Are 2 medium onions equal to 1 large onion?

[Herr Kutz]

I usually buy a fresh onion from the produce section and thought I was just getting a medium size onion since all of them were the same size.

However, I've been passing pre-cut onions in the frozen section and was anxious to try them out to shave a couple minutes off of the prep time. The package claims that there are 2 medium onions (10oz total) so I was planning to use about 1/2 of the package. After emptying the entire bag it looks like "2 medium onions" is less than the normal (what I thought was medium) size onion. I'm beginning to think this is false advertising on Pictsweet's end.

 

[Azuma Hazuki]

Depends on the size of the medium and large onions.

Onions are roughly spherical, so to a coarse approximation the volume of an onion is 4/3 * pi * r^3. So let's say a large onion, a really big one, is 3" in radius; that's about 108 cubic inches of onion, [4 * 3.14 * 27] / 3. And a medium onion is maybe 2 inches radius, [4 * 3.14 * 8] / 3 or around 32 cubic inches.

Point is the actual amount of onion you get is going to vary with the cube of the radius, so a small increase in r can mean way more onion than you expected...

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Depends on the size of the medium and large onions.

Onions are roughly spherical, so to a coarse approximation the volume of an onion is 4/3 * pi * r^3. So let's say a large onion, a really big one, is 3" in radius; that's about 108 cubic inches of onion, [4 * 3.14 * 27] / 3. And a medium onion is maybe 2 inches radius, [4 * 3.14 * 8] / 3 or around 32 cubic inches.

Point is the actual amount of onion you get is going to vary with the cube of the radius, so a small increase in r can mean way more onion than you expected...

Who gave you permission to uplift monkeys?

 

[Unico]

Onions are roughly spherical, so to a coarse approximation the volume of an onion is 4/3 * pi * r^3. So let's say a large onion, a really big one, is 3" in radius; that's about 108 cubic inches of onion, [4 * 3.14 * 27] / 3. And a medium onion is maybe 2 inches radius, [4 * 3.14 * 8] / 3 or around 32 cubic inches.

Looks like the calculation used the diameter rather than the radius. Given a radius of 1.5” and 1” respectively, a 3” onion would be therefore have a volume of about 14 cu in – and a 2” onion would have a volume of about 4 cu in.

I weighted a 3” onion in my pantry at 15.1 oz (actually 428 grams). It would seem that the frozen packaging envisions medium onions as significantly smaller at just 5 oz each. So perhaps a 2” onion would actually be a medium size. Interesting – never bothered to think about it before. Always just used what seemed right for most dishes – typically half of a 3” onion - or 1.5 medium sized onions

 

[MrSquished]

Get a Japanese Chef's knife and cut the darn onion yourself. Japanese steel is so good it practically cuts the onion by itself

 

[Carson Dyle]

Anyone who can't slice, dice or chop an onion in a matter of seconds should confine themselves to eating at McDonalds for the rest of their life.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Quick way to find out is put a medium onion in a full glass of water and check how much water is displaced. Then do the same with the bigger one. Or you can measure the circumference and figure out the volume.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Quick way to find out is put a medium onion in a full glass of water and check how much water is displaced. Then do the same with the bigger one. Or you can measure the circumference and figure out the volume.

You could also -- put a medium onion in a full glass of Pepto Bismol and check how much Pepto Bismol is displaced. Then do the same with the bigger one.

 

[Squisher]

I'm confused. You're trying to save time by coming home and waiting for answers on a forum rather than cutting onions yourself?

 

[nCred]

Anyone who can't slice, dice or chop an onion in a matter of seconds should confine themselves to eating at McDonalds for the rest of their life.

If I tried to dice an onion in "seconds" I would probably lose a finger or two..

 

[gorcorps]

Put as many god damned onions in the dish as you want... it's YOUR food ffs

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Get a Japanese Chef's knife and cut the darn onion yourself. Japanese steel is so good it practically cuts the onion by itself

Remember everyone, Japanese steel is different from other people's steel.

 

[iroast]

In terms of flavoring your dish, it depends on how you slice/dice your onion compared to how the store does it and amount of juice lost in packaging.

 

[mikeymikec]

Oblig. Pratchett quote: “A woman always has half an onion left over, no matter what size of the onion, the dish or the woman”

 

[Azuma Hazuki]

Looks like the calculation used the diameter rather than the radius. Given a radius of 1.5” and 1” respectively, a 3” onion would be therefore have a volume of about 14 cu in – and a 2” onion would have a volume of about 4 cu in.

I weighted a 3” onion in my pantry at 15.1 oz (actually 428 grams). It would seem that the frozen packaging envisions medium onions as significantly smaller at just 5 oz each. So perhaps a 2” onion would actually be a medium size. Interesting – never bothered to think about it before. Always just used what seemed right for most dishes – typically half of a 3” onion - or 1.5 medium sized onions

Nope, I meant a 6" diameter (3" radius) onion. I've seen some white onions that are that big around. He *did* say large onion

 

[Mike64]

I think you were previously over-estimating what the Prfofessional Recipe-writing, Cookbook World has conventionally considered a "medium onion" for a very long time, which is 6 ounces, before cleaning and chopping... ("Common", yellow onions being distinct as far as these conventions go from "Spanish onions" which are basically "huge" by comparison...)

 

[Azuma Hazuki]

Probably, yeah =P I love cooking and onions figure very heavily into what I make, as it's mostly either modified Italian recipes or a sort of pan-southeast-Asian set of curries. So I go through lots of onions, garlic, ginger, etc.

 

[ponyo]

I didn't even know you could buy pre-cut frozen onions. I rarely look at the frozen veggie section.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I didn't even know you could buy pre-cut frozen onions. I rarely look at the frozen veggie section.

When green bell pepper prices jump in my grocery store, I check the freezer for those. Onions are usually cheap...a few $$/bag. Bell peppers sometimes go from $.70-$1.50 depending on season and supplier. You can usually get a frozen bag of sliced bell peppers for $1 at my grocery store. Not as flavorful, but a good substitute... I like to speak with my wallet when I can.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I didn't even know you could buy pre-cut frozen onions. I rarely look at the frozen veggie section.

I'm not sure I can recall seeing them. Most frozen vegetables you can just heat and eat, but who eats just onions?

The really scary thing I see in grocery stores is the increasing number of precut vegetables in the produce section. Again... who the hell is so incapable, or has so little time, that they can't cut up carrots or onions or broccoli?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

More or less. Mmmmm.... onions....

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'm not sure I can recall seeing them. Most frozen vegetables you can just heat and eat, but who eats just onions?

The really scary thing I see in grocery stores is the increasing number of precut vegetables in the produce section. Again... who the hell is so incapable, or has so little time, that they can't cut up carrots or onions or broccoli?

Sometimes I'll get a deli sandwich and a thing of celery sticks at the grocery store, if I didn't bring a lunch to work but don't feel like eating restaurant food. I assumed that's what it was for. (Office pot-luck scenarios, etc.)

It's convenient.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Sometimes I'll get a deli sandwich and a thing of celery sticks at the grocery store, if I didn't bring a lunch to work but don't feel like eating restaurant food. I assumed that's what it was for. (Office pot-luck scenarios, etc.)

It's convenient.

The little snack things are convenient for lunches. I've hit those in the past. Fruit bowls, celery and carrot sticks, etc. I'm talking about larger containers of things like peeled potatoes, diced onions, chopped peppers.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

The little snack things are convenient for lunches. I've hit those in the post. Fruit bowls, celery and carrot sticks, etc. I'm talking about larger containers of things like peeled potatoes, diced onions, chopped peppers.

Oh! Those.

Yeah; if you get the stew kits, you can throw it into a pot, set it on low, and you save 15 minutes of screwing around in the kitchen. Not a bad idea for single parents, etc.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

If I tried to dice an onion in "seconds" I would probably lose a finger or two..

It seriously takes less than 10 seconds.