I suggest hitting the side of your knife with a little less enthusiasm. I use that method too, but I hit it just hard enough to loosen the covering. I guess no juice escapes because I don't have the sticky-skin problem.

If I'm going to put the garlic clove through a press I sometimes leave the skin on. That way, the press is easier to clean because you can peel the skin out of it first, leaving the holes bare.

We grow garlic. I like it too.

I love garlic. I use to peel and mince it myself but for some reason my eyes have developed a reaction to it and so I can no longer touch the garlic. I now buy it already minced :( .

I take it out of the jar, put the lid right back on and have to immediately put the spoon into the dishwasher.

I'm Italian and grew up eating garlic with all sorts of food. Love it. Hubs loves garlic even more than I do!

Go to Amazon and do a search for silicone garlic peeler. You'll get results that show a nifty little, inexpensive, gadget into which you put the clove of garlic, then you roll it on the counter and the garlic is magically peeled.

I have one of those silicone peelers. Got mine at a Pampered Chef Party. (I am sure I over paid) Works like magic. Every time I use it, I tell it how much I love it! Just yesterday, I peeled 12 cloves in short order.

I know what you mean Jim. I'm always flinging my fingers trying to get the skins off and scraping them with the knife.

When I was younger there was a tv chef, James Barber called the "Frypan Man." He did all his cooking in a cast iron skillet, and used garlic all the time. He always used salt on his garlic when he minced it. He said it makes it easy to chop.I remember that vividly, but I don't do it myself. I wonder why. I'm going to start doing that.

I use a garlic press and love it! No peeling necessary.

I have a garlic rock, a smooth river stone I picked up in CO that is long and oval, I use it to gently smack down on the cloves and the skins slip right off. I keep it in the bowl with the garlic, potatoes and onions. Unless my hands are wet, the skins don't stick.

If I need a lot of garlic finely minced, I put the cloves in the little food processor with some water, zoom it until it's all minced up and then pour it out into a little strainer, rinsing the bowl until it's all out and the strainer is full of minced garlic.

I love my garlic press also. I have the Pampered Chef one, and I have never found one that works better than that one.

I keep my garlic in the freezer, take it out the skin just slips right off, it's also easy to slice slightly frozen. It keeps it fresh too.
When I go to the Hong Kong market I buy containers of pre peeled cloves of garlic, those go in the freezer too.

If you happen to have one of those flat round rubber things that are used to open a jar, you can put a garlic in it fold it in there roll it around the skin comes off pretty easily.

LOL! I just sit my garlic out on the counter an hour or so before I need it. Usually, when I come back, it has magically peeled itself. Funny how things work when you have kids.

Here's some of the peeled cloves garlic from the freezer.

I ate at the Stinking Rose a couple of times when I lived in the SF Bay Area.

I find if you "nip" off both ends before the smash, the peel comes off much easier and I have less problems with it sticking to my hands.

I think Adellabedella (sp?) gets first prize!!! LOL

For cooking, I buy a brand of mashed garlic in a jar.
No peeling, no having to wash hands.
Not diced garlic in oil, but just garlic mashed and a little water.

I use it for my tomato gravy for pasta, in scampi, and it's great for garlic bread.

The brand is LAXII . Sold in supermarkets on the shelf with Indian foods- but made in USA. (only needs refrigeration after it's been opened).

This post was edited by monica_pa on Thu, Apr 17, 14 at 17:37

Any one go to Gilroy CA to the garlic festival? Garlic ice cream? etc. You can also get the dried stuff not sure how it works, probably soak it first I use to have a small cookbook on recipes, not sure where it is now, especially since I moved. I think Carol of CA lives near there--maybe she can share her ideas.

Here's some of the peeled cloves garlic from the freezer.

{{!gwi}}