Garlic from last year, What to do with it

heirlooms777

I happen to have a plethora of garlic from last year, I’m wondering what’s the best way to use it to preserve the nutrition. It’s all perfect heirloom garlic that just didn’t get eaten over the winter. Some of it’s a little older so I do have to go through it. Does anyone have any recipes for either water bath canning, pressure canning, making an oil, freezing in ice cube trays with or without oil, vinegar, etc., any suggestions? TIA —Christina

VermontCathy

Water bath canning in vinegar works well for garlic. I did it last year and am still happily eating the result.

I'll have to look up the recipe and post it later, as I don't have time right now.

Torey

Garlic honey. Yum!

Garlic vinegar. Great base for a salad dressing.

Garlic oil can be a bit dangerous as botulism can occur if its not refrigerated.

Roasted and then frozen works for adding roasted garlic to things. I like adding roasted garlic to both a Caesar dressing and hummus.

gardneto76

Ohhhh Garlic honey @Torey love it! We use both the garlic & honey in so many different ways, including just eating the honey out of the jar for a soar throat.

If I get enough this year I may try my hand at dehydrating or freeze drying then powdering it. I may try a batch of each to see which one I prefer best. I have not been successful enough before to have enough to be able to preserve it. This year I think will be a different story.

annbeck62

I love using roasted garlic. Because it mellows so much you can add lots of cloves to your dish. It's fantastic in pasta dishes 🙂

vickeym

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/922003#Comment_922003

I would love to have the recipe. Plan to try planting garlic again this fall. Last batch did not survive. But not giving up yet.

marjstratton

I have peeled one variety and have it in a quart jar in the fridge. I still have to prepare the other variety and if I can find a recipe for the proper brine, I want to try pickling some.

SuperC

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/922005#Comment_922005

@Torey So I had put cloves of garlic in jars with evoo and put it into a cupboard. Should I throw them out?

Then, for a separate experiment, I used a quart jar, for cooking purposes, filled that with shucked garlic cloves and evoo to the top after all of the bubbles settled and added more evoo (extra virgin olive oil) and put the quart jar into the fridge. And, I use the one from the fridge for cooking, foil dinners with added veggies, and on salads.

Torey

@SuperC The one from the fridge should be OK but personally, I'd throw out the one in the cupboard. Although, I just checked with Health Canada and the USDA and both say that garlic oil should only be stored for up to 7 days in the fridge. If you are using it in cooking where the oil will be heat over 185F then that should be OK cause the heat will kill any botulism spores. So not for use as a salad oil.

Quite a few years ago there was a popular restaurant chain in BC that had several cases of botulism and they tracked down the source to a bottle of un-refrigerated garlic oil being used on some of the menu items. I believe there was a similar case in New York a few years later.