Potatos are a basic staple of diets everywhere but, especially so in America. They can be found in any number of amazing dishes. As such, delicious recipes often call for potatos but, a lot of the time they are called for by size. A recipe might say 6 medium potatoes, or 3 large potatoes, for example. So what is a medium potato? What is a large potato? And how do you know what to use and not mess up the recipe. I set out to find the answer by weighing every single potato in a 10 lb sack.
How much does a potato weigh? Russet potatoes in an average 10lb sack weigh between 3.4oz and 10.1oz (96g – 286g). The median weight is 5.75oz (163g) and the average is 6.15oz (174g). Large potatoes, like those used for baked potatoes, are typically sold individually.
My 10-pound bag of russet potatoes had 9.99 lbs of potatoes inside. Let’s look at the breakdown in a little more detail.
Ounces | Lbs | Grams | Kilograms | |
Largest Potato | 10.10 | 0.63 | 285.83 | 0.29 |
Smallest Potato | 3.40 | 0.21 | 96.22 | 0.10 |
Average | 6.15 | 0.38 | 174.05 | 0.17 |
Median | 5.75 | 0.36 | 162.73 | 0.16 |
Here are what those numbers look like (roughly).
The largest potato of the group was clearly very large in comparison. Likewise, the smallest potatoes were obviously small. Holding the potatoes, it was easy to get a feel for small vs large as well as what a “medium” potato felt like.
The small one is not too much bigger than the average lime off my tree. The large one was more like the size of a large Avocado.
The medium potatoes fit comfortably in my hand. Not too big, not too small.
There were 26 potatoes in my standard 10 lb sack. Their weights ranged from 3.4 oz to 10.1 oz (96g – 286g). Here is a breakdown:
Potato | Ounces | Lbs | Grams | Kilograms |
1 | 7.50 | 0.47 | 212.25 | 0.21225 |
2 | 5.00 | 0.31 | 141.50 | 0.1415 |
3 | 7.00 | 0.44 | 198.10 | 0.1981 |
4 | 5.60 | 0.35 | 158.48 | 0.15848 |
5 | 8.70 | 0.54 | 246.21 | 0.24621 |
6 | 9.60 | 0.60 | 271.68 | 0.27168 |
7 | 6.90 | 0.43 | 195.27 | 0.19527 |
8 | 9.70 | 0.61 | 274.51 | 0.27451 |
9 | 6.90 | 0.43 | 195.27 | 0.19527 |
10 | 5.40 | 0.34 | 152.82 | 0.15282 |
11 | 6.90 | 0.43 | 195.27 | 0.19527 |
12 | 3.90 | 0.24 | 110.37 | 0.11037 |
13 | 5.90 | 0.37 | 166.97 | 0.16697 |
14 | 5.50 | 0.34 | 155.65 | 0.15565 |
15 | 3.40 | 0.21 | 96.22 | 0.09622 |
16 | 3.70 | 0.23 | 104.71 | 0.10471 |
17 | 7.30 | 0.46 | 206.59 | 0.20659 |
18 | 4.00 | 0.25 | 113.20 | 0.1132 |
19 | 5.20 | 0.33 | 147.16 | 0.14716 |
20 | 6.70 | 0.42 | 189.61 | 0.18961 |
21 | 4.00 | 0.25 | 113.20 | 0.1132 |
22 | 10.10 | 0.63 | 285.83 | 0.28583 |
23 | 4.30 | 0.27 | 121.69 | 0.12169 |
24 | 4.10 | 0.26 | 116.03 | 0.11603 |
25 | 5.10 | 0.32 | 144.33 | 0.14433 |
26 | 7.40 | 0.46 | 209.42 | 0.20942 |
TOTAL | 159.80 oz | 9.99 lbs | 4522.34 g | 4.52234 kg |
Given this information we can deduce the following for russet potatoes:
- 1 lb of potatoes is approximately 3 medium potatoes
- 2 lbs of potatoes is approximately 6 medium potatoes
- 300g of potatoes is approximately 2 medium potatoes
- 400g of potatoes is approximately 3 medium potatoes
One of the things that frustrated me was when recipes called for a “Medium Potato” or a small onion. I didn’t have years of cooking experience. I had no idea what a medium this or a small that was. I mean, how do you know if you don’t know.
It’s one of those things you figure out with experience, but if you aren’t sure, hopefully, this post has been able to give you a little bit more reassurance.
Ken
Tuesday 20th of September 2022
I am wondering.. if I have 10 lbs of large potatoes and 10 lbs of small potatoes which 10 lb bag of potatoes will I actually get more edible potatoes from? My brother says the large bag . I say they should be equal.. can you help resolve this debate? H
April Lee
Tuesday 20th of September 2022
So...I would say you need to look at it another way. If you have a $100 bill and your brother has 100 $1.00 bills, who has more money? The "amount" is the same but your brother has "more" money. If you are eating the skins, both bags will yield the same amount of edible potatoes (assuming all potatoes in the bag are good). If you are peeling the potatoes, the large bag is your best bet. You'll lose more "weight" by skinning a bunch of small potatoes than you will peeling the large ones. In my family this is more of a Saturday problem than a Tuesday problem but cheers to you guys hope my opinion helps :D
Sabrina
Monday 7th of February 2022
You are wealth of information. Thank you for going through the process to help a foodie out!😊
Vicky Dosch
Friday 19th of November 2021
Very helpful. Thank you.
Bec
Tuesday 2nd of November 2021
Thank you! I am off to pick up 45lbs of loose medium russets and was trying to figure out the best way to transport! Great post
Davie Paul
Sunday 24th of October 2021
Wonderful post.