Garlic from last year, What to do with it

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

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  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    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
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    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
    gardneto76 Posts: 528 ✭✭✭✭

    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
    annbeck62 Posts: 1,028 ✭✭✭✭

    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
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    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
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    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
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @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
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @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.

  • heirlooms777
    heirlooms777 Posts: 208 ✭✭✭

    all great ideas.

    I heard before refrigeration you would just boil food and items for about 15(?) minutes and it would become edible; don’t quote me on this

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @heirlooms777 I believe this refers to home canned goods. It is recommended that you boil veggies or meats that have been canned, for 15 minutes before using to destroy any bacteria or botulism spores.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Torey That's the first I've ever heard this. I certainly don't boil my canned vegetable before eating them. If the seal has broken, I compost them; if it's still sealed, I eat them without recooking. If they were properly canned, they shouldn't need to be cooked again, and if they weren't properly canned, another 15 minutes of cooking will not make them safe to eat.

    Cooking already-canned vegetables another 15 minutes would turn many of them to mush.

    My canned garlic is usually used "raw" in recipes such as hummus, and should not be cooked again.

    I am not an authority on this, so don't take my word for it. If anyone has a pointer to an authoritative source insisting that properly home-canned vegetables must be cooked again for 15 minutes after opening, please share it here.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @vickeym My garlic isn't doing that well this year. It's smaller than it should be at this point in the growing year. Maybe it will just be late, or maybe all the cloves will be small this year. Fortunately, the elephant garlic is doing well, and that will help a lot in providing the cloves I need to get through the year.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @VermontCathy I don't often can veggies as I prefer them frozen and I've personally never boiled canned veggies. I'm with you on the fact that they would turn to mush.

    The info about boiling home canned goods comes from government websites (and some cookbooks).

    The copy of the Ball Blue Book on Canning that I have suggests boiling, as does the Kerr Kitchen Cookbook.

    This info from the USDA.

    This is from Alabama Co-operative Extension System.

    This one from the CDC.

    This one has recommendations from other sources, some saying just to heat to about 185F, while others say that if you know for sure that good canning methods have been followed you shouldn't need to boil.

    It may just be an old recommendation from a time when pressure canners weren't readily available and people were using a water bath for canning. But the info is still out there.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Torey Thanks for sharing, Torey. I admit I am not going to start doing this, as it would make a mushy hash of my preserved food. It sounds like the extreme suspenders-and-belt, which some may find appropriate.

    I figure that if my water bath acid-canned products were canned properly, the boiling killed any botulinus spores in the growth state, the boiling denatured any botulinus toxin already produced, and the acid will prevented any botulinus spores from sprouting and producing more toxin. But again, I am not an expert or authority.

    Pressure canning would destroy any botulism in any form. It can be useful for some things, but it turns my green beans to mush, so I don't plan to pressure-can green beans any more.

    I wish I had enough freezer space to store all of my garden vegetables and a winter's worth of meat! Like you, I prefer them frozen. Unfortunately I don't have enough freezer space for that. I freeze as much peas and green beans as possible, but there is usually some left over.

  • heirlooms777
    heirlooms777 Posts: 208 ✭✭✭

    Has anyone seen the Facebook group rebel canners?

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @VermontCathy Like you, I acidify any vegetables that I can. My husband is very fond of pickled beets. I have a recipe for green beans done in a regular canner, that have a small amount of vinegar, just enough to acidify without tasting pickled. My whole family loves dilled carrots.

    I will be trying your garlic recipe this year. I look forward to trying the garlic in hummus.