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I have a recipe that calls for "6 large baking potatoes." So the question becomes, what is considered the average size of a large baking potato? I've looked online, but sadly do not have time to continue my search and the results appear to be all over the place.

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    You're over-thinking this. The fact that the recipe doesn't call for a precise amount of potato either means that the exact amount isn't important or that it's a bad recipe. Assume the former and use potatoes that you consider to be large. You might need to adjust the quantities of other ingredients a little; that's you cooking.
    – David Richerby
    Jan 30, 2017 at 10:16

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Tough question - there are a lot of non-scientific ways to measure small/medium/large potatoes and nobody seems to agree on exactly what weight each is. However, there are a few ways I identify large vs medium at home.

In my experience, a large potato is about the size you would get in a restaurant (I know, not very specific). That is, when I cook at home, the potatoes I purchase tend to be medium - round (not oval) and about the size of a tennis ball or baseball. When I'm at a restaurant their potatoes are noticeably larger, and generally more oval shaped it seems (closer to a sweet potato in shape and size), which makes them great for stuffing like for a loaded baked potato. Luckily most of the recipes I have at home that involve potatoes don't require precise measurement, so I just stick with my eyeball measurements and don't even bother weighing them.

I found a source online that says this:

According to Shape magazine, eatbetteramerica.com and prevention, a medium potato is the size of a computer mouse, so somewhat bigger than that.

And I think I can get behind that answer. I'd say your average computer mouse (like, one you would get with a new PC, not a fancy third-party mouse) is about the size of an average medium potato. Another way to eyeball: I'm a 30 year old male with hands that are neither very large or very small. The medium potatoes in this bag are about the size of a loose fist for me. So a large potato would be bigger than either of those things.

As for measurements, I have a bag of medium potatoes and it says they're 5.3 oz (150g) a piece. I weighed one and it was closer to 6.5oz (185g). Based on that I'd say a large potato would be anything over 8oz (225g), pushing as high as 12oz (340g).

I found a way to search online for this info: calories. By searching for "large potato calories" I was able to find pages with weights and measures:

So, in short, it seems like I would consider these good numbers:

  • Medium potato: 2 to 3" in diameter, 5-8oz (140-225g)
  • Large potato: 3 to 4.25" in diameter, 8-12oz (225-340g)

Below is a picture of the medium potato from my bag, compared to some common household/kitchen items. The gift card is the size of a normal credit card, and the knife is a common steak knife from my utensil drawer. Apparently a medium potato is almost exactly the size of a 1 cup measure!

alt text

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  • Round potatoes are not baking potatoes. Whites and reds are types of potatoes that are normally round. Russetx are better suited for baking. There are several varieties. Harder to find but in my experience the very best baking potoato is a Russet Burbank. A five pound bag of average Bakers will contain about 10 potatos.
    – user41759
    Dec 19, 2015 at 16:35
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    It's a good job you said what the gift card is! I didn't know what it was, so interpreted the cup measure as a saucepan, the knife as a chef's knife, and the potato as gigantic.
    – David Richerby
    Jan 30, 2017 at 10:20
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It probably depends where the recipe originated. My Northern Irish in-laws gave me a recipe for Irish stew that called for 6 medium potatoes, and when I made it everyone complained it wasn't potato-y enough! It turns out that their idea of a "medium potato" is WAY bigger than mine.

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    This would be a better answer if it included how big your medium potatoes were (and how big you think Irish medium potatoes are).
    – Cascabel ♦
    Oct 20, 2012 at 20:01
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According to official US grading guidelines, a large potato has a diameter between 3 and 4.5 inches and weighs between 10 and 28 ounces!

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  • Welcome! Thanks for providing a link, it is interesting to get the official numbers :)
    – Erica
    Apr 27, 2020 at 0:50
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When cooking for larger numbers of people, size and weight become important. Since restaurants are now including calorie counts, it makes sense to get a feel for the energy density of different types of food. i.e. calories/gram. For example a search revealed 100g of potatoes had 77 calories or .77 cal/g. For an adult requiring about 2,500 calories per day, this would mean they need to eat 3.25kg of potatoes to meet their calorie needs (all else being equal).

At the low end, with a large potatoe weighing 225g, this would mean they would need to eat 14 potatoes in a day! (if that is all they ate). So, for a recipe calling for "6 large baking potatoes", it would make sense that this would be enough for a half dozen people, eating one of three meals in a day.

Having a small scale in the kitchen can be handy for questions like this, as I find both temperature and weight are difficult to determine by feel alone.

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