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TOMATOES TO GROW FOR FLAVOR AND THEIR USES

Carolyn Stewart
Posted by Carolyn Stewart August 12, 2020 5 Min Read

TOMATOES TO GROW FOR FLAVOR AND THEIR USES

Tomato flavor comes from more than 400 volatile chemical compounds; at least 30 contribute to the aroma. Taste is the best reason to grow tomatoes in your home garden. (You can always find tomatoes without much flavor at the grocery store.) Choose the flavor first when deciding which tomatoes to grow. Then decide – before planting – how you are going to eat and enjoy the tomatoes you grow.

Tomato flavor comes from more than 400 volatile chemical compounds; at least 30 contribute to the aroma. Some tomatoes have a higher sugar content; these are sweet tasting tomatoes. Some tomatoes are high in acid; these tomatoes are sour. Some tomatoes are balanced – sugars and acids in almost equal amounts; These tomatoes are often described as having a full tomato flavor. Tips for growing tomatoes: How to grow tomatoes .

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5-S s: Tomatoes for salads, soups, sauces, gravy and sandwiches

Here are my favorite tomatoes for salads, salsa, sandwiches, dips, and soups. These are tomatoes that I have grown and would grow again, just give me more garden and fewer varieties of tomatoes that I have not yet grown.

Note: Open pollinated varieties will grow next year if you save the seeds; hybrids often won’t; determined tomatoes will require the least space in the garden, about 3 feet wide and tall; indeterminate tomatoes will require about 4 feet wide and some maintenance pruning as the season progresses; days to maturity are from transplant to garden; add six weeks if you are starting your own seed.

Tomato Salad:

There are two options when it comes to salad tomatoes. Choose large, plump tomatoes to soak up the flavor or vinaigrette and add texture to the salad. Choose small cherry tomatoes for their color, sweetness, and a tomato that will hold its shape.

  • Brandywine: exceptional rich flavor, succulent; pink and creamy meat. Amish heritage; open pollination; indeterminate; 80 days.
  • Costoluto Fiorentino: High in sugar and acid makes the tomato taste fabulous. Italian heritage; free pollination; indeterminate; 80 days.
  • German rose: fleshy, almost seedless. German heritage; free pollination; indeterminate; 85 days.
  • Gold gem: high sugar content, golden yellow. Chinese hybrid; indeterminate; 65 days.
  • Marmande: full, rich flavor. French heritage; open pollination; semi-determined; 70 days.
  • Red Cherry: sweet taste. Relic; open pollination; semi-determined; 65 days.
  • Riesebtraube: large tomato flavor, fruit the size of a grape. German heritage; free pollination; 80 days.

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Salsa Tomatoes:

For the fresh salsa, you will want a plump and meaty tomato.

  • Big Boy: meaty meat, great flavor. Hybrid; indeterminate; 78 days.
  • Druzba: balanced sweet and sour taste, soft meat. Bulgarian heritage; free pollination; indeterminate; 80 days.
  • Eva’s Purple Ball: sweet and juicy taste; soft pink flesh. German heritage; free pollination; indeterminate; 70 days.
  • Mule team: bright red, excellent flavor and texture, long harvest. American heritage; open pollination; indeterminate; 80 days.
  • Stupice: sweet, satisfying the taste of tomato and harvested early Czechoslovak heritage; free pollination; indeterminate; 52 days.

Tomato sandwich:

Choose large, meaty tomatoes for sandwiches and hamburgers. These tomatoes are wider than they are long and are perfectly suitable for slicing.

  • Steak (also called Red Ponderosa and Crimson Cushion): mild and sweet flavor, thick meat. American heritage; open pollination; indeterminate; 90 days.
  • Box Car Willie: delicious tomato flavor. American heritage; open pollination; indeterminate; 80 days.
  • Cherokee Purple: Sweet, rich and delicious flavor. Tennessee heritage; open pollination; indeterminate; 80 days
  • Peasant: Sweet and fruity flavor. West Virginia heritage; open pollination; indeterminate; 85 days.
  • Mortgage Raiser – Sweet, meaty taste. West Virginia heritage; open pollination; indeterminate; 85 days.

Tomato sauce: Choose a ripe plum tomato that has a good balance between meat and juice. You will also want a tasty tomato. San Marzano is the Italian favorite for sauces.

  • Julieta: Full tomato flavor, high in acid and sugar. Hybrid All-America Selection; indeterminate; 60 days.
  • San Marzano: mild flavor, meaty texture. Italian heritage; free pollination; indeterminate; 80 days.

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Tomato soup:

Soup tomatoes are almost always pureed; look for maturity and deep flavor. Add cherry tomatoes for added sweetness.

  • Prince Borghese: meaty with little juice and few seeds. Italian heritage; open pollinated; determined; 75 days.
  • San Marzano: mild flavor, meaty texture. Italian heritage; free pollination; indeterminate; 80 days.