~How Much is & How Many Florets in One Cauliflower~

Mother Nature did not have OCD.  If she did, there would be more symmetry in the world.  It would be a pretty boring place, but, at least all our vegetables would be the same size, which brings me to this point:  How much is in a head of cauliflower?  The most frustrating thing about most cauliflower recipes is their lack of specificity regarding precisely how much cauliflower to purchase.  Generic measurements for volume (2 cups-, 4 cups-florets) or a vague product description (1 large head, 2 medium heads), are meaningless to the average cooker-of-cauliflower, and, are the biggest causes of recipe failure -- stop recipe failure, use a scale.  

Weight (1, 2-pound head, 1 pound florets) is the only measurement worth a damn.

Measuring cauliflower requires a scale, both in the grocery store when purchasing this vegetable, and, in the kitchen when cooking it.  For my demonstration, I bought two medium heads of cauliflower.  Untrimmed, the one on the left weighed 2 pounds, 15 ounces, and, the one on the right weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces.  After trimming, here is how it all weighed out:

A typical untrimmed, medium head weighs about 2 pounds.

After trimming & removing florets where each meets the core...

... a 1-quart measure full-to-the-top (6 cups) florets...

... or, roughly speaking, between 1-1 1/4 pounds florets. 

Chopped florets from 1, 2-pound head = 4 generous cups.

Don't play, weigh the cauliflower first -- at the store! 

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2019)

Comments

[Nan]

Thank you for dong this! Much appreciated!

[KitchenEncounters]

Good morning Phil -- Your comment made me smile. My beloved (now deceased) husband was an engineer -- I completely understand the mindset! ~ Mel.

[Phil Landmeier]

Thanks for posting this thorough answer to my question. You just saved me the trouble of doing exactly what you did. (I'm a retired engineer, now chef.)

[KitchenEncounters]

Victoria -- It brought me to my breaking point! Thanks for the nice comment! ~ Melanie

[Victoria MacLeod]

Thank you so much. I get so frustrated by recipe writers who don't seem to own a scale.

[KitchenEncounters]

Athena -- You brought a giant smile to my face! ~ Melanie

[Athena]

Amen, Sister.