remember after time has softened some of the difficulties.

Bumping the thread to encourage members who are already harvesting their best tomatoes to post and share their tomato tasting results

[pepperhead212]

Last night, I did a taste test, with the few tomatoes I have ripening, so far. I got several larger ones (Burracker's Favorite, Pretty in Pink, and 2 from the unknown"KBX"), but they aren't quite ready yet, they'll have to wait until totally ripe.
Sweet Treats cherry was our favorite, with a balanced, delicious tomato flavor, with some sweetness, but not that much (have grown for 2 years, and wondered about the name from the beginning). Not quite as strong as the next one, but more balance.
Sunset Falls is a small, maybe 2 oz determinate red/orange striped variety that was our second favorite, with a strong tomato flavor, not very sweet or tart, with that "grassy" like flavor that comes on late, and a lingering aftertaste like that. Huge numbers of fruits on the one plant; since it's determinate, if I want to grow it again, maybe it will be in succession plantings.
Green Tiger, an elongated, 1 oz variety, striped like green zebra, was the one I had the most of, and was good, as always, but it's another of those things that tasted milder, after trying the stronger tasting tomato, the Sunset Falls, this time. It was more tart than the others, which is why I use it so much in those lentil salads every year.
Sunsugar As always, a tomato more for just popping, with intense sweetness, but it's still got more tomato flavor than some sweet varieties I've grown in the past.
Giant Garden Paste The only larger one I had that was totally ripe. Strange, as it was juicy, and not at all hollowed out, as I expected. The flavor was good, and balanced, but the mildest of all of them, for sure. And the one most prone to BER, so probably not a keeper, unless something changes.

[applestar]

Bumping this thread again. I hope to contribute to it this year — are any of you tasting tomatoes yet? Post your tomato tasting comparisons and let us know your favorites.

[imafan26]

I also like sunsugar. It is sweet and does not crack as badly as sungold. Sungold is usually not really sweet unless it is ripe.

Brandywine is still the best tasting of all that I have tried, but it is not an easy tomato to grow since it has very little disease resistance and is not the best producer considering how large the plant is.

The second best has been the tiny red current. It is also a very good producer even though it is tedious to harvest the tiny fruit. The vines are a little unruly as well.

I now have tomato yellow leaf curl virus and I have not gotten a successful harvest out of my garden in about 3 years. I am going to try Charger this year. Charger is one of the tomatoes listed as resistant to TYLCV.

[digitS']

Okay, it is too early to have set out my tomato plants. Of course, I haven't tasted any. However, it is fun to look back on earlier posts about what was going on 5 and 6 years ago. I feel as tho not much has changed but I can see that even though my garden will be filled again with tried and true varieties, the lineup evolves over time.

... Bloody Butcher this year. I appreciate that one not only for its early ripening but for having quite a bit of tomato flavor for such an early, little guy....

That appreciation has grown through those 6 years. Terrible Name! DW and I have actually decided that it should have a different name than the one used for this heirloom for the last 60 plus years. What is really remarkable about it is that BB starts so early with so much tomato flavor and then continues producing over the entire season.

I'll have to remove some flowers when they are moved out of their pots into the open garden, soon. It will give the little champion some time to develop before setting fruit

Steve

[pepperhead212]

3 friends and I got together tonight and tasted tomatoes!

Earlier, I went out and harvested a few, as I noted, and here are some photos. The larger one, and also two showing the core in one of the Beefy Boys. I remember this happening on almost every tomato of some varieties in the past - this hard, whitish, core area, that has to be cut out. Hopefully this was just an unusual occurrence.
Big Beef, L, next to the Beefy Boy with the huge core. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Largest so far, a Beefy Boy. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are almost all of the varieties of tomatoes we were going to sample. A couple we didn't remember to include:
Tomatoes L>R Beefy Boy, Goliath Pio, Pretty In Pink, Big Beef, Black Vernisage, Sunset Falls, Unk. 1, Unk 2, Chef's Choice Green, Amish Gold Slicer, Pink Champagne, Black Opal, Jasper, Sprite Grape, Sunsugar, and Cherry Bomb. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's the list, giving my results with growing on some of them, as well.

New (for me)

Larger varieties

Beefy Boy
Good, but not quite as good as Big Beef. And some I have had to cut larger areas of the core out of, than most. Largest tomato of any,s so far - 18.30 oz. Also the first to ripen, in the larger tomatoes.

Chef's Choice F1
This wasn't what the catalog said, thus it's one of my "Unk" varieties. Plum shaped, though not a plum, as it has juice. Good, but it was also one of those that came down with aphids, while most had none.

Chef's Choice Green
This did look like the Chef's choice in the catalog, and ripened green. Nothing spectacular in flavor. Not a keeper.

Goliath Pio
This was the second aphid attracting tomato. It eventually got rid of it, but the plants did not look great afterwards. The flavor wasn't as strong as the Big Beef, but had good tomato flavor, and one taster put this on the top of their list. One of the later larger ones to ripen, but it's finally catching up.

Lime Green Salad
This is a small, under 2 ft. plant, with 3 oz or under fruits. No great flavor, but crispy, even when fully ripe, and no unpleasant flavors. It's a determinate - the other reason it's not a keeper, to me. The seeds were freebies - I guess they were testing them out.

Stupice
Another small plant, with small plum like tomatoes. Flavor not bad, but not productive at all, so not a keeper.


Smaller varieties

Black Opal
This one had good flavor, but would have some develop bad flavor, without being able to tell which ones (spitters!). That, and the plant being prone to some disease, makes it not a keeper, for me.

Cherry Bomb F1
LARGE cherry tomato - ping pong or golf ball sized. Good flavor - not quite as tart as Jasper, but has a well balanced flavor. A little later ripening than other cherries, but still before 7-4. Large numbers of tomatoes. Problem was the yellowing of the plants, next to others having no problems. I'll see how they turn out in the long run.

Jasper F1
These are about a scant inch in diameter, and have a lot of tomatoes on the plants. They ripened before 7-4, but they tend to keep a yellow "shoulder" on the fruits, even when ripened almost a week on the counter. On that note, I never had one go bad on the counter, as many cherries do. The flavor is good, with a tartness, that some didn't like, but I like that, for some things, but not for snacking on.

Pink Champagne F1
This is a pink grape tomato, with a good flavor, but some tasted under-ripe, even when appearing totally ripe. Not a huge plant, and not super productive, so not a keeper, for me.

Sprite
This is a trade seed I got this year, and the tomatoes are better than any grapes I have had or grown before. Strange plant, in that the leaves seemed small and few, with a huge number of tomatoes, and I wondered how such a small number of leaves could support that many fruits! The tomatoes are somewhat sweet, with a slightly tart flavor to go with it, and a good tomato flavor. Everyone liked them, and we all noticed the crispness, even though these had been ripening several days on the counter.


OLD

Larger Varieties

Amish Gold Slicer
None ripe yet - just the one with a slightly green shoulder, and the second one a little less ripe, but they are starting! I wish we had them, as the last few years they came in second and third in the tasting.

Big Beef
Came in first again! 3 of 4 of us had it on top, and the one who had the Goliath on top, had this second. Definitely a great tomato flavor, with a balanced flavor, and that juiciness needed in a good tomato!

Burracker's Favorite
None ripe yet - late variety.
Pretty In Pink
This was second for two of us, and 3rd and 4th for the other two, so it was 2nd overall, we figured. Good flavor, not quite as strong as the Big Beef, but better balanced than the Beefy Boy, was the general consensus.

Smaller Varieties

Green Tiger
One of my favorites every year, but the ones I got this season were NOT green tigers - a larger, red, unknown variety. Not bad, but not what I wanted. I'll find another source!

Sunset Falls - succession plant
This one I grew again, after getting an incredible number of tomatoes from just one plant last season, which had a great flavor. They are about 2-2 1/2" x 1", and ripen striped orange/yellow. It's a determinate, which I rarely plant, and as soon as the large number of tomatoes came off of the small plant, it dies! As much as I liked them, the later plants didn't produce as well - must not like heat - so I probably won't do this again. Everyone liked the flavor, as last year.

Sunsugar
As always, these are some of the best, though the incredible sweetness makes them good for other than usual things, like snacking on, som tum, and making raisin like dried tomatoes. Or anywhere else the sweetness is an advantage. They do have a great tomato flavor to go with it, as well, unlike some sweet ones I've tried.


When we were winding this up, I asked them when they wanted to come over for a chile tasting, since they are getting ready to ripen. I got dirty looks from a couple of them.

[applestar]

Fabulous! I’m going to come back and comment more later, but I had to jump in quick and say — what a wonderful selection you had ripe already!

[digitS']

Very helpful, PepperHead Dave!

Don't allow those dirty looks to discourage you on pepper tasting. I've little doubt that any negative reaction by some was outweighed by positive reactions by others. Still, caution tempers enthusiasm when it comes to pepper tasting ...

I did some quick research of some useful Coop Ext Services and came up with this:

White core."Under stressful conditions, tomato fruit often develop a tough, white core in their center."

There is more to it, including some possible remedies for the tomato grower.

Steve

[pepperhead212]

Thanks Steve - interesting info, also on "yellow shoulder". I am hoping it's only on a few of them. I have grown a few varieties of which every tomato had this white core. The #1 in my taste test a few years ago was one of those - Beauty King. I had to cut about 1/3 of each tomato away! Had it not been for this, I would have grown it again.

Update - I forgot to include the Black Vernisage in the list. Only had one ripe one, and they are small - 1 1/2 - 2 inches - so we couldn't keep going back, to compare. It had that good flavor of black tomatoes, with a very small core - usually, I just leave it, when cutting them up. They are very productive, and were the first of the non-cherry tomatoes to ripen. And none of them have split yet, despite all that rain, though it was later in the season that they started splitting, the first time I grew them.

[Gary350]

I learned something new about tomato flavor summer of 2018 by accident. I grew sweet 100 tomatoes when picking ripe tomatoes directly off the plant and eating them in the garden they are sour with high acid flavor, not sweet at all like the name implies. A basket of tomatoes after setting in the kitchen for 3 days are sweet the sour acid flavor is gone.

Summer 2019 I took the time to test tomato flavor after picking each type red ripe tomato from plants and eating them in the garden then compare flavor to tomatoes that were in the kitchen 3 days. Tomatoes picked off the plants are sour & high acid. 3 days later sour flavor has changed to sweet flavor.

[applestar]

I agree — most varieties lose what I call their “green” flavor and develop richer flavors in 2-3 days. I let some develop for about 5 days — Wes is a good example of varieties that benefit.

HOWEVER, Some varieties that start out with high sugar content and/or with low acid content rapidly decline after 3 days. Many small fruited varieties like cherries can ferment and actually LOSE their sugars, becoming tasteless, musty/vinegary, etc. These should be eaten within 2 or 3 days.

This is assuming you picked them ripe or nearly ripe (I like to harvest when fully blushed and blossom end “gives” to slight pressure). You can give them extra couple of days to ripen if picked just blushed due to weather or insect pressure.

[Lindsaylew82]

Apple, I finally got Terhune to give me two tomatoes that were fit to eat, haha! It is not a happy plant here, but through careful tending ( I mean this thing is a princess that rivals yellow brandywine in the high maintenance department), I finally got a taste, and it was worth it! I saved enough seeds to hand off to a friend that’s gonna grow them out and distribute around here. She’ll give me a couple of plants. So far, I’m the only one of three here growing that can keep it alive long enough for seeds and tasting lol. It’s everything lovely you said it would be! I’ll grow it again this year, and fuss about its hardiness because of its excellence. Yellow Brandywine aren’t sooooo different in flavor, but that umami!!!!

[applestar]

Fabulous! When you taste them you know you just HAVE to have more.... or at least ONE!

I’m trying to find Terhune seeds in my stash that have not been “contaminated” — at least one batch I saved had been bee-crossed, and while it’s been fun trying to see how this cross will end up, I haven’t been able to grow the true Terhune for last couple of years....

[Lindsaylew82]

Lemme ask her if she’s got some to spare! I gave her a decent amount. I doubt she’s started for transplants. I’ll send you some, but beware.... they’ve seen things here lol. They’re fermented off (quite well ) but diseases. I swear, all the diseases. The last one reached 14’ in height, though. One single stem (cause I had to prune any and every branching after about a week of growth...) gave me only 2 fruits that I pulled with first blush. Then it gave up at life, haha. I’m planning to turn on old, rotten 20’ x 20’ deck that had one of those fancy canopy awnings (???) on it, into a garden this year since I’ve got the time now. I’m hoping the adding space will allow better growing conditions (I’m kidding myself.... I will overplant haha).

[applestar]

Ooh thank you! You’re the best @Lindsay

Disease issues — Do you have a sous vide unit/cooker? It’s on my wishlist near the top, though I may have to get a pair of new pruners first.....

You might want to try this — You’re probably good at this sort of stuff. **make sure to read the entire article for all the details**

Hot Water Treatment for Tomato and Pepper Seeds
https://extension.psu.edu/hot-water-tre ... pper-seeds


Procedure for treating tomato and pepper seeds

Only treat seed you will use that year. Do not treat seed that has already been treated; this should be stated on the seed packaging. Do not treat seed that is pelletized or already fungicide treated. The 2018 Mid-Atlantic Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations describes the recommended procedure:

“Seed heat treatment follows a strict time and temperature protocol and is best done with thermostatically controlled water baths. Two baths are required: one for pre-heating, and the second for the effective (pathogen killing) temperature. For pepper seed, the initial pre-heating is at 100°F (38°C) for 10 minutes, followed by the effective temperature of 125°F (52°C) for 30 minutes. For tomato seed, the initial pre-heating is at 100°F (38°C) for 10 minutes, followed by the effective temperature of 122°F (50°C) for 25 minutes. Immediately after removal from the second bath, seeds should be rinsed with cool water to stop the heating process. After that, seeds should be dried on a screen or paper.”

...I’ve been wondering if my toaster oven temp control is good enough for this (but there will be huge temp loss as soon as you open the door....) I wonder if micro-chip controlled multi-function instapots could manage this too? This article presumes pretty precise temp control and doesn’t give you a leeway/range of temps....

[Lindsaylew82]

Interesting! Hmmmmm. I’m thinking the larger the pot of water you can get to that temp, the longer it’ll stay at that temp. I bet my largest boiling water canners would stay at those temps for that amount of time without added money investment. I looooooooooooove gadgets, but I’m so limited with space!..... and kinda broke for the next 7 years. Haha. I’m wondering if seeds in small baggies with a teaspoon or two of the hot water submerged in these big pots at temp would be just as effective. They’ve got heavy lids, too, which would further insulate against temperature fluctuations. I’ve made yogurt in them like that overnight. Still very warm in the morning. I’ll try it this year! Does “treated” include fermentation?

[applestar]

Heh, over the years, I’ve developed my own criteria for evaluating taste of tomatoes —

Breakdown of flavor profile ?
Choose one or more for each:

• FRONT END (when you first bite in) — edible/inedible skin (crunchy), no flavor, juicy, sweet, mouth watering, or sour

• MIDDLE (while chewing) — no flavor/mild, sweet, increasing good flavor (umami), salty, or watery

• END NOTE (after swallowing) — nothing, lingering tang (like sour candy), mouth puckering (like lemon), or lingering sharp acid (hurts)

…how do you profile your tomatoes?