I rarely post about prepping tips, but I’ve been thinking about dedicating a section of my blog to just that. Quick posts, a few pics and then move on. Knife sharpening and caring, basics of mise en place, gear, kitchen logistics, food safety, so many useful things to talk about and one great opportunity to get a bit more geeky and in-depth on more technical aspects of cooking. Anyways, how about Peeling a Whole Head of Garlic In Seconds?
To peel or not to peel garlic. I’m a bit torn about this one myself. Peeling garlic is a pain in the ass, no matter what the approach. It really eats up prep time. Peeling one garlic clove at a time is usually what I end up doing. Sometimes I use a garlic press, and push the unpeeled garlic clove right through it… but the pain that it is cleaning that thing, the skins quickly obstruct the press holes.. ah, I’m already getting anxious. If a recipe calls for one or two cloves which is usually the case then peeling garlic the usual way might be ok. But when getting ready for some recipes that requires more garlic, or you know you’re going to be needing it more frequently, then I’d go to the store and buy peeled garlic in a jar. I’ve done it many times. Some might raise their eyebrows at this, but quite honestly, I doubt anyone could tell the difference. As long as the garlic looks beautiful it should be fresh and good to go. I also like to buy garlic paste at the asian markets. This is awesome stuff btw.
I don’t know who came up with this trick, I’m sure the idea derived from industrial garlic peelers that basically use the same principle. If you have your garlic heads, and want to save a ton of time peeling garlic, there this is one thing you can do:
1. You don’t need to do this but I like to cut off the woody top on the garlic head top. Be careful, is quite tough and you’ll need a good chef knife and a solid grip on both the knife and the head. At this point the cloves will come loose. You can skip the cutting of the woody top and just extract the cloves as you usually do, you can trim those bits later individually.
2. Discard all those loose skins and place the cloves in a container (I use 2 metallic bowls, and bigger is better here, mine are too small), cover with a lid or with another container. Shake this contraption vigorously for about a minute using both hands. Remove the top container/lid. About 70% of the cloves should be peeled. The rest should just need a little help and the skins should slide off pretty easily.
3. Place the peeled garlics in a jar with vegetable or olive oil. Garlic stored like this will last a long time in the fridge, way longer than keeping garlic in its own skin. Not to mention. Garlic flavored oil is delicious. Don’t subject it to heat though.
That’s it.
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23 comments
If I ever buy garlic, im totally going to do this!!!
hahahhaha! you’re hilarious 🙂 thanks!
What a great idea! I just give up and smash the damn clove with the side of my knife, chuck the skin and go. But sometimes, that doesn’t get it all. Love the thought to doing the whole head at once!
yeah, most times I do it exactly like you, but this trick works so well is worth trying. I’ve done this with a couple of garlic heads and you can imagine, no more garlic peeling for weeks and weeks hahaha
I do admit to hating those fiddly, papery skins . . .
You know what, I am going to teach this to my students. This is terrific. Thank you!
hahah yay! 🙂 thank you Janet! btw… I didn’t know you taught cooking?
Why yes I do. I will start my new job teaching at the Escoffier school next week. Any tip that helps them save money is always useful.
that’s awesome 🙂 I wish I had the time to attend cooking school. I looked at escoffier online at some point. I’ll try to post more tips soon!
Excellent. I’ve never done this, but will give it a go. My approach is more like Daisy’s.
if you want to process a few garlic heads at once, this is a good way to go about it. Thanks for stopping by, Susan! hope you’re doing great 🙂
such an interesting way to do it! my mum always just taught me to cut off the bottom of the clove (where it attaches to the bulb) and whack it with the side of the cleaver! minced and peeled garlic in one move!
hahaha yeah, I like your style 🙂 stress releasing as well!
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Very interesting! A great idea, I’ll do it. I use so much garlic when I cook and sometimes I do get a little weary of peeling garlic!
Great tip – I have a sack full of fresh garlic from our veggie patch so may well give some of it this treatment! I had to pop over as the photo of you (?) / your avatar reminded me of my dad when he was a child 🙂
at my 41 years old I still look like that photo, believe me 😉
We use those prepaired garlic cloves that are chopped already. I like this better due to the fact that it is fresh and does not have any other additives. Thanks for the tips GREAT STUFF
welcome Mike, thank you for stopping by!!!
Useful tips! I don’t like peeling garlic either.
Not sure why it took me so long to find this post 🙂
Another trick I came across was to put garlic in a bottle with warm water ~ 50C (need to check the exact temp, too cold it won’t work, too hot it will cook garlic), and just shake it for ~45 s or so. The skin will come right off.
ah nice! I can see that working too, garlic skin is very dry and becomes really really soft when it touches water. I gotta try that! 🙂