Peeled Garlic

[Porthos]

Both Costco stores I use the most keep it in the open refrigerator cases but it does move around.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Porthos (log)

[demiglace]

It's been a few years but I remember the peeled garlic being with the spices. My cousin used the peeled garlic..he loved it. 

 

 

oops,   if this is a refrigerated product ignore my post. 

[lindag]

One of the comments made by CI's Bridget Lancaster was that she buys the pre-peeled garlic because when she buy the fresh stuff she ends up with only one or two usable cloves, the rest are all those little guys that are too small to be useful.  I was sold, because that's a gripe of mine.  Next trip to Costco I'll get a jar of the ready-to-use.

[Shel_B]

One of the comments made by CI's Bridget Lancaster was that she buys the pre-peeled garlic because when she buy the fresh stuff she ends up with only one or two usable cloves, the rest are all those little guys that are too small to be useful.  I was sold, because that's a gripe of mine.  Next trip to Costco I'll get a jar of the ready-to-use.

 

Just a quick observation here ... recently I purchased a bag of Christopher's Ranch peeled garlic at Costco.  There were quite a few small cloves in the bag - small enough to make grating them with the Microplane difficult - and very few large cloves.

 

A nice feature of the bagged garlic is that none of the cloves we used had a green shoot in the center.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Shel_B (log)

[weinoo]

I never buy peeled, and now only buy organically grown, whole head garlic from the US. It's Auerpak brand packaging, but they must be getting it from Gilroy.  In the late summer/fall at the farmers' markets here, there's great hardneck garlic, and it lasts for a couple of months just hanging in an airy spot.

 

There is so much cheap Chinese garlic that has flooded the market, it makes me wonder what they're growing it in.

Edited January 13, 2015 by weinoo (log)

[Bowlsareus]

What a great idea.  I've frozen a lot of things but never garlic.  I'm going to give it a try.  Thanks for the tip.  I do really like my garlic peeler though.  It's the one the is a rubber tube, you put the clove in and roll it back and forth on the counter and voila - out comes the peeled garlic    .  Brilliant!  No need to touch them.  This is especially great when I'm making dill pickles.  Another product that I just love is the garlic plate.  It is a small hand made pottery plate with raised ridges in the centre.  You simply run the clove back and forth over the rough surface and it becomes very very fine - perfect for garlic butter/bread in particular but for anything really. What's not to love about garlic!

[lindag]

Well, on my last foray into Costco I did buy their bagged, peeled garlic cloves.  My goodness, that bag is HUGE  I should look, but it must be at least two pounds!  I hope it keeps well frozen, it will take me a lifetime to use that much - and I do love garlic.

[TicTac]

Be very weary of Chinese grown Garlic - or any non organic (yes I know, organic is very loosly governed and one can BUY an organic certification these days), look at the size of the bulbs vs. Organic, the shape, and compare, then ask yourself, what's wrong with this picture...

 

Like weinoo, I too only buy organic garlic from 1 farmer that I know quite well, besides that we grow our own in warmer months.

Edited January 27, 2015 by TicTac (log)

[weedy]

I never buy peeled, and now only buy organically grown, whole head garlic from the US. .

[Anna N]

Well, on my last foray into Costco I did buy their bagged, peeled garlic cloves.  My goodness, that bag is HUGE  I should look, but it must be at least two pounds!  I hope it keeps well frozen, it will take me a lifetime to use that much - and I do love garlic.

You might want to try roasting some of it. With already peeled cloves it is a doddle. Roasted and raw garlic in your freezer can only be a good thing and I'm not even Martha.

[ElsieD]

I went to Costco today and looked for the peeled garlic. I couldn't find any so I asked at the service desk. They do not carry it. What they do carry is chopped garlic in what, if I remember correctly, were 1.2 kg jars. The label said it was "grown, harvested and processed in California" but I didn't get any. It said 1/2 teaspoon was equal to one clove. I have tried jarred garlic in the past and was never impressed by it although I might be persuaded if anyone said this was worth buying.

[Porthos]

I use some of the jarred minced garlic from Costco in my home kitchen. Depending on what I am preparing I sometimes use fresh garlic.  In my Ren Faire kitchens the minced garlic is a staple.

[Shel_B]

I went to Costco today and looked for the peeled garlic. I couldn't find any so I asked at the service desk. They do not carry it. What they do carry is chopped garlic in what, if I remember correctly, were 1.2 kg jars. The label said it was "grown, harvested and processed in California" but I didn't get any. It said 1/2 teaspoon was equal to one clove. I have tried jarred garlic in the past and was never impressed by it although I might be persuaded if anyone said this was worth buying.

 

Let me jump in here and dissuade you further from buying such a product.  Never had good luck with it.  We have a small jar of the stuff in Toots' refrigerator, to be used only in the event of an absolutely serious garlic emergency.

[Toliver]

I went to Costco today and looked for the peeled garlic. I couldn't find any so I asked at the service desk. They do not carry it. What they do carry is chopped garlic in what, if I remember correctly, were 1.2 kg jars...

If it helps...In my Costco, the peeled cloves of garlic are in the refrigerated areas where they sell the sliced cheeses and fresh pastas (as opposed to the freezer units area). They also have the jars of the crushed/diced garlic in the spice section.

[huiray]

One of the comments made by CI's Bridget Lancaster was that she buys the pre-peeled garlic because when she buy the fresh stuff she ends up with only one or two usable cloves, the rest are all those little guys that are too small to be useful.

 

Sorry, but this makes zero sense to me.  Zero.  OF COURSE the various sized cloves can be used.  All in the same dish, too.  I also really wonder about what the f*ck this person is buying or what she is expecting of an ingredient.  If she is looking for enormous, evenly-sized cloves (for whatever reason) then she needs to buy the appropriate type rather than summarily dismiss all fresh stuff.

 

 

Be very weary of Chinese grown Garlic

 

I think this is a greatly overreaching statement.  ( I assume you meant to say "wary")

 

------------

 

I can't remember the last time I bought pre-peeled garlic cloves.  And I use a lot of garlic.  Peeling them is very easy IMO, you just need to acknowledge that you will get the smell of garlic on your fingers/hand for a little while.

 

I buy fresh heads of garlic, "locally grown", various varieties (which I have documented elsewhere here on eG too) by the dozens and more when in season.  I will say that their quality varies from grower to grower, with many heads that I got from a particular vendor the past year (2014) turning out to be worm-infested even though they looked beautiful at first blush.**  They were also NOT CHEAP.  "General Supermarket American garlic" by the head is usually fine - again, I have no issues or problems with peeling them.  Ditto Chinese garlic, the stuff often sold in Chinese groceries - you just select the ones that are firm etc etc - tastewise --- eh, they're not THAT different for my uses since they get thrown into many dishes with various other seasonings in them and I hardly ever use garlic as a RAW component where the taste of it matters much more.  Also again, I don't see what the problem is with peeling them.  You just need to use the appropriate technique.

 

** I mentioned to them about my observations and experience with their produce.  One of them express a minimal amount of regret and offered me ONE replacement head of garlic.  Others at that stall seemed to avoid meeting my gaze on next visit.

 

[peterm2]

To those who buy the pre-peeled Costco stuff, do you freeze the cloves laid out on a tray?  Or are they dry enough on their own that you can just toss the bag in the freezer.  I suspect the latter would work, but I don't want to end up with a giant garlic block if I'm wrong.

[pbear]

Absolutely.  You can just toss them in the freezer.

[lindag]

Really?  For me it's just too time-consuming and frustrating to peel those itty bitty cloves, so I toss them and use only the big cloves.

That means I don't get much garlic out of one head.

I'm loving the idea of the pre-peeled cloves, particularly since I'm told by an ATK expert that they're just as good as fresh!

My only question is whether you need to increase the amount to make up for a loss in flavor after freezing.

[Shel_B]

Really?  For me it's just too time-consuming and frustrating to peel those itty bitty cloves, so I toss them and use only the big cloves.

That means I don't get much garlic out of one head.

 

We're similar in that I dislike peeling garlic.  Recently, at the recommendation of CI and a friend who has one, I purchased this garlic press, and was very happy to discover that it will press the smallest cloves in a head without need to peel them.  Likewise for the larger cloves.  Not suggesting that you get this as a solution to your problems, as other presses may do the same thing, perhaps even better in some ways, but such a press is an option.

 

And for those who'd suggest that other techniques of mincing and preparing garlic exist, well, I use 'em all - just depends on what result is desired.

 

I'm going to Costco on Thursday and I may get another bag of garlic to freeze, if they have California garlic in bags.  I think they do. 

Edited February 3, 2015 by Shel_B (log)

[Anna N]

Really?  For me it's just too time-consuming and frustrating to peel those itty bitty cloves, so I toss them and use only the big cloves.

That means I don't get much garlic out of one head.

I'm loving the idea of the pre-peeled cloves, particularly since I'm told by an ATK expert that they're just as good as fresh!

My only question is whether you need to increase the amount to make up for a loss in flavor after freezing.

But if anyone thinks that the Christopher Ranch peeled garlic cloves are all large are going to be very disappointed. Each mini packet within the larger bag contains a mix of large and quite small cloves.

[Shel_B]

But if anyone thinks that the Christopher Ranch peeled garlic cloves are all large are going to be very disappointed. Each mini packet within the larger bag contains a mix of large and quite small cloves.

 

The bag I bought at Costco didn't have smaller packages in it.  The cloves were all medium sized or small, no large cloves at all.  The fresh cloves I get here from various sources have lots of large cloves per head, but to be fair, I often pick through the heads carefully looking for heads with larger cloves.  One place has their fresh heads in large bins, and often some big cloves fall from the heads, so when I see them, I buy them.  Makes prep a little easier as the cloves don't have to be separated from the heads - not a big deal, but since I don't care to work with garlic ...

[huiray]

Really?  For me it's just too time-consuming and frustrating to peel those itty bitty cloves, so I toss them and use only the big cloves.

That means I don't get much garlic out of one head.

 

That's too bad.

[Toliver]

The original intent behind buying the pre-peeled garlic cloves was not to replace fresh garlic in all of CI's recipes.

CI goes through a lot of garlic when testing recipes. Pre-peeled cloves of garlic would be much easier to use in their test kitchens so they tested whether there was a major difference in flavor when using pre-peeled garlic in baked/casserole dishes versus using fresh garlic. They found that the taste difference was either negligible or that there was no difference.

Using garlic in sauces, salsas, dressings, sautés, marinades, etc, was a different story and I'm sure CI uses fresh peeled garlic as opposed to the pre-peeled cloves of garlic for such recipes.

 

 

 

[Anna N]

There is no question that there is nothing quite like fresh garlic. When it was possible to purchase fresh garlic on Manitoulin Island I was over the moon. Now, however, the supermarket garlicbut I have access to is of such poor quality that if I attempt to smash it with my chef's knife, The knife simply bounces off it. Pre-peeled, packaged garlic gives me a better bang for my buck. There will be no farmers market until May 1.

[rotuts]

Ive mentioned this, as far as I can remember

 

if there is a TJ's near you, the Fz garlic in the little packs that comes from Israel suit me both in the wintertime

 

and when Im feeling a bit of ennui ( FD : ennui = High End Sloth  just saying )

 

of course I cant say where it comes from

 

It might be a bit like Italian Olive Oil :

 

Container Ships of chinese lowest end garlic arrive at the processing center in Israel

 

and get processed.

 

pleeeeeeeeeeeese   It just a joke

 

I hope no one at DOROT  reads this

 

 

I do like the stuff

 

and a bit OT  they have the same little packs of FZ basil

 

I use that all the time in pasta in the winter time w some of the fz garlic

 

and EVOO Not from Italy : TJ's greek Kalammatta.

Edited February 3, 2015 by rotuts (log)