Garlic: Tips and Troubleshooting, Selecting, Storing, Recipes, Safety

[Kim WB]

I know Ican look this up somewhere, but its too tempting just to post and sit back for the replies from knowledgeable chefs! Plus, a book will only tell me one way...this board is sure to provide some interesting alternatives!  

My garlic is very hard to peel. I am not keeping it too long, and am buying it from an above average produce department, so i believe it doesn't spend too much time on the shelves...Please give me advice on best way to store it, and any easy peeling hints.  Thanks.

[SobaAddict70]

Best way to peel a clove of garlic (this works well if you have a Chinese cleaver, but regular knives work also):

With the blade facing away from you, lay the knife flat on the board with a clove underneath it, and "gently" or lightly smash the knife with your palm.  Do this once or twice, and the skin should come away from the clove, making for easy peeling.

As for storing, I may be less versed than others (Steve Klc?), but best thing is to store in a cool, dry place at room temperature.  I usually let it just sit on a shelf in my kitchen.

Soba

[researchgal]

ditto what soba said.  Also, if you're a gadget-happy type there are these tubular garlic peelers that work well, too.  You roll the garlic inside it and peel comes right off (my mom uses one!).

[mamster]

There are many varieties of garlic and some are much easier to peel than others.  The soft-neck white grocery store variety is one of the hardest to peel;  if you can find some purple hard-neck garlic at a farmer's market or specialty store, you'll probably have an easier time peeling it.  (It also tastes better, if you ask me.)

[Suzanne F]

I'm not saying this is a GOOD method, but it's easy when you've got a whole case to peel:  Prep guys at work would smash up the heads to separate the cloves, then put all the cloves in a bucket with hot water.  By the time the water was cold, the skins would just slip off.

[Wilfrid]

If you don't want to crush it, take off the tips at top and bottom with a sharp knife and discard.  Then it's down to hard work and your fingernails.

I believe storing it in the fridge is the thing to avoid.  Emeril taught me that on the telly, and he was right.

[nyfirepatrolchef X]

youre supposed to  *p e e l*  it?

*slaps self on forehead*

[John Whiting]

I'm going to slip in a word for the much-maligned garlic press. The most frequent objection is the difficulty of cleaning it. There's an easy way: Hold it under running water, upside down, with index finger inserted in the cup. With the other hand, press the stiff bristles of a handbrush repeatedly into the holes, at the same time moving the finger around inside the cup to clear away the bits of garlic that have been dislodged. It may sound complicated, but it's easy to get the hang of and only takes about 10-15 seconds.

[Wilfrid]

Something useful there, John.  I have been holding it up to the light and poking the garlic slivers out with a toothpick*.  I am game for your alternative!

*Might I just add bitterly that I rarely use it, but somehow always end up cleaning it?    

[cakewalk]

A while ago I bought the greatest garlic press in the world. It came with a little plastic thingy that has prongs that fit exactly into the holes of the garlic press. So cleaning the press is a cinch. I stick that plastic thing into the garlic press holes, and all the sludge is poked through and then I just rinse it off. Sounds obscene, but hey, it works!

[JSD]

Those rubber tubes work pretty good, but if you have a flat rubber jar opener (and who doesn't who has politicians running for local office, or savings and loans, etc) they work great too, and the peels can't get stuck to it like the little tube.

[Jinmyo]

Hm. Don't like using the blade of the knife for anything but cutting. Takes enough to keep it sharp. Press with the heel of the hand. Crush lightly. Skin slips off in a few pieces. And your hands smell of luvly luvly garlic.

[VMBrasseur]

Since they were mentioned, could someone please explain to me the facination with/usefulness of garlic presses?  I've just never seen the need for them, myself.

--V

[John Whiting]

Garlic presses: it's time-consuming to reduce garlic to paste without working it with salt, and sometimes you just don't want more salt. If you want garlic puree in something you don't want either to cook or to liquidize -- for instance, garlic butter for making garlic bread -- a garlic press is convenient. Or at least I and some others find it convenient; those who don't aren't obliged to use it.

[Shiva]

I'll step up to the plate (so to speak) and shout it out loud THROW THAT GARLIC PRESS AWAY!

Garlic presses rupture the cell walls, allowing enzyme 'X' to mix with enzyme 'Y' (anybody got McGee handy?) which results in that nasty, sulphur-ey smell that you may associate with bad Italian joints and Emeril La gassy.

Lightly crush, thinly slice or chop fine, but never pulverize garlic.  Unless you like that stanky taste, I guess.

Alton Brown on garlic.

[John Whiting]

that nasty, sulphur-ey smell that you may associate with bad Italian joints and Emeril La gassy.

I like it. I guess I'm one of those stinky Wops. I even like the stench of rotten milk, as given off so unequivocally by Epoisse or Limburger.

Garlic presses seem to be one of those matters of faith and morals that can split families and start wars.  

[Jinmyo]

Garlic presses seem to be one of those matters of faith and morals that can split families and start wars.  

Well, we know what side you're on.

[oraklet]

garlic presses are allright for a lot of garlic uses, though of course not all. the kind i've allways liked was with the little plastic thing mentioned, only problem was that it would disappear or the teeth would break off. so now i've bought an ikea press with built-in teeth, and it works like a charm. it has the advantage, besides, of being made of steel instead of aluminium.

actually, a lot of ikea kitchen utensils are fine, just don't buy their knives and cutting boards.

[Rachel Perlow]

I always hated Garlic Presses before I got the Oxo Good Grips one. I use it for when I need pulverized garlic, like for a salad dressing. Or, if I forget to add sliced garlic to the begining of a saute or stir-fry, I'll push a clove through the press towards the end cause it cooks quicker.

Another benefit of using a good garlic press is that you don't have to peel the clove before pressing it. Yup, just put it through, the skin stays behind!

[VMBrasseur]

Maybe I just have always used craptacular garlic presses, but I can never get any sort of garlic at all to squeeze through those tiny holes. Is that actually the intended goal of the press? Or is it just to squish the dickens out of the clove?

--V, who still just doesn't get it

[Kim WB]

See, I knew I'd get a lot of garlic opinions. I was adding sliced garlic to a marinade for grilled calamari..and this recipe calls for sliced, so you can easily remove it and not grill it, I guess. I am not a skilled enough cook to change a recipe..it says sliced, I slice. I don't crush! But I will look into the garlic press..Rachel, I have seen that OXY one, but I recall my mom's garlic press sitting in the drawer, never used, taking up space year after year...with the tea infuser and nutcracker picks.

[Rachel Perlow]

Meanwhile I use both my tea infuser and my nutcracker picks!

[John Whiting]

The usual garlic press -- small, cylindrical, with tiny holes -- is fiddly to use. Much of the pulp comes up the sides of the plunger and has to be poked back down. Others have a large rectangular bed with rows of larger holes, which is removable. The garlic squishes out at either end.

None of them are perfect. I've come to terms with the small cylindrical kind. With my under-the-tap cleaning method, I find it satisfactory -- just. This week I was given a mezzaluna together with a shallow curved chopping block. After I've tried it with garlic, I may change the habit of a lifetime.

[=Mark]

Since they were mentioned, could someone please explain to me the facination with/usefulness of garlic presses?  I've just never seen the need for them, myself.

This reminds me of a TV Chef several years ago who went on disapprovingly about garlic presses, said they "bruised" the garlic. She then proceeded to toss a few cloves in a morter & pestle and vigorously mashed the crap out of them!

Honestly when I peel garlic I use a somewhat technically challenging and possibly dangerous method:

Place clove of garlic on cutting board. Whack with bottom of bottle of olive oil.

Peel falls off.

[Lord Michael Lewis]

Put the cloves you wish to peel in some very hot water for five minutes.

If you've got time you could peel three or four heads, cover them with water and blitz them with a hand blender for a few seconds. You then strain the result and cover with decent olive oil. This will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Very useful for refritos etc.