Burpee's Steakhouse

[BigdaddyJ]

Anyone grow this? Since Burpee had free shipping today I ordered a pack of these. Giant tomato with heirloom flavor? Sucker born every minute? ;-)

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/tom...at890002&trail

[AKmark]

There's two; I have to give it a go-around in 2014 also.

[FarmerShawn]

I'm seriously considering it...waiting for the results of the famous mystery mater mailing.



There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

[NarnianGarden]

I won't blame you

[BigdaddyJ]

Oh man I just saw this is a NEW Burpee offering. So I guess first reviews will come from us can't say no types LOL

[KarenO]

well if it is what it says it is I will be interested to know from you guys. 75 days for a 3 pound tomato... hmmm. would be something if it's true but for me the jury is definitely out until you tomatovillans give it a grow.
Karen

[amideutch]

I was eyeballing it to. I just may cross the line and grow a hybrid beefsteak this coming year and see what happens and this one looks like a good candidate. I did grow Brandyboy back in 07 and was pleasantly surprised.

Ami

[NarnianGarden]

What I'd like to see is how the F2 seeds grow. Would be interesting to know the parentage and the subsequent generations.
Imagine if the later offspring produced cherries and currants, wouldn't that be consistent if all tomatoes originally come from a wild cherry variety?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

What I'd like to see is how the F2 seeds grow. Would be interesting to know the parentage and the subsequent generations.
Imagine if the later offspring produced cherries and currants, wouldn't that be consistent if all tomatoes originally come from a wild cherry variety?

The parents of hybrids are seldom known with modern hybrids, older hybrids have just two parents and some of those parents are known, but modern hybrids can have up to 4 parental inputs in each of the two breeding lines that lead to the final F1 Hybrid.

So save some F2 seeds and see what you get.

You won't get cherries and currants IMO but if anyone is aiming at getting a genetically stable OP version, you've got from maybe 5 to 7 years of growing ahead of you.

And ALL tomatoes are already known to have evolved from certain of the tomato species found in the highlands of Chile and Peru, mainly. There are now known to be about 15 wild species.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't bred by Burpee although they now have a few breeders at their Bucks County place. More like it was bred by Peto seeds, since it's known that in the past they kind of subcontract to them for something, and then get the rights on naming it.

Carolyn, who I guess is glad that Burpee is out of bankruptcy, but who has never been a fan of Burpee for the last maybe 20 years. The last time she ever bought seeds from them was many years ago when they offered a hybrid Red Brandywine, which was the beginning of the downfall in her opinion and was annoyed and she also bought the same as plants. She then compared it with her own OP Red Brandywine and found no difference at all. Rather quickly they renamed it Bucks County Red hybrid.

[dudeatlarge]

I have some of these seeds and am looking forward to growing them this season. If they grow tomatoes like they say I will take some cuttings from the best plant. Then will clone them for the following growing season. I already grow Burpees Big Mama tomatoes and am very pleased with them.

[travis]

To those who are ordering Steakhouse F1 hybrid from Burpee:

Have any of you grow Porterhouse F1 hybrid from Burpee? I have. I did it when I was suckered by the blurb back several years ago when Porterhouse first was introduced.

Read both blurbs in the 2014 Burpee catalog. Notice any similarities? About the only difference is days to maturity.

I'd bet five dollars to a donut that Steakhouse has a very similar pedigree to Porterhouse.

Porterhouse lived up to its claims for size. Neither I, nor any of my friends with whom I shared seeds, got a 4-pound tomato. We did get plenty of 1 to 2 pounders. But there was no flavor.

Back then I still grew Big Beef, as did several of the people who grew Porterhouse from the seeds I purchased. We, as well as most of the folks with whom we shared the tomatoes for eating, agreed that Big Beef was far superior in flavor. In fact, most folks said Porterhouse was no better than the average supermarket tomato.

In fact, I still have quite a few original F1 seeds for Porterhouse that I bought several years ago ... if that tells you anything about the flavor.

Best of luck with Steakhouse!

[travis]

Dudeatlarge: If you're a Big Mama fan, you should try out Burpee's "EXCLUSIVE" SuperSauce hybrid tomato. "Weighing in at 2 lbs. Supersauce produces gallons of luscious, seedless sauce from a single plant harvest - one tomato fills an entire sauce jar."

Let us know if those bold claims are true. "Gallons" of sauce from a single plant! But then I guess two gallons is plural. Just don't cook it down too thick

[Sun City Linda]

Seems to me we had a discussion on Super Sauce last season and if I recall correctly, (always a gamble) people said it had a puny start and was difficult to get it growing robustly?

Travis did you replace Big Beef with something better? I grew it once and thought it was quite good but as I get older and shorter, I am searching for plants that are more my size!

[Worth1]

Even though I have seen this thread, this is the first time I clicked on it.
I clicked on the link.

I have to ask.

Has anyone noticed it is a small child holding the tomato?
Reminds me of the 4 year old holding the Big Mac.
burgerREX_468x310c.jpg

Worth

[travis]

Originally Posted by Sun City Linda

Travis did you replace Big Beef with something better? I grew it once and thought it was quite good but as I get older and shorter, I am searching for plants that are more my size!

Linda, I only stopped growing Big Beef to make room for more tomato plants from the lines I'm growing out from my own crosses and from other folks' crosses.

Big Beef remains a great tomato. I have friends and acquaintances who grow them exclusively or in large numbers of plants for farm market sales.

One fellow I know grows about 500 Big Beef plants per year, along with other varieties more along the 4-foot determinate size, like various Mountain Series.

The reason he still wrestles with a long vine is due to Big Beef's great resistances, production, reliability, and customer acceptance. Besides his own very popular roadside stand, he sells tons of tomatoes to local supermarkets.

Like you, I too am growing a bit old and tired of wrestling with varieties that routinely grow 7 feet or longer, and am in the process of stabilizing a few determinate and semi-determinate lines that more closely suit my purposes.

Edit: But hey, one of the tomatoes I grow is a line I stabilized from Darrel Jones's Big Beef x Eva Purple Ball. Now, there is a real winning tomato right there! Two of the vines I placed in a prime garden spot in 2013 only got 6 feet tall, stayed compact within a 3-foot diameter cage (I did trim back stray shoots), and bore oodles of fruit from early on until frost. Crack free and delicious pink baseballs.