Question. I’ve grown beefsteak type tomatoes and don’t like them because they are harder to peel. The tops are wavy and the edges are pulled way up, making them hard to slice, verses more friendly slicer types which are shaped like a smooth globose baseball. Additionally beefsteak types tend to have a lot of “core” or pith to core out, leaving more of a “donut” tomato after coring.
However, I’ve looked at some pics on the internet of Big Beef, and they don’t look too wavy on the tops. What is your experience with the core in the middle compared to friendly slicer types? I can’t find many pics of the cores, and assume the pics I see on the internet are of some of the most favorable pics of the variety.
Last pic… the slice on top is the top quarter of the tomato… and you can see some core showing up there… but there is still good tomato in the shoulder area.
Of that top quarter about half of that could easily be used, processed, etc.
I would say that is about average results for me with big beef. About 1/8 core and the rest good.
Ps… I ate the bottom 3/4 with my lunch… a little salt and pepper… and I am stuffed now.
It takes me three days to get through a medium-sized slicing tomato because the only way I like raw tomatoes is sliced in a sandwich or burger.
The quality stays high when the remainder of the tomato is stored slice-side down on a glass plate with an inverted plastic bowl placed on top of the plate, all on top of the counter. The plate forms a seal over the sliced surface. The bowl keeps pests away and possibly controls humidity.
Core size and thick skin are two of my pet peeves. The smallest core in a slicing tomato is in Eva Purple Ball. It is a highly heritable trait with BBXEPB having a similar configuration. There are negatives from having a very small core. Eva Purple Ball is noted for dropping fruit to the ground when it is fully ripe.
Beefsteak shape is caused by a single gene (fasciated, recessive) that causes fused ovules. There are several modifiers that give a range of forms from fluted shoulders to oval boat shape. Fasciated is often associated with huge cores such as in Brandywine. It is possible to breed tomatoes that have the beefsteak gene, small core, oblate shape, and smooth shoulders. Big Beef is such a tomato caveat that the core is not as small as some others. Click on the “genes” tab to query for “f”. TOMATO Genetics Resource Center
Big Beef tends to have a medium to small core and medium skin thickness. It is usually easily peeled. As with most tomatoes, peeling is easier with riper fruit. Interesting aside, I would rather have very thick skin than extra thin skin. It is very easy to peel a thick skin where a very thin skin tends to tear too easily. Also, thin skin tends to be easily split or broken after which the fruit decays rapidly.
Red tomatoes come from having red/pink flesh combined with yellow tinted skin. If you look closely at the pictures of Big Beef above, you will see the yellow skin. To my eyes, these tomatoes have an overall orange cast until they are sliced. Some of the varieties I recommended above are pink which comes from a mutation that changes skin color to clear. This mutation is very busy doing other things too such as changing the flavor (less robust, more sweet), and changing the texture (more tender). It also changes the texture of the skin a tad. I highly recommend Crnkovic Yugoslavian which is a large pink tomato with outstandingly good flavor.
These are great posts! This is my second time growing tomatoes at home. The first time was many years ago, and I became quite disillusioned because after flowering the plants died overnight due to bacterial wilt ! I didn’t even know such thing existed!
Can you guys recommend good sources for recommendations for home growing tomatoes? YouTube channels, or websites, or books? What is worthwhile looking into?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
This fits with my experience. Furthermore, if the tomatoes are going to be cooked or processed, it’s even less of a concern if they were in the refrigerator.
I have a feeling that the best recommendations will come from local garden centers, for what may do well in your area. I say that because your profile says zone 13b, and it is dramatically different than what I would have for recommendations, being in 5b.
Find out what can grow well where you live, and try a bunch of different varieties (like a half dozen plants, if you can), and understand the soil you are planting in. If needing to plant in containers, go plastic and there are some varieties that do better than others - smaller tomatoes are generally easier to start with… I think I started with sweet 100 in a container, and now we probably put 12-15 different varieties in the ground each year. They say the first year you grow tomatoes is the last time you don’t grow them.
As to the temps for tomato storage… I’m going to try and experiment this year with a wine cooler or similar, storing them at 55-70F with (hopefully 95% humidity). Getting the 95% humidity is the hard part, as most evaporators serve as a dehydrator, and as I understand, is why most refrigerators don’t keep produce well. There are some USB powered ‘stick’ humidifiers I may experiment with, since they appear inexpensive.
Then there is the ethylene management, a whole other issue.
So here is a quick tomato storage puzzle that relates to refrigeration, ripening, etc. without any weighting for the taste category.
Basically our county fair is August 18th and I want to enter a tomato that is starting ripen now. It is a 1884 pink from a fused bloom (megabloom) that looks pretty big and I’m thinking of putting it in the biggest tomato contest. Of course, if there are any truly huge ones I won’t win, but I’m in a suburban area and last time I entered some things in our county fair I was the only one with entries for some of the categories so I’m hopeful.
This particular tomato was just starting to blush at the bottom yesterday and is probably turning more today. The 18th is too far away for me to just let it go at room temps or on the vine. So can I pick it now, put it in the fridge until maybe the 17th or so, take it out to finish ripening a bit and enter it on the 18th. Would that work? It doesn’t really have to be fully ripe since it is just judged on size so I could even leave it in the fridge until I take it out to enter it - the big thing is I don’t want it to be rotting nasty mess.
@Fusion_power or any others out there with insight on how to get my mater to the finish line 2.5 weeks away?
I don’t know for sure if it can be done, but it is worth a try to put it in a plastic container in the refrigerator to see if it will make it. Moisture will evaporate which will cause it to lose weight.
I guess I’m contrary. I prefer roma’s sliced to most other commonly available grocery store tomatoes. But then I prefer fresh prune plums to most grocery store plums too.
Thanks for starting this discussion @jcguarneri . So much useful info and now I have a craving for a tomato lunch. Often we have too many tomatoes picked so rather than have some of them rot on the counter, they go into the refrig to slow down over ripening. They may not be as good as the ripe ones not refrigerated but they are better then rotted ones. I don’t have the inclination to process them.
JC, it held up very well in the fridge in a bowl covered with saran wrap for about 5 days. I entered it last Tuesday, the 10th, and picked it up this morning. Just over 2.25 pounds. Still good although a bit softer in places.
I have to admit I wound up eating it… I ripened faster than I expected before I got around to putting it in the fridge, so I wasn’t sure it would still be a viable entry, especially since they have to sit out for several days on display. So I “mitigated the risk” by cutting it up and eating it as part of a big family meal. Next year…
