Storing/preserving fresh garlic?

Just bought 3 pounds of peeled (California) garlic at Costco. Even as rabid garlic freaks, my wife and I can't eat that fast enough to use it up. (A good deal is going onto a pizza tonight.)

How should we store or preserve it?

thanks,

Mike

we put enough on the pizza that you wouldn't want us in the same room - maybe not in the same town.

I've also wondered about storing garlic. I think I made the mistake of buying that huge Costco garlic once and once I realized how slowly I was going through it, I started sharing with friends and family. Maybe it can be frozen, in clove or head form?

Sounds like you and your wife are like me- if there's not enough garlic to make my eyes water, there's not enough garlic. (Not to that extreme on everything, just in stuff like skordalia)

Bump, as I've often wondered and been tempted by the plastic jar at Costco myself.

Bought one a few years ago.... never again....
Not sure if they do anything to the garlic but it's just not the same as a standard clove from a head of garlic.
By chance, are the cloves processed in some way?

I used the garlic for a couple of weeks and then pitched the 3/4 full container...

Any kind of long storage of garlic will change its flavor somewhat because the allicin, which gives garlic its fresh, biting taste, dissipates rapidly when the garlic is cut, crushed or bruised. Supposedly, dried garlic retains this better than other preservation methods. (See A Primer on the Chemistry of Garlic.) However, I see little point in buying fresh garlic in order to dehydrate it, since commercially dried garlic is cheaper and better than what you can do at home. It's an option if you have surplus homegrown garlic, though.

Since cooking dissipates allicin anyway, garlic you intend to cook can be preserved other ways.

Chop in a blender or food processor with a little water, freeze in ice-cube trays. (Dedicate trays to the purpose of freezing smelly things like pesto and garlic. Don't use them for ice.) I have also heard of freezing the whole cloves, tightly wrapped, but I haven't tried it.

Make garlic butter. Freeze.

Make pickled garlic. (Recipes.) Or just cover the garlic with vinegar. Keep refrigerated.

Pan roast the garlic in oil to cover over very low heat until soft. Puree. Refrigerate up to two weeks or freeze in ice-cube trays.

Extra garlicky things to cook: Shrimp DeJonghe, skordalia, garlic soup.

I think the peeled garlic available in the produce department at Korean groceries is better than the Costco stuff, but that may just be because of higher turnover.

mhill95149 wrote:Bought one a few years ago.... never again....

Mhill,

Though peeling garlic cloves per use is highly preferable, on a couple of occasions over the years I have purchased peeled garlic cloves from a Korean grocery and found them fresher, stronger with more integrity than bulk peeled garlic shipped in from Gilroy CA.* It's my theory, based on nothing more than a loose impression, Korean groceries go through so much garlic it's peeled daily for sale.

Enjoy,
Gary

*Will Rogers once described Gilroy as "the only town in America where you can marinate a steak just by hanging it out on the clothesline."

Made a batch of homemade mojo criollo today, following Gary's recipe, including a whole head of chopped garlic cloves; my one change is that to the cans of frozen concentrated orange juice and lemonade I added a can of frozen concentrated limeade. Pushed my blender to capacity.

I made more than I need for today's chicken dinner, and put the rest of the mojo in a jar in the fridge. Now I'm wondering if I should be worried about the raw garlic in the mix. Is it such a highly acidic environment that I needn't worry? How long is it safe in the fridge? What about freezing it?

I see that Steven Raichlen has (in his book How to Grill) a recipe for mojo marinade, but he cooks the garlic in olive oil first, and he doesn't mention storing.

Hi,

You are keeping it in the refrigerator at a temperature under 40 degrees AND the garlic is in an acidic environment, both supresses growth of any bugs.

If you plan to use it within the next few weeks, I would refrigerate it. If you have an indefinite window of use, you may want to freeze it.

Regards,

Thanks, Cathy.

I made a batch of mojo de ajo from Rick Bayless' recipe. It seems to keep a lot longer this way and tastes superb on practically everything savory.

Also I notice that the plastic jars of peeled garlic that I get at H Mart seem to stay fresh a pretty long time to begin with. I had to throw out about half a container due to white mold but that had been hiding in the back of the fridge for at least a month.

Hi there,

The best way that I can think of storing/preserving fresh garlic is something sort of special in late fall. Buy some nice varieties of heirloom garlic from a reputable place. Get a couple of different varieties that may be an early harvest, mid and late harvest so you can spread out your harvest.

The garlic 'o tub is really an unreliable source of good garlic. I've found that you can buy one tub that may be fine for a little while, when another tub will be bad right out of the box when it's first opened. But it really isn't a good replacement for fresh garlic. On the subject, store bought garlic really isn't a good replacement for fresh garlic either.

With just a little bit of prep to your soil, before you plant your fall garlic bulbs, and you're in for a treat the following year. Not only do you get to enjoy garlic that so much better than store bought stuff, but you also get to use the garlic scapes too. Then, after the year is done you can save some of your home grown heirloom garlic to plant the following year.


There's lots of good information here -----> http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/


dan

Fine Cooking has a couple of suggestions for an excess of garlic. For peeled garlic, you could simmer it in olive oil:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/garl ... d-oil.aspx

If the garlic still has the peel, there is also roasted garlic:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/basi ... arlic.aspx

In the latest issue (#104), they have a "Big Buy" article on what to do when you buy a gigantic amount of garlic. We tried the Spaghetti with Creamy Braised Garlic and Leek Sauce (10 cloves, but could use more). Here is the link:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/spag ... leeks.aspx

It might require a subscription to view, but it is a good recipe.

Jen

Yes, I'd seen poached garlic in olive oil on some TV show as well - sounds like a really good idea, apparently it comes out similar to roasted garlic. Doesn't work if you need that pungent kick, but it's useful in all sorts of other ways. BTW - roasted garlic freezes well; I usually have some in my freezer along with duxelles and a knob of fresh ginger.