Yes, very expensive seed.

There's a long thread elsewhere about Steakhouse and also Burpee's Porterhouse, Burpee in general, and I guess Ribeye comes next. LOL

I'm linking to it below.

That size fruit in 75 days, I think not.

Largest fruit size variety bred? Absolutely not.

Most hybrids have some disease tolerances associated with them. I seen none noted.

I think only 1 or 2 folks in the thread I referred to had actually bought the seeds, most were just asking for opinions based on claims and other Burpee large reds as well as other known large reds, most of which some folks grow for competition size fruits..

Burpee has a small breeding program started, after a long interval but most of the time they subcontract with Petoseed in Ca, tell them roughly what they want, and then get naming rights.

Since you've already bought the seeds for sure just germinate a few, grow them out and get back here and give us your opinion, based on other large reds you've grown, either F1 or OP varieties.

I wish I could link to that other thread for you, but to do so would mean I'm banned here, last I knew, and since I've been reading /posting here from time to time since about 2000 I'd just as soon stay as be banned. ( smile)

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Steakhouse

Carolyn, I enjoyed your book...

Based on some of your postings, I'm going for some big red ones this year. I'm planting Wes, Chapman, Neves Azorean Red, and Red Penna. For earlies I'm planting Moravsky Div, and I'm rounding out the garden with Paul Robeson, Spudatula, Rebel Yell, Omar's Lebanese, KBX, San Marzano Redorta and Super Sioux.

At least a few of those should do okay in our brutally hot humid summers here in SC.

I will Carolyn.

The only other big red ones I have ever grown were Parks Whopper and some unknown seed from a big red tomato that I bought at a farmers market in Alabama years ago.

I like the Whoppers pretty good and they do well for me. The unknown one must have been a hybrid, it produced well and had about the same taste as the whopper, but smaller.

I ordered two packages of the Burpee Steakhouse tomato seeds to give them a try. Yes they are expensive.but I plan to harvest seed if they produce decent fruit. I received the seeds yesterday and started several as a trial. Only time will tell.

gwrace, Steakhouse is supposed to be a hybrid, and if so, it wouldn't grow true from saved seed.

Then again, Burpee's Brandy Boy is supposed to be a hybrid, but some folks reportedly grew it out for many generations, and it did grow true from saved seed. So the assumption was that Burpee was just claiming it was a hybrid in order to sell more seed.

Thanks for the tip. I'm not short on land, containers or space so I don't mind trying. It's always fun to experiment.

I was at HD today; They had both of those Burpee hybrids (SH and PorterHouse) on the rack.
If you are interested you might want to visit your neighborhood HD.Prices were reasonable , $1.89 ?

Thanks Seysonn, I wish I had known that earlier, but it's too late I have already bought them! My local HD didn't have any seeds a few weeks ago.

I'll check my local HD this weekend. If they have them at that price, I'll buy more, just in case I like them!

I have talked with some of my co-workers about them and they want to try them. They said that they want to buy all of my extras. So I should break even or make a few bucks!

Volume is not quality. If you WANT to grow a grocery store-quality tomato, just buy it there.

I ordered a packet and started them Jan 8th in small cells and have transplanted them into 1 gallon containers and so far they have rooted out nicely and have not been staked. I plan on transplanting them outside this week. I do suggest bird-netting them and possibly thinning some fruit in order to get those "giant" fruits.

I ordered a packet and started them Jan 8th ..
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That is about 90 days. They must be good size plants.
I have started mine on Feb 27. And I am shooting for picking some ripe tomatoes on or about June 15Th ( 110 days from seeding). WOW or WOF (wall of fire), got to do it.

Only wanted to interject my experiences with Steakhouse and Porterhouse a few years back. I compared them to Parks Whopper and Beefy Boy and the Parks tomatoes were larger and more productive in my garden. The little girl pictured on the Burpee catelog cover holding a huge tomato would make you believe in much larger fruits coming from those plants.

I think a little more of Burpee products than most others on this forum but still know that they are eggagerating the size you are likely to exp with this variety. I did grow Whoppers last yr and Burpees Orange Slice and the Burpee tomato was larger and more prolific. No opinion on the taste diff. And isn't the Steakhouse brand new?

BurpeeâÂÂs SteakHouse is NOT listed in Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners (Cornell University)

Porterhouse has 3 reviewers that gave 1 star, while ParkâÂÂs Whopper has 9 reviewers that gave 4.3 stars - out of five.

I made a mistake. The tomato we planted last year was STEAK SANDWICH AND NOT STEAKHOUSE. We planted STEAK SANDWICH last year and they were good, very tasty and we gave a lot away and received favorable comments..

I started the seeds a few days ago and of the 12 plants all germinated quickly using a heat mat.

Now, I did go online and order the STEAKHOUSE tomato. I ordered 2 packs at the high price of $6.95 a pack. That was bad enough but the shipping cost was another
$6.00+. If I had realized that 2 packs of seeds would cost nearly $20.00 I would not have ordered. them...but then again, I am curious about this tomato.

This post was edited by Camellia10 on Mon, Mar 17, 14 at 18:30

I might be wrong but from the Burpee 2014 catalogue I get the idea this is the first yr for Steakhouse. Last yr they introduced the so called 5x5 2lb paste tomato and Supersteak has been around a while but this is the first I have heard of Steakhouse and I receive their catalogue every yr.

Big Pinks, you are correct. I got myself confused with Steak Sandwich. Thanks.

Re: post by missingtheobvious: I am really surprised to hear that anyone was able to save seed from BrandyBoy and have it grow true the following year.

I looked at the Steakhouse Hybrid, but didn't see any reviews on the taste. I agree that getting a 3 year old to hold the tomato on the cover makes it look larger.

BrandyBoy has always been a winner for my garden and consistently grows many, many tomatoes of 1 lb and a few of 2 lb. I will be eager to try saving seeds and see what happens because these are the most tender, juicy, and flavorful tomatoes I've ever grown.

I'd love to hear what the Steakhouse Hybrid flavor is like.

Those that are buying one or two packs of seeds from Burpee may want to check their site every few weeks. They often have a free shipping offer on the front page. Another way (which I did) is to sign up for their free newsletter. (I think I got free shipping just for signing up.) I said "okay, now I'm in for a lot of junk mail". But, surprisingly, I only get notification on special offers. Many of them being free shipping.

An update.....

I planted 6 steakhouse seeds, 6 brandy boy's, 6 Moscow, 6 Rutgers, 6 porterhouse, and 6 mortgage lifters in starter pots 7 weeks ago. All of them germinated and grew well! I only transplanted once in to solo cups but they were very healthy and stocky.

I planted 3 of each in the garden, yesterday, 2 days before my local extension recommends...... ;)

I took the rest to work and I just told them they could have them, but "donations" would help cover the costs if anyone wanted to help. I'm a giving kind of person. They were all going crazy over how good they looked.

I had to leave to go on an emergency call at one of our facilities, so the boss over our mechanics (I'm an electrician) said that he would collect the donations.

When I went back by the shop later to get some parts from our stock room he handed me $56, not bad! But the same size plants from the local stores would be $5 or $6 each, and none of these varieties. Knowing him he probably auctioned them off after I left! LOL

He said that some of the folks from the other departments found out about them and asked him to ask me if I had more to sell. I don't, but I'm thinking I probably will next year!

Pretty impressive, but not record setting!

A few pics of my largest ripe one I have some a little bigger that aren't ripe yet. They have a really good taste.

Wertach - what does the fruit weigh? How many fruit per plant would you say? Are they a hardy - vigorous indeterminate plant? Do they set fruit easily? How many blossoms per truss can one expect? Some of the larger fruit plants appear to be frail in the stem structure of the plant - is that true with SteakHouse? Do you have a photo of the plant you can share? Lots of questions

I don't have a scale Hudson.

It's an Indeterminate they are about 5' tall and look good.

I will try to take a picture of the plants later today.

OOPS! I think I posted the wrong picture!

I think that's a Brandy boy above! Or it could be several different ones! Most of my tags blew away and I didn't pay attention to the leaves when I was picking that one! I will know when I slice it!

Here is the Steakhouse! I know this is the steakhouse because it still had the tag I put on it.

Compared to the Brandy Boy

The plants

This post was edited by wertach on Sun, Jul 6, 14 at 11:04

Grew them this year. Great plant. Fruit has excellent flavor. Smallest are apx. 1.5 lbs largest 2.25. This plant was given to me but I definitely will be buying seed for next spring. Very happy with it.

Steakhouse tomato. 7.31.2014. 2.25 lbs. Sturdy plants. Great flavor. Meaty - not a lot of gel and seeds. Smallest tomatoes thus far-1.50 lbs.

Are you getting a lot of Siamese twin tomatoes from them? Or is it just me?

I'm getting a lot of weird looking tomatoes on Steakhouse, Porterhouse, and Brandy boy.

Like this one in the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ugly Tomato

I got a late start on planting my own Steakhouse 7 inch starts from seed on 5-16-14. The pic below shows the first and biggest sample. I am 6 ft tall and the steakhouse tomato plant is 7 ft at the time of this pic and about 8 ft now (8-27-14) and still growing. The tomato is 1.5 lbs, and the succeeding ones are about 1 lb each. I do not pinch suckers, and grow them in wire cages, in Tennessee. My 10 ft corn is in the background.

I live north of the 49th and Burpee will not ship to me. I've searched but can't find seeds for any gigantic tomatoes. I've love to buy some from anyone who'll mail them to me. Any takers?

So you are in Canada? That causes agri shipping problems. Per the forum guidelines:

Seed and plant exchanges are regulated by government laws. By participating in this forum, you agree that you will familiarize yourself with and follow all applicable local and national laws in your country. Additionally, it is Houzz’s policy that: 1) you may only use this forum for exchanges within your country, and 2) you may not charge for seed or plant exchanges, but requiring pre-paid postage is permitted.

Good luck. Surely there are some Canadian seed suppliers that offer beefsteak tomato seeds?

Canada seed-catalogue index

Dave

Thanks for this. Had no idea this inquiry would test the rules. My apologies.

Unfortunately, no Canadian seed suppliers carry this variety. Maybe someday.

Sorry didn't realize you wanted this specific variety (its a Burpee patent-controlled) but were only looking for "gigantic tomatoes". But if you have a local seed supplier who has an import license they can order them from Burpee for you.

Do keep in mind that the fruit size is only partially genetic controlled and your very different growing conditions may not result in the same size fruit as those much further south may get.

Dave

Understood. Thanks. I grow many varieties of tomatoes. This intrigued me as a novelty. I appreciate your advice.

John

Follow me, so that I can send you a private message. My wife's cousin lives in Canada and grows big tomatoes, she may be able to help.

umm, that didn't work. Do you have a junk e-mail address that you can post for me? I wouldn't use one that is for your normal e-mail, I am sure a lot of spam will show up.

Sorry. Just have the one. I'll try to think of an alternative, but we may be stuck.

If you can come up with another option, I'm all ears.

Thanks a lot for trying.

It is easy to create another one! Use a free one like Juno or Yahoo.

In my case... easier said than done. I'm afraid I'm incredibly technologically handicapped. I'll see if one of my pals can walk me through it. Failing that, my wife's back in a few days. Thanks.

I just recently found the steakhouse tomato plant at my local plant farm. So I will be giving them a try along with Giant Belgium, Big Zac , and Brandywine Suddath,

Yes! Seeds are expensive. I have grown them for 3 or 4 years now. As far as I'm concerned, they are the best in my garden. When the Big Beef stops the Steakhouse is still going. Great, unmatched flavor for me. Another good one is Marianna's Peace for me.

I grew delicious tomato & won 3'rd place in a tomato contest!! Delicious tomatos are delicious tomatoes!!! I am trying out steakhouse tomatoes!!! Hopefully they will be great!!!!

Yes! I grew them fromm seed this year. They are amazing! Huge tomatoes with no blemishes and only one had a crack, even during this very hot summer.

. Not a one had blossom end rot. most weighed 1..5 lbs and more. They are superstars!!

I did! best tasting out of the 5 varieties i planted. They are pinkish in color, just beautiful all the way around along with not being acidic

I have been growing these for at least 5 years. They are the best of the best! They are large, tasty, not giant cores like big tomatoes sometimes have and are not cat faced. They make lots of tomatoes and are my favorite in the garden. Problem is that if I want them, I have to start them myself or pay unaffordable, huge prices at Burpee. Plants are not available at your local nursery. I'm 70 years old and I really don't have the energy to keep starting them like that. I will have to revert back to Big Beef so I can buy plants locally and at a reasonable price.

I'd like to try out Steakhouse but am wondering for those of you who have/do grow them do they need extra support? As in the tomatoes needing a sling to hold most of their weight so that the bud branch does not snap as they get huge and heavy? Seems like just 1 - 3 pounder would snap most branches much less having 3-4 putting stress on the stem.