The conversion ratio from whole potatoes to potato flakes

It sounds to me like the issue may be that you're crowding the pan.

Basically, to get everything nice and brown and crispy, you need enough space for all of the steam to escape. That picture you showed has potatoes stacked on top of each other -- that means as the bottom items cook, they're going to end up steaming the items above them.

At a diner, they have a large griddle to work with -- they can really spread things out. You're not typically that lucky in a regular kitchen, as you don't have as much space, and you have a lip on the pans that'll hold the steam in.

So, either work in smaller batches, or consider recipes that use an oven -- using sheet pans instead of a pan on the stove solves much of the problem.

One other trick is that most diners don't start from raw potatoes -- maybe with hash browns, but not for home fries, you're not going to get the nice soft interior in a reasonable amount of time unless you start with a potato that's already been baked or boiled. (If you're doing things in the oven, you might be able to, but not in a pan)

Just for reference ... I have a 14" cast iron skillet that I use for home fries ... and it's about the right size for cooking a single large potato, which might be two servings, maybe three for kids. (I tend to cook carb-heavy meals).

update : I probably should've stated this directly -- you want the chunks of potato to form a single layer in the pan, with space in between them.

Tough question - there are a lot of non-scientific ways to measure small/medium/large potatoes and nobody seems to agree on exactly what weight each is. However, there are a few ways I identify large vs medium at home.

In my experience, a large potato is about the size you would get in a restaurant (I know, not very specific). That is, when I cook at home, the potatoes I purchase tend to be medium - round (not oval) and about the size of a tennis ball or baseball. When I'm at a restaurant their potatoes are noticeably larger, and generally more oval shaped it seems (closer to a sweet potato in shape and size), which makes them great for stuffing like for a loaded baked potato. Luckily most of the recipes I have at home that involve potatoes don't require precise measurement, so I just stick with my eyeball measurements and don't even bother weighing them.

I found a source online that says this:

According to Shape magazine, eatbetteramerica.com and prevention, a medium potato is the size of a computer mouse, so somewhat bigger than that.

And I think I can get behind that answer. I'd say your average computer mouse (like, one you would get with a new PC, not a fancy third-party mouse) is about the size of an average medium potato. Another way to eyeball: I'm a 30 year old male with hands that are neither very large or very small. The medium potatoes in this bag are about the size of a loose fist for me. So a large potato would be bigger than either of those things.

As for measurements, I have a bag of medium potatoes and it says they're 5.3 oz (150g) a piece. I weighed one and it was closer to 6.5oz (185g). Based on that I'd say a large potato would be anything over 8oz (225g), pushing as high as 12oz (340g).

I found a way to search online for this info: calories. By searching for "large potato calories" I was able to find pages with weights and measures:

• 3 to 4 1/4 inches in diameter
• 300 grams (about 10.5oz)

So, in short, it seems like I would consider these good numbers:

• Medium potato: 2 to 3" in diameter, 5-8oz (140-225g)
• Large potato: 3 to 4.25" in diameter, 8-12oz (225-340g)

Below is a picture of the medium potato from my bag, compared to some common household/kitchen items. The gift card is the size of a normal credit card, and the knife is a common steak knife from my utensil drawer. Apparently a medium potato is almost exactly the size of a 1 cup measure!