I can't think of one recipe I make that uses garlic where the size of the cloves would matter. At least, where having bigger cloves would be a problem. I wouldn't want there to be too little garlic, but it would take a LOT of garlic for there to be too much. So if a recipe calls for 3 cloves, I use 3 cloves. If they are very small, I might use 5 or 6. If they are very large, I'd still use 3. When cooked, garlic mellows nicely and it would be very unusual to over garlic something with fresh garlic.

I use a garlic press because I hate chopping anything with a knife. I use the tip of a knife to kind of scrape out what I can and put the whole thing in the DW. It comes clean 99% of the time and if it doesn't, it just goes through the next washing. I would recommend mine, but I can't find it online...it's about 20 years old.

This one looks easy to use and has a hole cleaner. Rated #1 by Serious Eats

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HEZ888K?tag=seriouseats-onsite-prod-20&ascsubtag=6833119%7Cn830497c2b7dd493fbf5dd3bd7ce49d0d02%7C

If you do the chop and smash with the knife method of mincing the garlic (which I usually do as I dislike cleaning out what’s left behind in the squisher thing), adding the salt into the mix helps with this procedure.

I find that if you’re sauteeing onions and garlic, it’s better to start the onions off and add the garlic just as the onions are nearly done. Garlic burns very easily and once it’s burned, it’s inedible and will make the whole dish ghastly.

Here’s a classic from Uncle Roger- (a character created by comedian Nigel Ng, but pretty well spot on with his cooking critiques)

Uncle Roger reviews Kays’s Cooking Fried Rice

It’s hard to know whether Kay’s Cooking is for real or an elaborately crafted satire on cooking videos. If the latter, she’s a brilliant actress.

My rules for garlic:

1. Always use at least 2x or 3x what the recipe says. Indeed this applis to pretty much all spices in my book. (Especially if it is an American recipe, i'm afraid. They are usually under flavoured to my taste.)

2. Bash with a knife to break the skin and smash the clove. Chop further if necessary. Sometimes I slice. Depends on the texture required in the dish.

3. If used under a roast etc. Don't bother to peel.

4. Do not let it burn. As above, put the garlic in well after onions.

I bought garlic powder once in my life. Never again. It clumped into a lump after opening and had little flavour imo.

I use the Oxo garlic press. It does a wonderful job and is very easy to clean. Ten times faster than a knife.

Garlic goes in and you squeeze.

To clean, flip around and the red pushes through the holes, then put in dishwasher.

I do like Flora. Our British tastebuds must be alike LOL.

I hate peeling garlic! What I do lately is that I will peel a whole head at a time to have it ready to use.

I will sometimes peel and process with a tiny little food chopper/food processor thing and store it in a jar already to use as chopped. But. garlic will off gas and take on an odd essence if you try to keep it too long like that. That is why I only do one whole head at a time. I intend to use it within a few days.

I have tried adding olive oil to cover the pre chopped garlic, but it does not seem to do much good to add to the keeping.

I read somehwhere about how your garlic performs is dependent on how it is cut, crushed, or chopped. Apparently, each of the options has it's unique effect on how the flavor compounds that are in the garlic will react. It is not just about how you use it, at what point you add it or any of that. This is about how the essence of the clove is expressed.

I dont buy that jar of chopped garlic at the grocery because it off gasses and that off gassing affects the food.

I dont worry much about the subtile difference in chopped vs. ground, but you can get off flavors from garlic.

For the first time in my long years of cooking, I recently acquired a jar of granulated garlic. I cut my self some slack in my old age and use it at times when the garlic is not critical.

There are times now where I am leaving the garlic behind. A really quality cut of beef, for example, is so good on it's own without the garlic that I often just let it be. Just salt and black pepper can be wonderful. I love garlic and use a lot of it, but I dont just automatically reach for the garlic with everything nowadays.

I like garlic minced wirh a knife, but my husband does not. If he can see the smallest garlic piece , he will not eat it.

I hate peeling garlic!

They sell tubes that you roll garlic in to peel cloves, it works but it gets stinky and annoying to clean. Something to try: Put your clove in a produce bag. Give it a whack with the heel of your hand. Not hard enough to smoosh it, just hard enough to hear the skin crackle. Still in the bag, rub the clove between your palms like you’re trying to warm your hands. Voila, neatly peeled garlic!

The bag may give some minimal protection from the sharp root end, but really it’s to prevent your hands from smelling.

If you’re doing a larger quantity, a trick that works well is to separate the head into individual cloves, dump them into a small lidded sauce pan, and shake the pan rigorously while holding the lid on tightly. Ten seconds or so of that and most of the cloves will either be peeled, or with skins loosened enough to peel easily.

Thanks for all the advice. Two votes for that OXO press, so I guess that's the way to go. It looks huge. At first I thought it won't fit in my drawer, but then I realized that I can, happily, throw out my current slicing/mincing tool which also takes up a lot of room. Also, Colleenoz, that video was funny!

You do not need a gadget to peel garlic. Set a clove on the counter or cutting board and crush down on it with the flat side of a knife. Skin slides right off and boom you're done with no gadget to clean.

^^^That’s fine and ”the way” as long as you’re not looking for whole cloves. Ultimately the cloves rarely end up whole in my cooking, but they’re a bunch easier to grate if not crushed.

Re the silicone peeling tube, it works best when the paperskin on the cloves is thick and dry—exactly the kind that's really easy to peel with your fingers. If the paperskin is thin and tender, I have no tricks, and the tube is minimally useful. I mostly use the tube when I need several heads peeled. I don't have a stink problem, though. I put it in the dishwasher, standing up over a tine, towards the center, and it gets good and clean.

I broke an OXO press awhike back. I have one of the current design, and one with a different brand that's like the one that broke. I like using the old style one a bit more but use the OXO when I'm doing a lot, since it seems more able to resist breaking in the current design. I had one of the first Italian ones that had the hole cleaning pip grid, but bent the handles in use. I really do prefer a press ever so much, but seem to be stronger than they are. :)

plllog, in my defense I haven’t used a tube since leaving home. There, the dishwasher was only used to ruin good china, never ever for daily use.

The Oxo is not large.

I do not mind chopping garlic for me, but my husband does not like even the smallest chunks. I put them through the press for him and it is fine for me.

LOL! FOAS, i get it! It took me awhile to get it to come clean in the dishwasher. Laying on the little accesories rack on the side does not work, so it's good you brought it up. I like your produce bag trick! My hands are too tender, though. Even the silicone tube hurts some if I have to do a big bunch, but it's worth it,

I grew up using a garlic press, but learned as an adult to use a knife from watching Jacques Pepin. Personally, I don't like foods with loads of garlic, since I can't stop tasting it afterwards - it overpowers everything - not crazy about powdered garlic either - it tastes different to me and is usually way stronger than fresh, IMPE, tending to linger for many hours on the breath.

I mostly don't bother sauteeing garlic for cooked dishes, and often add it in without doing so.

I also prefer to use a chef's knife. I bought one of those rocker thingies, but only used it a few times, since it's not as efficient as the knife.

Found a short video of Pepin showing his techniques. He explains that the strength increases once it's crushed because that releases more of the essential oils.

I store fresh garlic in the fridge in an open dish. I know many people don't do that, but it shrivels and sprouts if left out here.

A better way to remove the peel than smashing it is to cut the clove in half length-wise. The skin will peel off easily in two pieces.

An Italian chef I follow says that when sauteing garlic, it's done as soon as you smell it.

I’ve had the various garlic tools over the years, and a knife is also my choice.

It might have been mentioned, but, if necessary, you can get the garlic smell off your fingers by rubbing them on stainless steel, such as a knife, side of sink, etc. Years ago I bought a little stainless “bar” specifically for that purpose but tend to just rub/rinse my fingers using the knife.

I store garlic in a little basket on a pantry shelf where it’s cool, dry and gets air. Many years ago I had garlic in a sealed Tupperware container. When I finally opened it I noticed a white powdery substance all over it. Looking closer I saw the ”powder” was moving!😳

Question about the OXO shown. Does the rubber handle slide back? On my old one it does, and with time has created a leaky seal such that I gave to empty the handles, and they’re kinda gross in there. While the press works fine, I’d replace it if the new ones are better.

Even more important, the coated and curved handles are much nicer on the hands! OXO used to be all about ergonomics. I'm guessing yours is from some kind of line wanting to look like Rösle. Mine is like Sherry's picture. It doesn't get hard use, though it does go in the dishwasher. I don't remember the old one, with narrowing at the neck, having issues with the grip surface either. I think you need a new one. ;)

food, I agree you might need a new one. The Oxo Sherry posted looks nice. It’s been literally years since I’ve used mine for garlic (brand is Zyliss Susi). I do, however, pull it out to press little balls of cookie dough through to make ”hair” for gingerbread people cookies. at Christmas. Works great!☺️

Look again at the Joseph Joseph rocker tool. No moving parts, all metal, easy clean.

And granulated (not powder, not salt) garlic is really underrated. I use it a lot.

Yes! I probably use the JJ more than the press. Makes a chunkier mince.

That's what I was referring to in my above comment about a rocker. I wasn't happy with it, but I can see it being useful for people with dexterity issues - no offense to anyone here, of course...😁

When i am making something for just myself, such as Shrimp Scampi, I will use a knife sometimes. If it is something for my husband and I, I will use the press always if I do not want to use powdered garlic.

He WILL not eat garlic even in the smallest minced I can do. If it is a chunk, no matter how small, he will not touch the food. He does like Mexican and Itallian, but he objects to garlic pieces.

Several things I make, even for just me, I prefer to have the garlic smashed. It is also much, much, much faster than mincing.

I like garlic. I grow my own garlic and never have to buy garlic.

I love garlic bread. Who doesn't?

The way for me to make garlic bread, the garlic has to be made into a paste so I can brush evenly on the bread. I don't like chunks of garlic on garlic bread.

So here is the problem, those hundreds of garlic tools I have looked into, none can do what I want.

So i made my own tool. easy to use, and safe for my fingers.

dcarch

I love garlic bread. Who doesn't?

Moi. I love garlic. I cook with it a lot, but I don't like it on bread.

I love garlic bread. Who doesn't?

My husband. Garlic has to be VERY sutble, not overt.

Dcarch, great gizmo. Kudos, Have to say, though, it looks like something in my drawer.

More important than the size of the cloves is the quality. Usually around November-December, I can find really juicy, extra flavorful garlic. The taste is so much more intense, I need to alter the amounts for recipes. Most of the rest of the year, it is moist and average. If you purchase it from stores that think garlic heads keep forever, it will be flavorless and it won't make any flavor difference if you add quadruple amounts to your recipe or leave it out entirely.

So true. We don't have the seasonality, but there's still variability.

I never really liked using a press due to the clogging and the cleaning. I switched from using a knife to just grating it. It is just faster to do and faster to clean in my world. I am one who always triples the garlic that is called for in the recipe.

I use various techniques, as mentioned above.

Sometimes I just smash a clove or two, peal it, then put it in the pasta sauce or stew.

If I am making something like a Thai dish, curry paste, Thai pizza, or spicy Chinese that wants a lot of fresh garlic, ginger and some bird chilies, I just quickly peel, prep and rough chop, then place the approximately 1/4 or 1/2 cup into a little Sunbeam Oskar Jr Chopper Plus Food Processor 14131. What comes ot is a fairly homogeneous, colorful paste that I use for the dish. The gadget is easy to clean and chops or finely minces all the ingredients evenly — not are left un-minced.

Most often, I just use a very sharp knife.

I've been doing what Eileen does and cut the garlic cloves in half. This makes peeling much easier, especially for hard neck garlic. I do not know why no one on TV does this (This is something Jacques Pépin should learn), but I've been doing it ever since I first got hard neck garlic. I works for soft neck garlic, but not quite as well.

Cutting the clove in half is much neater than smashing the clove, as the peeling will come off in just two pieces, if you cut the clove in half.

Out of several I have tried, this is the one that I like the best. It is easy to clean and minces quite fine. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085C349BH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also grow my own and I slice or mince and dehydrate a lot of it, so I have a press, one of those rocker things, a plastic tube for peeling. My weapon of choice, though, is a knife, it's just fastest and easiest for me and I don't have any family members who are averse to finding a small piece of garlic in their food, luckily. Sometimes, though, depending on what I'm making, I'll grate it or press it. I seem to use the rocker device the least, it's just not comfortable for me and I make a bigger mess.

So, knife as my first choice, press or grate as my second choice, the rocker is my least favorite.

If I'm peeling hundreds of cloves for dehydrating I pop them into the microwave and the peels come off easily, then I dump them by handfuls into the food processor. I can dry the slices until they are crunchy then crumble them up, keep them as slices or grind them into powder. I usually do all of those things.

Annie

Anyone use roasted garlic instead of raw in their recipes?

I use roasted garlic, but not instead. I also use garlic powder or granules, but not instead. All have different flavors, and interact differently with other ingredients.

Roasted garlic is great. But I don't like firing up the oven for that long just for garlic, and I often forget to put it in when cooking something else. When I need it, I often gently pan roast the cloves. They work better than fresh in some dishes but are not quite as wonderful as slow oven roasted.

An Air Fryer works great for roasting garlic. It's faster and uses far less electricity, About 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the bulb at 400F.

Think 'piggy-backing'. Like shopping. Running errands in the same area to save time and fuel. Grocery/bank/car wash, etc.

Any oven roasting...chicken, beef roast, oven stew, Foil wrap a couple heads of garlic, beets, etc., for another meal like a beet salad. Just roast on the oven rack. Or rack below.

I roast a sheet pan once a year and freeze. Use it all winter in many soups and such. Just break off what i need. Roasted garlic is very sweet and mild compared to fresh.

I have not use a garlic gadget or press in 30 years. Just cut the root end and tap with the flat side of a knife. ^^the Jacque Pepin method posted above.

By the time a gadget is found, i'm done and moving onto other prep.

I slice off the tops when roasting a sheet of vegetables. Also for the freezer, flat packed for soups. I roast summer tomato crops the same. A pack of tomatoes and a pack of veg makes an excellent pureed soup.

The roasted whole garlic head will soften and squeeze right out of its paper skins.

Pan roasted garlic 'chips' are excellent on greens and smashed potatoes.

Have any of you tried roasted garlic in salad dressing? I may give that a shot this weekend.

Recently made a roasted garlic parsley pesto. That was a nice change.

Judi, I haven’t tried it in a salad dressing, but I can see how it could add a milder, slightly sweeter taste than raw garlic.

A propos salad dressing. I always put a few crushed cloves in a vinaigrette. When the dressing has been used up, after a few days, the remaining cloves of garlic are delicious. Crisp and slightly pickled.

When I use raw garlic in a recipe (such as a vinaigrette), I do not increase the amount, but when the garlic is cooked, you can definitely double or triple the amount, if you want a strong garlic flavor. Cooked garlic is very mild - raw garlic is very pungent.

I am careful not to overdo the raw garlic that goes into my hummus recipe. I created a recipe for Ranch salad dressing that uses fresh raw garlic, which I mash in a mortar & pestle with some Kosher salt to make a paste before adding the rest of the ingredients. I start vinaigrette salad dressing the same way. Mashing the garlic with salt seems to mellow the flavor of the garlic more than using a garlic press.

So, doesn't vinaigrette have the no garlic stored in oil problem?

Vinaigrette is refrigerated.

Oh! I didn't realize that would solve it.