# Do you prefer to use Onion Powder, Onion Flakes, Garlic Powder instead of the Fresh stuff? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025 "2017-01-13T11:36:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/61 "2017-01-15T16:17:30Z")
Apparently Schwartz started in **[Nova Scotia](http://www.schwartz.co.uk/about-us/about-us)** selling coffee and the founder’s son imported the first pneumatically tyred bicycle to peddle the first pure spices sold there. \* _The Romance of Commerce !_ Now it’s owned by a conglomerate. - This being the 19th century, they had hitherto been extended with flour and such. \*\* \*\* _He sells us sands of Araby As sugar for cash down; He sweeps his shop and sells the dust The purest salt in town, He crams with cans of poisoned meat Poor subjects of the King, And when they die by thousands Why, he laughs like anything._ ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/62 "2017-01-15T16:22:18Z")
For me Garlic and onion have different usagesmost of the time. Garlic is used as a spice/flavoring, Onion is used as a vegetable. So powdered or dried minced garlic is used in place of fresh fairly regularly, but powered onion would make no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/63 "2017-01-15T16:38:34Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Apparently Schwartz started in **[Nova Scotia](http://www.schwartz.co.uk/about-us/about-us)** selling coffee and the founder’s son imported the first pneumatically tyred bicycle to peddle the first pure spices sold there. \* > _The Romance of Commerce !_ > > Now it’s owned by a conglomerate. > > - This being the 19th century, they had hitherto been extended with flour and such. \*\* > > \*\* _He sells us sands of Araby > As sugar for cash down; > He sweeps his shop and sells the dust > The purest salt in town, > He crams with cans of poisoned meat > Poor subjects of the King, > And when they die by thousands > Why, he laughs like anything._ Shades of G.K. Chesterton’s whimsical poem about the British Empire at its zenith: “So Lancashire merchants, whenever they like, Can poison the meat of a man in Klondyke Or water the beer of a man in Bombay – And that is the meaning of Empire Day.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/64 "2017-01-15T17:11:34Z")
I regularly buy granulated garlic and toasted onion from **Penzey’s Spices** of Wisconsin, who provide a superior product to the national brands on supermarket shelves. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/65 "2017-01-15T17:16:57Z")
The stuff in jars is predictable. Yes it’s probably mostly from China but they blend it to taste the same way every time. (That’s why you always get the scene of the grandmother in the kitchen for hours monitoring her sauce. Yes, she’s been cooking it all her life but she uses fresh ingredients so she doesn’t know how it will taste before she tweaks it. ) I use real onion and garlic, but I just tried a recipe and it said “a medium onion” which is 4"? 5"? yellow, white? And the last yellow onion I had was weird, the outer layers were hard as leather. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/66 "2017-01-15T17:26:17Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > I use real onion and garlic, but I just tried a recipe and it said “a medium onion” which is 4"? 5"? yellow, white? And the last yellow onion I had was weird, the outer layers were hard as leather. It’s not that precise. I would say about 3" is a medium onion. USDA says 2.5" apparently. Another source says 8 oz. I assume yellow onions unless otherwise specified, but white will do fine. Just use your judgment. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/67 "2017-01-15T18:07:03Z")
It would be better if recipes said things like eight ounces of diced onion, rather than “medium onion diced”. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/68 "2017-01-15T20:19:11Z")
Only use powdered in 2 instances: a) I am out of either onions or garlic; b) I am making my own garlic bread. I LOVE the smell of sautéing onion and garlic. It is the best part of cooking and I enjoy cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/69 "2017-01-16T00:43:12Z")
I use fresh probably 98% of the time - I don’t know that I’ve ever bought onion powder or granulated garlic (though I have bought garlic salt, but not in many years). I probably have some prefab spice mixes and/or curry powders/pastes around that use them. And I do use garlic paste once in a great while, usually for slow-cooked things like Crock-Pot curries that don’t call for sauteeing it first. (Ginger paste too.) P.S. I use a LOT of onions in recipes where they are a large proportion of the volume of the dish (stews, curries, etc.) Dried would just not be the same thing at all - volume is also important. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/70 "2017-01-16T05:02:56Z")
I use fresh onions in virtually every savory food I make, even adding some to things, like pizza, that are already prepared. There is no substitute for fresh onion. Even with my limited ability to stand for long times in the kitchen, I’m still able to slice or chop up some onion. Garlic can be a PITA. I try to use it fresh when possible, but often resort to adding minced garlic or powder. ---
**Author:** ![KatTP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@KatTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KatTP)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/71 "2017-01-16T08:55:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Heh. Even for a “dry rub” on a steak, I’ll pulverize onion/garlic/salt/pepper with a mortar&pestle and rub it on the meat. Same. I only use fresh onions and garlic. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/72 "2017-01-16T11:01:58Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > Essentially, I always use fresh onions, and garlic – am not particularly a purist; it just doesn’t seem to occur to me to do otherwise. As regards garlic – in an emergency, I’ll use garlic puree from a tube. > > Have the impression that in the UK, where I am, we don’t appear to “do” onion / garlic in powder / flakes form – I don’t seem to encounter such, in recipes or in shops and otherwise in “real life”. That could just be because I’m not seeking them. (Minced garlic in a jar, we do have.) Onion powder/granules is one of those products that appears to come and go on a whim. The only place I’ve seen it consistently stocked is Sainsbury’s. It may be depend on local demand. Garlic powder is pretty common though. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025/73 "2017-01-16T16:33:40Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > The stuff in jars is predictable. Yes it’s probably mostly from China but they blend it to taste the same way every time. (That’s why you always get the scene of the grandmother in the kitchen for hours monitoring her sauce. Yes, she’s been cooking it all her life but she uses fresh ingredients so she doesn’t know how it will taste before she tweaks it. ) I use real onion and garlic, but I just tried a recipe and it said “a medium onion” which is 4"? 5"? yellow, white? And the last yellow onion I had was weird, the outer layers were hard as leather. Typically when I read that, it implies to me that the amount of onion is just a range of values, not a hard and fast number. Cooking is rarely like baking; get 20% fewer or more onions in a recipe, and it’s usually imperceptible in the final analysis, while get 20% more flour or some other baking ingredient and it can make a massive difference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-onion-powder-onion-flakes-garlic-powder-instead-of-the-fresh-stuff/777025.md?page=3)