Solanum lycopersicum ‘Kellogg’s Breakfast’ — Golden Orange Beefsteak | Legendary Flavor That Changed Heirloom Tomato His

Description

Few tomatoes stop people in their tracks like the Kellogg’s Breakfast Tomato. This glowing golden-orange beefsteak heirloom is legendary among home gardeners, chefs, and market growers for its huge, juicy fruits and deeply satisfying flavor that’s both sweet and rich, with just the right touch of tang.

An heirloom from West Virginia preserved by Darrell Kellogg, a railroad supervisor, after receiving seed from a friend. The Kelloggs Breakfast Tomato is an extremely large, sunny orange beefsteak with an outstanding flavor that is simply unforgettable. The Seed Savers Exchange promoted the variety through their platform in 1993, and in the mid-21st century, Kellogg’s Breakfast tomatoes increased in notoriety as a popular heirloom cultivar after winning several taste awards and festival competitions. Dr. Carolyn Male, heirloom tomato expert, praised it: “There isn’t another large orange beefsteak variety that I’d rather grow that Kellogg’s Breakfast. The whopping taste of this mighty tomato is truly unequaled, and it’s juicy and meaty at the same time.”

This is the tomato that redefined what “fresh eating” means. Fruits regularly tip the scales at 1–2 pounds each, their bright orange skin gleaming in the sun. Slice one open, and you’ll find meaty, low-acid flesh that’s smooth and almost creamy—perfect for thick sandwiches, fresh salads, and sauces that glow with color. The yellow-orange flesh is dense, aqueous, thick, and succulent, with a tender, meaty, full-bodied mouthfeel. Kellogg’s Breakfast tomatoes are edible raw and have a rich, sweet, tangy, and savory flavor. Fruits typically weigh 1–2 pounds and are low in acidity, offering a rich, sweet, and slightly tropical taste. Unlike red tomatoes, this orange beefsteak offers a naturally balanced sweetness without harsh acidity—it’s a tomato that makes you *want* to eat it fresh, slice after magnificent slice. Whether you’re assembling a BLT that stops conversations, creating a heirloom salad worthy of a farmers market, or simply placing a thick slice on your plate with good olive oil and sea salt, the Kellogg’s Breakfast delivers visual drama and flavor depth that no grocery-store tomato can match.

Like all S. lycopersicum varieties, ‘Kellogg’s Breakfast’ needs six to eight hours of full sun per day. The soil should be in the pH range of 6.0 to 6.8, well-draining, and amended with two inches of aged manure or nutrient-rich compost ahead of planting. Seeds germinate in 5–10 days when kept between 75–90 °F in a moist, well-drained seed-starting mix. Start indoors 6 weeks before the last frost, providing 75-80ºF soil temperatures. As an indeterminate variety, it continues to grow and produce fruit throughout the growing season. Plants are very productive with well over a dozen tomatoes. This is a vine tomato that rewards staking or caging with abundant, bountiful harvests.

Grow Kellogg’s Breakfast from seed and become part of a lineage of gardeners who fell in love with this tomato—from Darrell Kellogg’s own kitchen to seed savers across America, from award-winning chefs to home gardeners who return to it season after season. The interior is a sunny bright color reminiscent of fresh squeezed orange juice with a taste like a barrel full of sunshine. This is the heirloom that proves an orange tomato doesn’t whisper—it sings.