Freezing Garlic?

[boomchakabowwow]

I have access to good garlic. Gilroy CA stuff.

I can buy it pre-peeled. Thinking of freezing it all. And when needed, just run it thru a microplaner. Looks good on paper. Thoughts?

 

[Just a DK]

My mom grinds and freezes on ice cube trey.

Her freezer smell can kill guests.

 

[MarcelNL]

Not sure what the cell structure of garlic does in the freezer, I probably would opt for less kept in oil.
There IMHO is no substitute for the fresh stuff, or the dried, or the smoked...I'm pretty sensitive to what happens when I dice it vs grating, for some dishes grating is fine, for others I really want the diced stuff (after removing the piece where the plant grows from)

 

[AT5760]

I keep the pre-frozen ginger and garlic on hand at all times. Does completely fine in cooked dishes

 

[Danejah]

I am a vegetable farmer and grow lots of garlic every year for retail. I’ve never tried freezing fresh garlic, what I grow usually lasts just before the next years crop is ready. I do however smoke/roast a ton on a traeger style smoker (not past the point of turning to complete mush) and then vacuum seal smaller quantities and freeze that. Turns out great and I often just toss that into soups or braises ect….

 

[btbyrd]

Freezing will create ice crystals that are going to burst cells and activate the funk smelling enzymes. I would try to instead make some sort of delicious bulk value-added product like a bunch of roasted garlic, or confit garlic, or garlic mojo. Or you could slice, dehydrate, and turn it into a powder. Or make friends with someone who has a freeze dryer.

 

[McMan]

I don't mind frozen minced garlic. It has a little of the squnk to it, but in a good way. It does taste different from fresh garlic and lacks that sharp edge. Regardless, it's much, much, much less squnky than jarred garlic (which, IMO aside from pizza parlor garlic bread, has no legitimate use). Trader Joes and other places sell the Israeli stuff in little cubes. Not bad in a pinch. @btbyrd makes a good point about freezing a bunch of other stuff too.
Your kitchen will smell great for a few days!

 

[Justinv]

I often freeze pureed ginger and garlic in 1TB chunks in silicone cube molds. Then store it in thick resealable silicone freezer bags. Can’t smell it in the freezer. The garlic is mostly used for curries and I use fresh garlic for typical cooking.

 

[Michi]

Nothing wrong with freezing peeled garlic. It doesn't go mushy when frozen, and the flavour stays the same. It does change appearance a little though: takes on a slightly yellowish tinge and becomes a little translucent. For ordinary cooking where the appearance of the garlic doesn't matter because it ends up getting ground or turned into a paste, frozen garlic is fine.

 

[btbyrd]

I meant to include a link to one of Rick Bayless's mojo de ajo videos in my earlier post. This is a great way to use up a few extra heads of garlic. It lasts for months and months in the fridge. Awesome to have on hand.



The technique of pan-roasting garlic cloves is a revelation to me. I used to think it required heating up an oven for an hour, which is a pain, but doing it on the stovetop is a fantastic, speedy way to get that job done.

Another tip I've picked up from his is blanching garlic in the microwave, covering a few cloves in a couple tablespoons of water in a really small bowl and cooking on high for a minute. This takes the raw garlic edge off so that you still get raw garlic flavor but you know it's not going to blow up and stankify your salsa or whatever. Rinsing cut raw onions in cold water to remove their heat is another similar trick that Bayless uses a lot (and so do I) but I suppose that's a topic for another thread.

 

[nhb22]

I “fry” finely chopped garlic with olive oil at low temperature and keep in a mason jar in my fridge. No smell.

 

[sumis]

Another tip I've picked up from his is blanching garlic in the microwave, covering a few cloves in a couple tablespoons of water in a really small bowl and cooking on high for a minute. This takes the raw garlic edge off so that you still get raw garlic flavor but you know it's not going to blow up and stankify your salsa or whatever. Rinsing cut raw onions in cold water to remove their heat is another similar trick that Bayless uses a lot (and so do I) but I suppose that's a topic for another thread.

this i do as well with cloves. sometimes w/o the water.

also, if citrus has a place in the picture it sure can neutralise the bad funk from chopped alliums.

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