What size are small, medium and large tomatoes?

What size are small, medium and large tomatoes? - Great egrets and squacco heron on green sea coast

Many recipes call for a tomato of a certain size. How do you know the difference between small, medium and large tomatoes?



Best Answer

USDA requirements for measurements used by the Fresh Market tomato industry

                **Size**           **Size**
                No Pass            Pass 
                inches             inches
                see note #1        see note #2


Small           2 1?8 inches       2 9?32 inches
Medium          2¼ inches          2 17?32 inches
Large           2½ inches          2 25?32 inches
Extra Large     2¾ inches   

note # 1. Will not pass through a round opening with this diameter when the tomato is held with its greatest diameter parallel to the plane of the opening.

note # 2. Will pass through a round opening of this size; the tomato may be held in any position for the test.




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What is considered as a small tomato?

The cherry tomato is a type of small round tomato believed to be an intermediate genetic admixture between wild currant-type tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from spherical to slightly oblong in shape.

What is the size of an average tomato?

In contrast, size is an easily measurable trait that depends on the weight of the fruit as well on their diameter and length from top to bottom. Probably the most familiar tomato of all, the slightly flattened fruit of this type weigh on the average about 70 to 150g and generally measure about 50 to 70mm in diameter.

What are #2 tomatoes?

U.S. No. 2 consists of tomatoes which meet the following requirements:
  • Similar varietal characteristics;
  • Mature;
  • Not overripe or soft;
  • Clean;
  • Well developed;
  • Reasonably well formed; and,
  • Not more than slightly rough.




The Best Pot Size for Growing Tomatoes??? (Big or Small)




More answers regarding what size are small, medium and large tomatoes?

Answer 2

As SAJ14SAJ said, there's not really a true answer here. But insofar as there's anything at all official, it's probably the sizes the USDA uses for nutrition. They're still a bit arbitrary, but hey, everything will be.

  • large whole (3" dia): 182g
  • medium whole (2-3/5" dia): 123g
  • small whole (2-2/5" dia): 91g
  • plum tomato: 62g
  • cherry: 17g

Here's the full nutrition table on the USDA site. You can also get this kind of stuff just by googling "tomato nutrition" and looking in the knowledge panel on the right (there's a dropdown to pick serving sizes).

Obviously tomatoes do get plenty bigger than that, but I don't think most people write recipes expecting you to use a 5" beefsteak tomato.

Answer 3

It is going to be very context dependent. A small beefsteak tomato is probably larger than a very large Roma tomato.

That said, a recipe that is not precise about the type of tomato, nor the size of tomato is unlikely to be critically dependent on the exact quantity of tomato.

Still, one could estimate that a small tomato in the abstract is lime sized, a medium tomato lemon sized, and a large tomato orange to grapefruit sized. I realize this is no more concrete--there is no absolute standard.

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