Big Beef vs Beefmaster
Two giant-fruited hybrids: modern resistance package versus classic VFN.
| Big Beef | Beefmaster | |
|---|---|---|
| Breeding | F1 hybrid | F1 hybrid |
| Growth habit | Indeterminate | Indeterminate |
| Days to maturity | 70-73 | 80-85 |
| Fruit color | red | red |
| Fruit size class | beefsteak | beefsteak |
| Typical weight | 10-12 oz | 16-32 oz |
| Primary uses | slicing | slicing |
| Introduced | 1994 | - |
| Documented resistances | 6 | 3 |
| Saves true from seed | No (F1) | No (F1) |
Measured against each other
These two have never been grown in the same trial AMSeed holds. Every difference in the table above is a difference between what each variety's own sources say about it, which is not the same as a difference between the varieties. Two catalogs counting days from different starting points, or reporting fruit weight from different seasons and soils, can differ by more than the seed does.
Where head-to-head measurements do exist: the trial record · what else we do not know
Disease resistance
Big Beef
Beefmaster
Traits
Both: F1 Hybrid, Indeterminate, Red, Beefsteak, Slicing
Only Big Beef
- Mid Season
Only Beefmaster
- Late Season
Origins
Big Beef
The 1994 AAS winner that finally put real beefsteak size and flavor on a fully disease-resistant plant, another Colen Wyatt design in the Petoseed-to-Seminis lineage.
Beefmaster
A giant-fruited hybrid in the VFN line, routinely producing two-pound fruit on vigorous vines, and for decades the variety gardeners grew when the goal was one enormous tomato.
More: all comparisons · every tomato variety · filter the full database
Sources & References
Evidence: 5 sources, including 1 independent reference.
- Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog · Johnny's Selected Seeds, Seed Catalog
- Tomato Growers Supply catalog · Tomato Growers Supply Company, Seed Catalog
- Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners · Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Community Collection
- Vegetable MD Online · Cornell University, Plant Pathology, University or Government
- Burpee catalog · W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Seed Catalog