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Milk Street Recipes

What Milk Street Means by Medium Garlic Clove or Large Onion

Asked Aug 27, 2024 by Kris K.

When Milk Street produces a recipe that states "Medium Garlic Clove," "Large Onion," "Small potato," etc. do they also have a published reference chart?

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COMMENTS

  • Carl D.

    November 12, 2024

    A medium clove of garlic is .25 ounces. So weigh out the amount of garlic you need

  • Avi S.

    November 13, 2024

    1. I am an American and I am metrically inclined. Very much so. For me pounds and ounces are a bane.
    2. Your concept of a large onion is different from mine and definitely my wife's. What I consider medium onion she considers a large one.
    3. I have seen many recipes, for example on serious eats, that specify, in addition to descriptive size, a weight in ounces and grams. This is not hard. All you need to do is weight the ingredients you use (onion for example) and publish it as part of the recipe.

  • Regina S.

    November 13, 2024

    Can you explain what you mean when cutting meat “across the grain”? How do I determine this?

  • Fred J.

    November 13, 2024

    For the last several years, I have been rewriting recipes within my collection, expressing volumes of dry ingredients with weight (mass) units, usually in grams. This practice isn't difficult, and the end results come out much more consistently and much easier to adjust when scaling a recipe up or down.

    • Elizabeth MindreauMilk Street Staff

      November 14, 2024

      Regina.

      The "grain" refers to the direction in which the muscle fibers are aligned in meat. You cut across those fibers rather than along them to make the meat easier to chew. You can find resources online that discuss this topic in depth. One good source is website.

    • Elizabeth MindreauMilk Street Staff

      November 14, 2024

      Fred – That's a great idea. We applaud and respect your diligence. In addition to making recipes more consistent, we find that weighing ingredients creates less of a mess than when cooking with the volume method.