Fermented Garlic

vickeym
vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited October 2020 in Ferments

I was lucky enough yesterday to get a great deal on a fairly large amount of garlic. Planning to peel and ferment it in honey. Has anyone ever tried this?

I have read about it for a long time but never tried it myself. I love the honey garlic flavor and fermenting will mean lots of probiotics.

I buy raw honey from a family member who is an apiarist (Bee Keeper) So I know exactly what I am getting. It is not local to my area but the cost here is almost triple what I can get from him, and I do love the orange blossom honey as well as other flavors he has available.

Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @vickeym I have never had fermented garlic before. Sounds wonderful. However, I have had black garlic and it is very yummy. Following is a link to Spruce Eats for a description and instructions. Might be something else to try with all your garlic and it doesn't involve peeling. :)

    https://www.thespruceeats.com/black-garlic-4165384

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wow, that does sound interesting. Would be difficult in my case since we are off grid and do not have electrical power available full time. But will have to keep this in mind for the future if we ever hook up to power. Thank you for sharing. This will show you what the honey fermented garlic is...

    https://www.mountainfeed.com/blogs/learn/honey-fermented-garlic

  • maimover
    maimover Posts: 359 ✭✭✭

    I chopped garlic and covered with honey in a jar and hit it every now and again this past winter when it felt like something was coming on. The longer it sat the better it tasted.

  • valizona
    valizona Posts: 48 ✭✭✭

    wow. this sounds great. I'm wondering how ive never heard of this being that I love to ferment all kinds of things AND I just love garlic. Will definitely being doing this with next year's garlic crop. between this and fire cider, one should be pretty set. Although with extra honey on hand I like to set some aside with new spring pine needles for some potent pine honey. it's incredibly soothing on a sore throat AND expectorant.

  • AngelaOston
    AngelaOston Posts: 249 ✭✭✭

    Sounds wonderful. Ive been doing a lot of fermentation - miso - natto - kombucha- mead. But have never heard of garlic fermentation. Really looking forward to how this turns out. Might want to try it.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @valizona Welcome to TGN! I make a similar honey with spruce tips. Great for any kind of throat or chest infection!

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @valizona & torey I had not heard of doing it with spruce or pine. Now I will have to try and get my hands on spruce tips next spring. I had anted to for other things anyway, but will have to try and find extra for this. We had lots of Spruce but Alaska has had a horrible time with the spruce bark beetle and it has killed almost all the spruce in my area. There are some tiny ones growing but snow was so deep this year that I did not get a chance and knew I wouldn't be able to get much with so few tiny trees to pick from so I left them alone.

  • Jack_Went_Splat
    Jack_Went_Splat Posts: 59 ✭✭✭

    @torey we don't have much in the way of spruce here in the high mountain desert in NM. Is there any benefit for piñon tips? We will have plenty of them next spring. :o)

  • Melissa Swartz
    Melissa Swartz Posts: 270 ✭✭✭

    I have found this to be an effective cough treatment. It's from the book 10 Essential Herbs by Lalitha Thomas:

    Garlic Cough Syrup

    1 cup chopped raw onion

    Honey

    4 tsp. powdered garlic OR 6-8 cloves fresh garlic

    Slowly simmer onions in enough honey to cover them for 20-30 minutes.

    Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

    Add garlic (finely chop fresh garlic or use a garlic press).

    Let steep in covered pot (do not cook) until it comes to room temperature (may take 1-2 hours).

    Use in teaspoon size doses as needed for cough or as antibiotic expectorant.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    Welcome to TGN's forum @Jack_Went_Splat!

    Lucky you, having pinon pines. Have you used it in any other medicinal preparations or do you gather the pine nuts? Do you have whitebark pine as well?

    You can use any of the conifers to make honey. I've never used pine, partly due to the pine beetle infestation in my province. But also because spruce is effective against a broader spectrum of organisms than any of the other conifers. There is an abundance of Douglas Fir in my area (I live in the Interior Douglas Fir biogeoclimatic zone.) so that would be my next choice.

    I will start a new post on conifer medicine as we are getting a bit off the original garlic post.

  • twinspringsnc
    twinspringsnc Posts: 21 ✭✭✭

    Tried this for the first time this year. Decided to add it to my medicinal arsenal. Put some of our garlic from the garden in a jar and cover it with honey. It floats in the honey, I think I may have put to much honey in the jar is it supposed to float? Really smells like garlic when I release pressure on the lid.

  • karenjanicki
    karenjanicki Posts: 989 ✭✭✭✭

    Yes I have made this as well. It's great for an immune boost especially this time of year. I personally very much dislike the taste of it, it made me rather nauseous but I don't enjoy fire cider either. My husband loves both. He scarves them down like snacks year round haha. If your sensitive at all to raw garlic then garlic stuffed olives are at least in my book a much tastier choice. Also if you put the garlic cloves in a jar and shake that will save your fingers alot of work and will help get the peels off easier :).

  • Jack_Went_Splat
    Jack_Went_Splat Posts: 59 ✭✭✭

    @karenjanicki I've found the large flat chef's knife laid flat on the garlic clove works well with a quick push down to smash the clove and the peels just mostly fall off for me and since you are going to smash the garlic anyway, two birds with one stone. 😉

  • annebeloncik
    annebeloncik Posts: 62 ✭✭✭

    I'm intrigued... I'm kind of obsessed with fermentation lately! I'm officially addicted to kombucha. However, my first attempt at fermented dill pickles was an epic failure; maybe this is a safer thing to try to rebuild my confidence?

  • Hassena
    Hassena Posts: 345 ✭✭✭

    We love this. It's great for cooking too. Anytime I feel ill just take a spoonful. It works!

  • Angel
    Angel Posts: 61 ✭✭✭

    I've made fermented dill pickles that were awesome, but I've also made total flops. I'm new to fermenting, so I'm not sure what when wrong, but I just wanted to reassure you that it can go right, even after epic failure!

  • karenjanicki
    karenjanicki Posts: 989 ✭✭✭✭

    Yeah that sounds like a much better plan haha. The first time I did it I peeled them all by hand. It took HOURS. And my fingers burned and smelled bad at the end of it hahahaha.

  • Ferg
    Ferg Posts: 285 ✭✭✭

    So I'm really curious now - raw honey has natural anti biotic and mycotic properties. How are people fermenting with it? Keep the amount low?

  • Gil Montano
    Gil Montano Posts: 39 ✭✭✭

    A very good recipe to strengthen the immune system is:

    Moringa leaves

    Oregano

    Thyme

    Garlic

    Put everything in olive oil and let it rest for 5 days.

    It can be used in salads, but it can be taken one tablespoon a day. It has a very good flavor.