7 Surprising Garlic Tips

How to Make Garlic Easier to Peel

Fresh garlic makes dishes better, but the cloves can be annoying to peel. If you’re using garlic in your meal, make the cloves easier to peel by putting them in the microwave for about 8 seconds before peeling. Or, soak the cloves in very hot water for two to three minutes.

Another Easy-Peel Trick

Here’s an easy way to remove the skins from garlic! Just break the cloves off from the head and place them in a bowl or mug. Place another bowl on top and shake heartily. The skins will start to come off, making the garlic easy to peel.

Keep Garlic from Sticking to Your Knife

Chop up garlic more quickly and efficiently by adding a pinch of salt. The salt helps break down the garlic into a paste and absorbs some of the juices, so that the garlic doesn’t stick to your knife. Another option is drizzling the garlic with olive oil, which will also stop it from sticking to your knife.

How to Mince Garlic Without a Garlic Press

Using garlic but short a garlic press? This kitchen trick gets the job done so well, you may not ever have to buy a press again. Use a regular-old fork as you would use a grater: Hold it so the tines are pressed against your work surface, then rub a peeled garlic clove across the tines to “crush” it into a paste. This will take some forceful action in your rubbing motion, but you’ll get perfectly crushed garlic for your dish.

What to Do if Your Garlic Sprouts

If your head of garlic sprouts, it’s still perfectly good to eat. Some of the flavor will go into the green sprouts, however, so the cloves will be less potent. Try chopping them off and add to salads for a delicious treat!

Grow More Garlic

Did you know that if you plant a sprouting head of garlic just under the surface of some soil, it will grow a garlic plant? This is especially great for outdoors gardens, because bugs hate the smell of garlic and will stay away from your other plants.

Add Too Much Garlic?

If you’ve added too much garlic to your soup or stew, add a small quantity of parsley and simmer for about 10 minutes. The parsley will neutralize the garlicky taste.

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