HelpfulGardener.com

Yesterday at MIL’s house for Easter, I asked what kind of tomatoes (started plants) they wanted and how many. I was limited to one dozen (because they want to grow their mainstay — Beefsteak and German Johnson — in the other half of the bed, which they will get from the farmer’s market.)

One BIL wanted ONLY beefsteak type large fruited varieties (he said “like Wes” but we’ll let that go ...I did — it was too complicated to explain stuff at that point — suffice to explain here that Wes is actually an oxheart type) and the other BIL said he prefers any kind that is big enough to slice for a sandwich, and in fact prefers smaller sized fruit sometimes when he is only making a sandwich for himself because he doesn’t want to cut a big one and not use it up. He said too big/too many/too thick slices make the sandwich too soggy. They said MIL is the only one that likes cherry tomatoes, so maybe just one plant.

This is going to be interesting choosing 12 plants to give them out of this year’s selection, but I was intrigued by the size criteria. In a way I was intrigued, too by that smaller size preference and his reasons — and he indicated with his hands a size that was about 2-1/2 inch diameter — I guess typical store-bought hamburger and sandwich size? ...is that what’s generally called a “slicer”?

It’s interesting this one Star. Many years ago we grew tomatoes for the London markets. Many of them were for the resteraunt trade.
The chefs would only take the 35- 40 mm sized ones and at the ‘ pink ‘ stage.
They reckoned that it was so that no matter what they wanted them for they could get it from the one box.
They didn’t seem to mind the extra cost of such a select sizing.
Now the cherry Tom seems to be the favourite.

Once in awhile, I feel more assertive and call one of my 5 ounce tomatoes a "beefsteak." "Slicer" sounds kind of generic but it's difficult for me to be serious about using the term beefsteak for a medium-size tomato.

A smaller Early Girl is about 2 1/2 inches and 4 or 5 ounces, I suppose. I haven't measure many that I've grown either on a scale or with the calipers ... honestly, I can't remember a thing that I've measured with calipers that came out of a garden .

I'm okay with this size partly because my ability to grow larger 8-16 oz+ tomatoes is limited, most years. I'm also inclined to chop a tomato for a sandwich, casserole, soup, or salad. Or, put a tomato thru the blender. Maybe more commonly, I'm eating tomato slices with a fork or popping cherries/grapes in my mouth while out-of-doors or walking around in the house. I'm also willing to slice up plum-size tomatoes. It wasn't something I was much interested in doing, years ago. Those intermediate-size tomatoes seemed kind pedestrian then but there are some fine varieties of that size. Certainly, those 35 to 40 mm varieties JONA refers to are not a lot larger than cherries. In the appropriate setting, I might be willing to cram some of that size in my mouth.

! Steve

Most of the tomatoes I grow are chosen for size as well as flavor. I like the ones when sliced cover at least a bun and preferably a slice of bread. Those I call 'slicers'. Slicers, beefsteaks, oxhearts, heart-shaped all CAN be large enough to qualify if the right variety is chosen to grow.

Sometimes, thinking I will try a new large variety, it ends up being a medium, round, red, boring tomato. The flavor may be OK but I like the big ones. Only one cherry per year makes it into the garden because my wife likes a cherry tomato for her salads. I just chop up the good ones.

LOL — Yeah, you get spoiled growing those big’uns that slice up bigger than the hamburger patty and stick out the side of the buns, or are bigger disk and make tangents with the bread slice crust on the inside of the circle.

I like sandwich tomatoes to have intense flavors that can stand up to the bread and other ingredients... and I favor the bigger sizes, too — when those are coming in, we eat a lot of sandwiches.

I generally dislike stacking multiple tomato slices inside a sandwich because they slide right out with the first bite. Oval large loaf rye bread sandwiches get 2 giant slices, one cut in half and positioned on either side of the middle disk.... I tend to cut the bottom/blossom-end -best tasting part- into wedges to eat — usually saved for the tomato-loving DD, though DH will reach for the ones from our favorites.


...I grow “too many” cherry and saladette size tomatoes because they are so easy to grow — we could never keep up with eating them fresh. They turn up as hostess gifts wherever I go, even doctor’s appointments . — I usually end up with gallon freezer bags. Best ones are frozen whole to brighten winter salads, omelettes, pizza, and pasta. Soso ones are food processed enmasse into sauce.

Well, most 1 lb or more tomatoes are out of my reach. The ones that grow the best are in the 8-10 oz range which is a good slicer type. For slicers, it is more important to me that they be meaty and not too seedy than be of a certain size. I used to make slicers out of Amish Paste mainly because they grew better than most beefsteaks. I have a problem with birds eating the tomatoes. First you can save them by picking them at first blush, but later in the season the birds will even go after the green ones. Cherry tomatoes fare better than larger tomatoes mainly because they produce so much more that the birds can't get them all.