Cooking with garlic: Do clove sizes impact your recipes?

Garlic cloves can vary greatly by size. Here’s how to factor that into your cooking . Q: Can you help me to determine what is meant by “cloves of garlic” as a measurement? For example so many recipes call for amounts along the lines of “2 cloves of garlic, minced” or “3 cloves of garlic, chopped,” but when I break apart a head of garlic, the individual cloves range greatly in size, so I’m never sure how much to add.

I do see recipes that specify “1 tablespoon of minced garlic” for example, which makes much more sense to me. A: The average garlic bulb or head found in a standard grocery store contains 10 to 12 individual cloves encased in papery skin. Cloves can range in size from as small as a slivered almond to as large as a grape (or bigger for certain varieties, such as elephant garlic).



Most cooks simply rely on experience to know the size of an average clove, using more or less in a recipe to compensate for differing sizes. The reason many recipe developers opt for a number of cloves rather than a specific weight or volume is to make it easier for the home cook. For instance, if a recipe does call for 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, I’m likely to mince more than I need, but then I’m left with the dilemma of what to do with the excess.

In most instances, a little more or less garlic won’t severely impact the flavour of the finished product , which is why it’s okay to simply go with the number of cloves the recipe calls for. Plus, this eliminates the need to reach for a measuring spoon..