Last week I was with my cousin Paul as he bought a large heirloom tomato at a farmers market and then made breakfast with it the next morning: toast with mayonnaise, hunky slices of tomato, and salt. It looked like the right thing to do. So when I got home I picked a Kellogg’s Breakfast tomato in my yard and imitated Paul’s breakfast and, ooh, it was the right thing to do.
This tomato variety, Kellogg’s Breakfast, is as meaty as any I’ve grown. It holds together very well on a piece of toast. It holds so well that my daughter likes to eat a fat wedge as if it’s watermelon.
Kellogg’s Breakfast is large, somewhat furrowed, sometimes with slightly green shoulders, and turning Valencia-orange orange when fully ripe.
It’s true that I have grown prettier orange tomatoes. Striped German can be prettier, and Pineapple is gorgeous. I once harvested a Pineapple tomato that I wanted to kiss. But for its type, Kellogg’s Breakfast has been more productive and had less skin cracking than those varieties. It’s been an overall better performer in my Southern California garden.
This despite the variety having no local roots. According to Seed Savers Exchange, Kellogg’s Breakfast tomato comes from West Virginia and was named by SSE member Darrell Kellogg of Redford, Michigan who received it from a friend.
I bought my seed from Territorial, and I’ve grown it a couple years in a row. As of now, Kellogg’s Breakfast is my favorite big, meaty orange tomato to grow.
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Crazy timing. Just this morning I saw a recipe in NY Times Cooking that describes that toast, only difference being they first mixed equal parts mayo with finely-shredded, extra-sharp Cheddar cheese.
I’m not growing any tomatoes this year and I’m very sad, dreaming of tomatoes past. Preparing to rent out my house here and move to MN. Thanks for sharing the info about delectable varieties, and your knowledge in general!
Hi Christine,
That’s a big deal! I hope your new place in Minnesota is as wonderful as my great grandfather’s, who had a pond and a forever view on the property. I bet you will grow amazing tomatoes there too.
The last few years my tomatoes have had end rot. Each year I added steer manure. This year I only added growmulch and bone meal. No end rot this year. Planted Big Beef, Betterboy, Beefmaster, and brandywine red. All grew nicely. The betterboy is soft compared to the others. All are good, but the Betterboy is still my favorite. My daughter used some to make tomato sauce and that came out very good. I make sandwiches – 3″ high. White bread, avocado mayonnaise from Costco, iceberg lettuce and a massive slice of home grown tomato. Love it~! The only other person I have known that liked that type of sandwich was Doris, my 90 year old neighbor at the time. I would bring her tomatoes that I grew. Nice to see how her face lit up when she talked about eating that sandwich. She passed at 97. I assume that the Kellogg yellow tastes like a red tomato and I would think that having lots of “meat” would be great in that sandwich. Greg, you’ve got me thinking about next summer!
Hi Rick,
This is one of my favorite parts of summer, having sandwiches with fat slices of fresh tomato in them. I too love the crunch of iceberg lettuce in a sandwich. Three inches high sounds about right!
Double thumbs up!