Pre-peeled Garlic ?


 
T

Tom Chips

TVWBB All-Star
Anyone have good or bad experience with using the large containers of pre-peeled garlic from places like Costco?

I've never bothered to pick one up, since I figure for my small batch cooking, for the most part, I can just use one head and go from there. But if I ever need a big pile of cloves, I'm thinking it might be nice to save some time and try them from the pre-peeled containers.

Thanks.
 
i love it for the convenience but it does have a bit of a 'bite' due to the citric acid they use to preserve it.

if i'm using the garlic in a dish where that doesn't matter it's great, but if you want more of the pure garlic flavor to come through you're stuck doing it the old fashioned way, unfortunately.
 
Maybe there is some out there that's good... my experience was not pleasant. You might want to give this a read.
 
The link mentioned fresh peeled garlic available in Korean markets. I wonder if it's any better.

I figured it might be too good to be true.

Thanks for the tips guys.
 
Tom, If you can find "any" market doing fresh peeled Garlic, I'd venture a guess and say it's got a chance of being "acceptable". As far as club store jars... I think it's just not gonna happen.
 
Originally posted by Tom Chips:
The link mentioned fresh peeled garlic available in Korean markets. I wonder if it's any better.

I figured it might be too good to be true.

Thanks for the tips guys.
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The korean stuff is decent - my brother's wife is Korean so I have had a lot of tasty meals over at their place since he married her.

I avoid the pre-peeled/crushed garlic in the jars as it is often from China with poor quality controls and sometimes (rarely) can contain botulism. Pretty rare chance but I would rather not have any food stuffs that come from China or Asia for that matter.

I could go off on a tangent on seafood from there, but will hold off.
 
smash your cloves with the side of your knife, and the peel falls off.

I recommend this device called the garlic twist. Its a clear plastic puck that neatly chops garlic. you can also bang it on your clove first so you don't have to spend more than a second peeling. I love it since my wife insists on using a garlic press and I hate cleaning it out. this thing is clean with a quick rinse.

amazon link
 
I have tried the different gizmos before, and yeah, the garlic press is a pain to clean. But I usually just smash them under the blade of my chefs knife.

I don't mind the process of getting them out of the skin, I was just wondering if there was an easy "get around" by using the pre peeled stuff, but not at the expense of taste.
 
It's amazing the differences in people in today's society. At what expense is convenience? Prepared, Pre-packed, Frozen can mean = artificial colouring, flavour enhancers, preservatives or other chemicals which in the selves may be harmless but mixed with others can possibly become harmful. In my Parents day we had everything fresh and natural (well, within reason anyway.)
I timed how long it took me to peel, chop and crush 3 cloves of garlic - Less than a minute and I wasn’t rushing it, I was talking to “Her Indoors” at the time. I have used sachets of garlic before but prefer to use fresh. We have a bunch of fresh garlic hanging in the kitchen. Folklore has it that if you hang garlic in the kitchen it will keep the Vampires away – so far so good.

Cheers
 
Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
...... At what expense is convenience? .....
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In my case, about twenty bucks!! I just ordered the Garlic Twist that j biesinger recommended a couple posts up.

Thanks, j.
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I agree with you about the fresh, Phil. That's why I bought this gadget. I like fresh, but don't like mincing with a knife!

Tom, sorry if we're highjacking the thread. The answer is no.

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JimT
 
Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
It's amazing the differences in people in today's society. At what expense is convenience? Prepared, Pre-packed, Frozen can mean = artificial colouring, flavour enhancers, preservatives or other chemicals which in the selves may be harmless but mixed with others can possibly become harmful. In my Parents day we had everything fresh and natural (well, within reason anyway.)
I timed how long it took me to peel, chop and crush 3 cloves of garlic - Less than a minute and I wasn’t rushing it, I was talking to “Her Indoors” at the time. I have used sachets of garlic before but prefer to use fresh. We have a bunch of fresh garlic hanging in the kitchen. Folklore has it that if you hang garlic in the kitchen it will keep the Vampires away – so far so good.

Cheers
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When only cooking for myself the garlic can go bad or sprout before I use it all .. not always but sometimes.

I don't always use a whole bunch of cilantro or parsley either.

I've seen all of these and ginger, basil and oregano as frozen cubes and if they taste as good as fresh, and you don't have to run to store just to get that, I think the frozen cubes make a lot of sense.
 
Originally posted by Shawn W:
.......... When only cooking for myself the garlic can go bad or sprout before I use it all .. not always but sometimes.
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Any vampires in your kitchen? (LOL)

Theres only the two of us but we do entertain a bit - sometimes we have to throw a bulb or two out. I also have 2 large pots on my deck in which I grow Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Cilantro and Chillies, Next season I am going to add a couple more pots and grow Cherry Tomatoes.

Tom
In answer to your question - IMHO you can't beat fresh.

Cheers
 
I tried that soon after we had the twins thinking how much time I would save. As soon as we got in the car we could smell it through the thin plastic all the way in the back of the car. Also I found it to have a bite (as mentioned) compared to fresh.

Also, it seemed to go bad quickly, even in the fridge.
 
I’ve been buying the 48oz. containers of minced garlic from Sam’s for years. It’s only a few bucks and lasts for about a year. The manufacture’s website (spiceworldinc.com) says most of the garlic is grown in California but some is imported. It’s easy, cheap and tastes good to me.
 
Tom,we made a couple of "vampire killer" pork loins last year for a big dinner party,and bought the jug-o-garlic at Sam's. It was ok(definately not great),but probably won't buy it again.
 
Originally posted by Mark H:
I’ve been buying the 48oz. containers of minced garlic from Sam’s for years. It’s only a few bucks and lasts for about a year. The manufacture’s website (spiceworldinc.com) says most of the garlic is grown in California but some is imported. It’s easy, cheap and tastes good to me.
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I've always used fresh garlic but I bought the exact item you mentioned and tried it. I was very unhappy with it. Even though it was only about $3.50 I'm having a hard time convincing myself to throw it out, even though I'm sure I won't use it again. I guess I'm just that cheap.
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