Top 10 Best of Class of Tomatoes
Here are my favorite tomatoes I grew in 2022 and one of the largest that my grandson and I harvested (Big Zach tomato). Each year I grow 10-20 tomato varieties of tomatoes, and each year I introduce some new varieties to provide my readers with the list of best of class for the year.
In the background, you can see my prairie fire tomato plant which is loaded with green tomatoes.
See my link to the top 11 tomatoes I have grown in previous years with details about each tomato.
This year’s new variety that made the list of Best of Class is the Gladiator an extremely large Roma tomato that produced large meaty tomatoes that are great to use in salsa. It also has good flavor with sweetness and acidic tartness that you will enjoy.
The plant produced a good amount of tomatoes and because of the size of each tomato, you need to make sure you have a strong support for your plant to grow on.
Big Zach #2 for size and flavor for a giant slicer
This huge red tomato produced a small crop of gigantic tomatoes. The plant had 5 tomatoes on it, but considering the size of each tomato, it was well worth it. So far my largest Big Zach weighs in at 1 pound 9 oz.
The tomato split from a freak hail and rain storm that hit in July causing damage to tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini but these tomatoes survived. This tomato was still great tasting juicy and full of flavor with a little more acidic flavor that you will really enjoy.
Pineapple #1 for size, appearance, and flavor for giant tomato
This Pineapple Tomato surpassed the Big Zach for the size of tomato weighing a whopping 1 pound 11 oz and nearly 6 1/2 inches across, with a much larger crop. These tomatoes are known for their unique coloring of yellow, red, orange, and even a little green when ripe. When sliced it has the appearance of a pineapple with a starburst center.
This one pineapple plant produced 15-20 tomatoes with 5-6 that were this large. One slice covers a full slice of Dave’s Killer bread to make an incredible sandwich.
The flavor cannot be beaten, it is meaty and juicy with a low-acid tomato flavor.
One slice will cover a large burger bun for a great-tasting burger or one slice to cover a large piece of pizza, either way, you will not go wrong on growing and eating the Pineapple Tomatoes.
This is always on my best of the best for tomatoes to grow and eat. When sliced it reveals a beautiful array of colors that remind you of a slice of pineapple. Be sure to add this to your list of tomatoes to grow next year if you have never grown one before.
You cannot go wrong growing this tomato if you want one of the largest tomatoes, best looking when sliced, and one of the most flavorful tomatoes you will ever eat.
Big Beef #1 for appearance and true red tomato color and flavor for a large tomato
These tomatoes are still large in size and have a unique shape with deep red color to the tomatoes when ripe with ridges and a flatter shape to the tomato.
It is an heirloom variety that provides great tomato flavor and a beautiful look that must be grown. The plant is also a high-producing plant that will fill your basket late in the Summer and into the early Fall.
Celebrity #2 for large tomato based on color and flavor but #1 for production of all tomatoes grown
This is a large round red-to-orange slicer tomato that is loaded with flavor, it has a more acidic flavor than some of my other favorite tomatoes. This one plant produced over 70 tomatoes.
The Celebrity tomato has always been a high-production tomato for me and is consistent in flavor and disease resistance. I highly recommend you plant 1 of these to give you a large number of tomatoes to eat.
Yellow Boy #1 for yellow medium tomato for flavor, color, and crop production
One of the only true yellow tomatoes I grew, the color cannot be matched with the deepest yellow color and a medium-sized tomato. This is another consistent producing tomato.
The flavor is a good mix of juicy sweetness and some acidic flavor, very meaty.
This year it had a slow start to fruit setting on but after a few feedings of Aspirin and Baking Soda spray it set on a lot of fruit.
Gladiator #1 for Roma variety tomato for size, color, and flavor
One of the largest Roma variety tomatoes you can find. Each tomato reaches 3-4 inches long with orange to red coloring and is very meaty. It is oblong in shape. This is a great tomato for salsa and making tomato sauce since it has few seeds.
The flavor is a good blend of sweetness and acidic tartness.
This was the first year I grew this tomato and now will regularly grow it for its size, production, and flavor for salsa. It now joins my Best of Class for tomatoes.
Prairie Fire #1 for appearance, color, flavor, and production of a cherry size tomato
This is one of my favorite tomatoes providing a unique red color with yellow-orange flames streaking on the outside of this oblong-shaped tomato, the flavor is just as exciting with a sweet and very juicy flesh that explodes in your mouth.
One of my plants produced between 150-200 tomatoes. Everyone I share this tomato with is amazed at how much flavor these small tomatoes are loaded with.
The only negative comment I have is they easily split so you cannot water above and you need to stay on top of harvesting them since they will split if over-ripe.
Bloody Butcher #1 for red color, flavor, and early crop for small tomato
This tomato is the size between a Yellow Boy tomato and a Sungold. around the size of a silver dollar and grows in clusters of tomatoes. When ripe it is deep red and has a very juicy flavor that ripens early in the season and produces tomatoes all summer long. It is a great tomato to harvest early in the season when others are still growing and is loaded with flavor.
I use it for eating fresh from the vine, salsa, salads, and roasting because of its juiciness and flavor.
Sungold tied #1 cherry-sized tomato for color, flavor, crop production
This is a small tomato that is huge in flavor and color. Sweet, juicy, and dark orange when ripe. They are sweet and children and adults love them to eat fresh from the garden or in salads.
One plant can grow to over 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide producing hundreds of tomatoes so you will need to stake them to keep the plant from falling over from the weight of all the tomatoes.
Cherry #2 for cherry size tomato for color, flavor, and production
This tomato is small bright red, the size of a Sungold, and more acidic but still very juicy. This year all of my cherry tomatoes were volunteers (which means they came up from last year’s tomatoes that reseeded themselves). These tomatoes have a traditional tomato taste that is sweet and juicy with a little more acidic flavor than most of the tomatoes I grow.
Even though I don’t plant these I get plenty from the volunteers that come up each year and they look great when added to salads with Sungold tomatoes.
Recipe using Tomatoes
If you are wondering what we do with all of our tomatoes, you can go to our recipes that use our vegetables but here is one we do to preserve the tomatoes that are easy and great in the winter to have that wonderful summer tomato flavor.
We usually preserve 10-15 quart-size bags of these to enjoy the summer flavors of fresh tomatoes on pasta, in soup or toasted bread with parmesan cheese.
Roasted Tomatoes
Quarter or half the tomatoes depending on the size, and place in a roasting pan with onions that have been cut into small chunks, add garlic and olive oil (sprinkle over the vegetables and roast at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
Once they have cooled completely place them in a quart freezer bag and freeze them for use in the winter.
We use a variety of tomatoes to add to the color and flavor, use whatever tomatoes you have even the cherry size tomatoes taste great in this recipe.
Recap
The top 10 best-of-class tomatoes are favorites based on taste, color, size, and uses. All of them have distinctive characteristics that you and your family will enjoy.
Be sure to plant one or all of them to share and enjoy throughout the summer and preserve for use during the winter.
