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Post by daylilydude on Feb 21, 2018 5:22:17 GMT -5
What are your preferences on tomatoes, sweet or acidic... and which one hits the mark for you?
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Post by tomike on Feb 21, 2018 5:47:55 GMT -5
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Post by paulf on Feb 21, 2018 8:25:11 GMT -5
I go for sweet tomatoes and most heart shaped whether pink or red exhibit the flavors I enjoy most.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 21, 2018 10:13:07 GMT -5
That is one of the best articles I have seen on tomato flavor tomike, Thanks for attaching it. I used to think that I liked the sweet ones best but have discovered that they can be TOO sweet so I guess that I should say that I like the ones called balanced or not too tart and not too sweet.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 21, 2018 10:18:43 GMT -5
I like a balanced tomato, maybe leaning a little towards sweet. I want to taste both the sweetness and some acidity. I have enjoyed tomatoes of many colors, but most of the tomatoes that have wowed me have been red or pink.
I am flexible about the sugar/acid balance as long as the tomato has strong flavor, though. What I can't stand are tasteless tomatoes (low acid and low sugar). Eww!
For cherry tomatoes, I think of those more as snacks, and I like them really sweet.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Feb 21, 2018 11:01:04 GMT -5
I lean towards sweet, but my perfect tomato is more savory than acidic or sweet. The perfect specimen for a sandwich or piling on a burger.
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whistech
Pro Member
Posts: 300
Joined: April 2013
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Post by whistech on Feb 21, 2018 12:19:53 GMT -5
I like a strong tomato taste so i would say more balanced rather than sweet. The taste of Cherokee Purple or JD's Special CTex is my favorite.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 21, 2018 13:27:55 GMT -5
I'm another that likes the balance, when using tomatoes in dishes or on a sandwich, and things like that. I need some tartness, but a strong tomato flavor, and some sweetness. Mild tomatoes don't do it for me. And when I do comparison taste tests, the mild ones really seem less flavorful.
The larger cherries I like flavorful, as with the slicers, but I like sweetness when snacking on them. However, some I have tried were just sweet - no flavor. Sunsugar is sweet, but also has a great flavor. Sungold is also good, but less disease resistant, when I tried it, next to sunsugar, and less productive. So sunsugar is my snack tomato - something to eat while in the garden, especially!
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Post by september on Feb 22, 2018 1:06:05 GMT -5
No sweet tomatoes for me, I like an assertive acid taste, preferably with some complexity and different flavor notes. Sweetness is ok in cherry tomatoes, but not a bland simple sweetness, has to have something else in it like Sungold and Iva's Red Berry.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 22, 2018 2:15:07 GMT -5
september, I'm growing Iva's Red Berry for the first time this year. I'm real excited to try it. I love growing Cherry tomatoes. I am also growing Dwarf Striped Rumplestiltskin too and I can't wait to taste it.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 22, 2018 10:18:36 GMT -5
I'm growing Iva's Red Berry for the first time this year. I was going to look for seeds of that one but I settled on Fox Cherry instead so I will be interested to see how you like it. I had read some good things about it but didn't find seeds before I found the Fox cherry.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 22, 2018 11:53:23 GMT -5
brownrexx , I'm growing lots of little cherries. Sara Galapagos Mini Gold Sweet Beverly Gold Krone Yellow Submarine Lollipop Tommy Toe Chocolate Cherry Black Cherry Isis Candy Snow White Cherry Mystery Grape Also this one that I can't find any info on Hawaii Yellow Cherry Then these two which are small 1 to 2 ounces Haley's Purple Comet Purple Haze F6 We never did find those Fox Cherry seeds. I blame my wife. I know they had to have been trashed. I had them on dining table and then poof!, they was gone.
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Post by daylilydude on Feb 22, 2018 12:04:37 GMT -5
hairymooseknuckles, I'm interested in your opinion on the Isis Candy before I start looking for seeds...
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Post by ladymarmalade on Feb 22, 2018 12:06:40 GMT -5
I happen to have 10 year old Fox Cherry seeds from Baker Creek on hand. After seeing it mentioned a few times, I'm going to have to give it a go this year again. I remember thinking it was nothing special when I first grew it.
That being said, I have enough seeds that I could send a few small packets out if someone wants to gamble on 10 year old seeds. Just send me a PM and I'll get them out to you- no sase or postage necessary.
Also, I was going to offer Iva's Red Berry seeds, but it seems I need to refresh that supply this year! I will make a note to do so and be sure and have seed for all for next year. It really is my favorite red cherry tomato.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 22, 2018 12:59:27 GMT -5
hairymooseknuckles , I'm interested in your opinion on the Isis Candy before I start looking for seeds... I can't say, I've never grown it. It was in Spike's seeds that she sent me. I had some seeds, but they didn't come up and when I went through the seeds she sent, it was in there so I replanted. I'm thinking Pepperhead212 said it didn't do well in his garden, but I'm going strictly off memory. If it's any good, I'll do my best to save seeds.
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Post by bestofour on Feb 22, 2018 14:47:59 GMT -5
whistech,I'm with you. Cherokee Purple is my favorite.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 22, 2018 15:05:35 GMT -5
I generally always plant Cherokee Purple, but I didn't this year. I did plant JD Special C Tex. I'm hoping it's similar bestofour, whistech,
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 22, 2018 15:29:21 GMT -5
You remembered right hairymooseknuckles . And the problem I had with Isis Candy was that I couldn't tell when they were ripe. Some would still have green on them,but I'd go to pick one and it would mush in my hand, due to over-ripeness. But then, some would appear totally ripe, but were hard as green tomatoes. It did the same thing many years later, when I tried it again.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 22, 2018 16:54:53 GMT -5
pepperhead212, You know, that's one of the things I always wondered about GWR varieties. I wouldn't know when to pick them
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Post by tomike on Feb 22, 2018 17:21:46 GMT -5
The average pH of honey is 3.9 (with a typical range of 3.4 to 6.1). pH is a figure expressing the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. 7 is neutral * below 7 is acidic……so honey is acidic…. So is honey Sweet or Acidic and why ?
The same holds for tomatoes with a pH of about 3.8 on average.
It's the sugar content that "masks" the acidity in our taste buds.....
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Post by ladymarmalade on Feb 22, 2018 17:43:26 GMT -5
pepperhead212, You know, that's one of the things I always wondered about GWR varieties. I wouldn't know when to pick them Most GWR tomatoes have a blush to them once ripe. Often times the tomato goes from green to green with a golden tinge. Or it gets a very faint rosy blush at the stem end. Or the dull green suddenly seems shiny, so you give it a gentle squeeze and it feels ready to eat. Or the green color subtly changes from that actual green tomato color to something that seems deeper and more intense. GWR's are my favorite tomatoes to grow. I've only ever had troubles with a few cherry tomatoes like Doctor's Frosted, but once you know what you are looking for with each tomato, you don't make the same mistake twice as far as ripeness goes.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 22, 2018 18:33:02 GMT -5
pepperhead212, You know, that's one of the things I always wondered about GWR varieties. I wouldn't know when to pick them Those have always been easy for me to spot when ripe. All but one that I have grown - a cherry, Green Frost, or something like that - would turn yelly bellied, which is when I'd pick them, then a deep gold, when very ripe. That one cherry just stayed whitish on the belly - thus the frost name. Some GWR varieties are some of my favorite tomatoes, for flavor, though a few, as with any, were laking. No spitters, however. Update: must be that Doctor's Frosted I was trying to remember @ladymamalade! You had the same problem, I see.
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Post by tomike on Feb 22, 2018 18:42:58 GMT -5
The average pH of honey is 3.9 (with a typical range of 3.4 to 6.1). pH is a figure expressing the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. 7 is neutral * below 7 is acidic……so honey is acidic…. So is honey Sweet or Acidic and why ?
The same holds for tomatoes with a pH of about 3.8 on average.
It's the sugar content that "masks" the acidity in our taste buds.....
I'm just bumping this because it was sent to the bottom of the previous page and some people may just want to read this and comment...
That's all....
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Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 22, 2018 18:46:40 GMT -5
And sugar(s) are not alkaline, which is how things can be acid and sweet.
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Post by tomike on Feb 22, 2018 18:53:50 GMT -5
And sugar(s) are not alkaline, which is how things can be acid and sweet. Like tomatoes for example.....
And.... honey....
++++++++++++++++++++++
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Post by octave1 on Feb 25, 2018 21:13:16 GMT -5
I like a robust tomato. Something like Big Beef but more pronounced. I found that flavor in a volunteer that grew in my garden some time ago. It was the grandchild of a Campari tomato I bought at a grocery store. I saved the seeds and planted them. The tomatoes that grew from those seeds weren't great, so I gave up. Tossed tomatoes and all. But the following generation was something else. Now I am trying to remember if I saved those seeds.
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Saltflower
Pro Member
Posts: 336
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Post by Saltflower on Sept 16, 2018 0:05:02 GMT -5
Acidic, "real" tomato taste! I just don't understand sweet tomatoes or why someone would add sugar or honey to spaghetti sauce. When I was a kid (in pre-historic times) even store bought cherry tomatoes tasted like a "real" beefsteak home grown tomato does today.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2018 11:25:14 GMT -5
I like a balanced and complex taste to my tomatoes, many of the "blacks" and hearts do this for me grown here.
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Post by paquebot on Sept 16, 2018 19:02:52 GMT -5
Good list of tomatoes and observations. It would have been better if the pH and Brix figures were given. At one time there was such a list on Garden Web but no longer available. It was quite surorising that some "sweet" varieties were also high acid. The high sugar content masked the acid. For just slicing, I prefer a full tomato taste. For sauces, I like the sweeter types. For juice, anything goes as salt will cover any sweet taste which isn't wanted. Martin The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Sept 16, 2018 19:14:17 GMT -5
Something that this thread made me think about was that many years ago, in the late 80s/early 90s, I was beginning to notice that the tomato catalogs would have notices of a few tomatoes being "low acid", warning us that they were not good for canning. Now, it seems, that half the tomatoes are low acid! And to me, this means, quite often, low taste. Of course, all acidic tomatoes don't have a great flavor, but it does seem that flavor is being removed, when they breed the acid out.
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