I have a lot of garlic that is still fresh. How can I preserve it easily so that it can be used for a variety of uses later?
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I edited your question to ask specifically about preserving. Asking generally "how can I use a lot of garlic" is definitely not a good question for this site; that type of question is too broad and tends to solicit opinion, polling, and extended discussion.– Cascabel ♦Commented Mar 11, 2012 at 23:30
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I find that just leaving the garlic alone makes it sprout. Which makes the texture rubbery and changes the flavour a bit.– DanielCommented Mar 15, 2012 at 16:10
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4 Answers
Peel the garlic bulbs and mince (or food-proccessorize) them. Then portion the minced garlic into usable units and freeze those on a cookie sheet. Once they're frozen, keep the lumps-o-garlic in a convenient vessel in the freezer. You can then pull one lump at a time out of the freezer and use it.
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I've always heard that mincing or chopping herbs/spices lowers their shelf-life. Unfortunately I don't have any sources for this idea: Do you know anything that proves or disproves this?– GaryCommented Mar 12, 2012 at 4:42
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Nice advise. Convenient vessel should be airtight. Vacuum if possible. Commented Mar 12, 2012 at 12:23
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1@Fantabulum mincing/chopping herbs/spices would lower their shelf-life(you are essentially penetrating the plant's natural layer of protection against bacterias) but since the garlic is immediately frozen, that shouldn't be an issue.– JayCommented Mar 12, 2012 at 13:01
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mincing the bulbs makes them unusable for recipes which require them whole, though. Commented Mar 12, 2012 at 17:49
Generally, it's Braided and then hung to dry, but I'm not sure if you mean that it's as fresh as that.
It will keep several months in a cool, dry, dark place if you keep the bulbs whole, though. If you don't have a cellar, a seldom used interior closet would work well.
You could easily put it into the freezer, where it can stay for a long time.
Anyhow, if you are looking for a recipe to use it when it's still fresh, take a look at this. It's an italian recipe.
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@Daniel "Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic" is also a pretty good dish with easily googleable recipes. Commented Mar 12, 2012 at 0:12
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3Let's try not to get into the game of listing dishes that use large amounts of garlic. If people are interested in that, pop into chat during the day and I'm sure you'll get lots of recipe suggestions.– Cascabel ♦Commented Mar 12, 2012 at 5:13
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I've found that putting stuff straight into freezer changes the texture. When stuff thaws, the cells brake and stuff becomes spongy. For some vegetables blanching helps, not sure if that would apply to garlic tough.– DanielCommented Mar 15, 2012 at 16:14
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@Daniel: Does that actually matter for garlic, though? I find it hard to think of uses of garlic in which you notice the texture to begin with. Roasted, perhaps? But that turns it so soft that I doubt some damage from freezing would matter. Most other things it's chopped/minced, and likely cooked, and you'd never know, as long as the flavor is intact.– Cascabel ♦Commented Mar 15, 2012 at 16:40
Put a layer of salt in a jar, then a layer of peeled cloves, then a layer of salt again and continue until the jar is full. Then close the lid and keep in the fridge. The preserved garlic can last up to several years.
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Never tried that. However, crushing the garlic and mixing the paste with a reasonable amount of salt works nice as well. It will obviously be quite salty and the range of possible uses will be limited.– JohnEyeCommented Mar 21, 2012 at 17:02