By learning how to preserve garlic, every dish can be savory, flavorful, and nutritious. You can use it for healthy recipes for breakfast, soups, stews, and even side dishes!
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Whether you use it for stir-frying, roasting, braising, or stewing, garlic is guaranteed to give you the best-tasting results!
How to Preserve Garlic
Never running out of garlic means you’ll never run out of delicious dishes, so here’s how you can preserve them forever!
Ingredient
Garlic
Garlic is pungent in taste and smell. It has a powerful aroma that can’t go unnoticed. It also has a hint of spice with an earthy tone to it. When cooked, it can become sweet and nutty.
This herb serves multiple purposes in the kitchen and definitely one of the most used ingredients.
It can add flavor to marinades, sauces, chicken, beef, soups, vegetables, and salad dressings. You can also use it to make butter, toast, or powder.
This herb has plenty of health benefits to boast about. For instance, in a study by Clinical Nutrition, garlic can help prevent and cure common colds. You might never want to run out of them, so here’s how you can keep them forever!
Hint: Learning how to preserve garlic long-term is easier than it seems!
Directions on How to Preserve Garlic
- Use the flat side of the knife to pound each clove. Use enough force to peel without crushing.
- Store the peeled garlic cloves in freezer bags.
- Place them in the freezer and take them out whenever needed.
This method to preserve garlic will save you money, supply fresh ones, and prevent them from spoiling. It’s an easy hack that can serve a great purpose in your cooking, so try it now!
Tips
How to Select Garlic
- Give the bulb a light squeeze and ensure that the bulb is not too soft or dry.
- It should be firm to the touch and plump.
- Sprouting is one of the signs that garlic is old, so use sprouting ones immediately.
- It should also be white or off-white.
How to Plant and Grow Your Garlic
Aside from freezing them, you can plant, grow, and harvest your garlic to never run out!
Plant it in loose, well-drained, and healthy soil under direct sunlight. Use organic matter as fertilizers.
Plant the cloves about 2 inches deep (for warm climates) or about 4 inches deep (for cold climates).
To grow it, water it every week but stop watering once the bulb hardens. It will sprout within weeks, but it can take up to 10 months before it is ready for harvest. Planting one clove can grow one whole garlic.
Imagine if you learn how to preserve garlic. You have an unlimited supply of garlic!
Garlic Varieties
There are several varieties of garlic that you can try. The common soft neck variant is white with a mild to spicy flavor. It has the longest shelf life and can yield up to 16 cloves.
Rocambole garlic has a hard neck with a flower stock. One bulb can contain up to 12 cloves. Its skin is easy to remove. Use rocambole for curries, pickles, and salads.
Another variant is elephant garlic – it is large, yet it only yields up to 8 large cloves. It is mild in flavor and can be yellow. You can use this for fresh salads and soups.
No matter what variety you choose, knowing how to preserve garlic is a necessity!
Recommended Tools
- Freezer bags: Store the cloves in a freezer bag.
- Knife: Peel the cloves with a clean knife.
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How to Use Garlic
Garlic can be eaten raw or cooked in dishes. It will give a strong flavor and fragrance that brings life to the dish. You can even use it for roasted, stir-fried, and deep-fried recipes. This is also commonly used with onions.
It can be used for garlic paste, bread spread, infused oils, spice rubs, butter, and salad dressings. It can also be used in noodles, pasta, beef, chicken, turkey, fish, and vegetables!
Aside from its culinary purpose, you can also use it outside the kitchen to relieve cough, treat acne, lose weight, promote hair growth, remove dandruff, repel mosquitos, relieve cold sores, and cure Athlete’s Foot.
In fact, you can even make your oil or paste! Now that you know how to preserve garlic, you can use it for any dish you want!
Tips on How to Preserve Garlic
- At room temperature: Put whole garlic heads in a bowl or mesh bag. Then, store at room temperature for up to 5 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does garlic last longer in the fridge or on the counter?
Garlic will last longer on the counter because the fridge can cause moisture that can shorten the shelf life of the garlic. If left on the counter, garlic can last up to weeks or even months.
How do you store unpeeled garlic for a long time?
Unpeeled garlic can be stored at room temperature and away from sunlight or moisture. You can place it in a glass bowl or mesh bag to protect it from insects.
How can you tell if garlic has gone bad?
Spoiled garlic has soft brown spots or green roots in the bulb. New sprout forming is a sign of spoilage. The change in smell will also be apparent because it will lack the pungent and spicy fragrance.
How to Preserve Garlic For Longer (VIDEO)
Equipment
Ingredients
- Garlic
Instructions
Peel the garlic.
- Disassemble the garlic cloves from the bulb. Use the flat side of the knife to hit each garlic clove.
- Use sufficient force not to crush it but enough pressure to loosen up the skin.
- If the garlic retains its shape, you have performed this step perfectly.
- Keeping the garlic in shape will prevent it from oxidizing faster.
Store the cloves in a resealable freezer bag.
- Use a properly washed and sanitized freezer bag to store the garlic cloves.
- You can store them in batches for easy access.
- Label the freezer bags with the correct dates.
Freeze the garlic.
- Place them in the freezer to freeze until needed
- Take them out whenever they're needed.
Video
Notes
- Select white or off-white garlic without discoloration or soft spots.
- You can plant garlic and harvest it after 10 months.
- Babies can have garlic as early as 6 months old.
- Use enough force to loosen up the garlic skin without crushing it. Keeping it in shape will prevent it from oxidizing faster.
- Garlic can be so pungent that it can leave a scent on your hands after preparing them. To remove it, combine a teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of baking soda. Add some water and rub your hands together for up to 45 seconds. Then, rinse your hands with soap and cold water. The baking soda acts as a deodorizer, and the salt will help with exfoliation.
