Even though this is not something you would ask yourself often, it does get to a point where you want to know how many items make up a certain weight. How many potatoes in a pound? The thought comes to you when you are cooking and have no weighing scale with you. If you are in this predicament, worry not. By keeping a few pointers in mind, you can figure out how many potatoes are in a pound.
How Many Potatoes in a Pound: Train your eye
One of the things you will realize when eyeballing potato weight is your eye is your greatest friend. A pound of potatoes would often fill up one of your hands. So, if you can hold the potatoes in one hand, chances are you are holding a pound of potatoes. That being said, you can get a single potato that weighs a pound, and at other times, you might have to use several potatoes to make a pound. It will depend on the size of the potatoes.
Variety of potatoes
You will notice that the kind of potatoes you get will depend on how many make a pound. Different potatoes come in different sizes, so you need to figure out which one will work for you. Here are some common varieties of potatoes. Knowing how many of them make a pound will make it easier for you to figure out how many of your potatoes make a pound.
· White potatoes. Since they are so small, it takes about eight to ten of them to make a pound.
· Yukon potatoes. Five Yukon gold potatoes are equal to a pound
· Red skin potatoes. Since red skin potatoes are so small, you need about ten to twelve of them to make a pound.
· Russet potatoes. Since russet potatoes are so big, it takes about two potatoes to make a pound.
With all the different varieties above, it is clear that you cannot give a single measure for all potato varieties when looking at how many are in a pound.
The size of the potatoes
If you are new to cooking, then chances are all potatoes look the same to you. Asking you to figure out what type of potatoes you have to know how many make a pound will be a hassle. The easiest for you would be to use the sizes of the potatoes. Potatoes can be so small they fit in a baby’s hand or so big you can barely hold one in your hand. The weight of the potatoes will be greatly determined by the size they come in. Here are the different sizes of potatoes and how they make up a pound.
· Small = 0.2lb
· Medium = 0.33lb
· Medium/large = 0.5lb
· Large =0.8lb
By looking at those sizes, you can determine how heavy your potatoes are despite their variety.
Why is it important for you to know how heavy your potatoes are?
The weight of a single potato is not something many people think about. You will often eat out and not even bother to know how heavy the food you ate was. There are, however, a couple of reasons why you should look into the weight of the food you are eating. Here are the top reasons for that:
· A recipe you are making. One of the most important reasons is to know how heavy your potatoes are in your recipes. If you have never made a dish before, exact measurements will help. Since most of them use weight instead of the number of potatoes, it will help know how heavy your potatoes are. It also comes in handy when you are substituting
· Calorie count. If you are on a diet, you need to pay attention to the food you eat and how that affects your calorie count every day. Knowing how many pounds of potatoes went into your meal will help you figure out whether you are taking in enough nutrients or you should cut down on your portion size.
How Many Potatoes in a Pound? Conclusion
Potatoes come in various sizes, and often you do not pay heed to them. Knowing how many potatoes you need in the pound will make grocery shopping easy for you. It is also great information to have when you want to have a different conversation with friends.