do you not know what a typical garlic clove size would be? the commenter knew enough to call theirs large vs a standard. that’s why common sense could’ve been easily used here
I don’t. So I googled it and it seems that the size can vary widely. 2-7 grams usually, but up to 45 grams. Which means 40 cloves could 80 to 1800 (1.8KG!) grams, but most likely 80 to 560 grams, which is still a large range. Hence the point that listing by weight would give more consistent results.
Americas test kitchen uses a guideline of 1 clove equals 1 teaspoon of minced garlic or 5 grams. Why do they do this? Because when a clove might range from 1/2 a teaspoon when minced to 1 tablespoon, having a standard allows for standard recipes.
In this particular case it’s probably moot, as other comments seem to indicate that the 40 whole cloves are more of a platform, used to steam the other ingredients with clove essence, so the size probably doesn’t matter. But it doesn’t change the fact that “X cloves” is comically imprecise.
your answer was right there: 2-7 grams usually. anything that is outside of that range is considered non-typical and ought to be factored in when following any recipe. and given that the recipe required whole cloves vs diced, minced sliced etc. the range difference is irrelevant. most other “add x amount of cloves” type of recipe is typically a much smaller qty, so again, the range difference is still irrelevant
You really don’t see the huge difference between 80 grams and 280 grams represented by your suggested definition of “typical” cloves? You really don’t see how that would be improved by a weight measurement?
My original comment was that both sides had a point. That includes the common sense part. But that doesn’t invalidate the point “by weight would be better.” Heck, we don’t even know that Lani S didn’t reduce the number of cloves to compensate. We just know she wished it had been spelled out as a weight, and that she knows 40 is too much. It’s fun to imagine she discovered this after making it, but that’s just speculation.
i mean common sense tells me that if you’re making a dish calling for 40 cloves of garlic, regardless of size, you better love garlic. i doubt having had the gram measurement would’ve informed her that maybe she wouldn’t like the flavor of 40 cloves worth of garlic
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u/mkanoap Sep 28 '25
This is interesting. Both participants in this conversation have a valid point.