Dehydrated garlic

[Greg Who Cooks]

Thanks blissful! And having a garden is a requirement for me. I'm sure it will happen, only question is where and when.

At my old place I just got by planting excess garlic from my kitchen when it started growing green shoots. I just break the head apart into cloves and poke a bunch of holes in the ground and plant them about 1-2 inches apart. It's interesting that here in So. Cal. the climate is so mild that I can plant them any time of the year. I like to keep a lot of garlic on hand because I use a lot, so I'm frequently in the situation of having 1-2 heads starting to grow green shoots. I just keep planting them and eventually most of them come up. I'm recycling my garlic!

When I harvest a garlic plant (I don't pick them all at the same time) I like to use not only the head (bulb) but also the stem and flowers. For example I divide the immature flower into sections and use that in a salad.

 

[blissful]

Thanks blissful! And having a garden is a requirement for me. I'm sure it will happen, only question is where and when.
...
When I harvest a garlic plant (I don't pick them all at the same time) I like to use not only the head (bulb) but also the stem and flowers. For example I divide the immature flower into sections and use that in a salad.

Have you thought of buying land outside of California?
Wisconsin is nice, no one knows where it is and we have lots of lakes. We are almost an invisible state.

After harvesting the garlic last month, we left the tops on.......the garlic bulbils......which can be planted and it will take 2 years to make full divided cloves, I'm going to be throwing them out. If anyone wants them, they can have them. Here is what they look like. There's got to be a thousand bulbils.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Have you thought of buying land outside of California?

I tried that, it didn't work. (Luckily I didn't buy a house there, almost did.) Out of state doesn't work for me. I love my big city conveniences including shopping and specifically having easy access to any cooking ingredient I want including fresh everything no matter what the cuisine.

After harvesting the garlic last month, we left the tops on.......the garlic bulbils......which can be planted and it will take 2 years to make full divided cloves, I'm going to be throwing them out. If anyone wants them, they can have them. Here is what they look like. There's got to be a thousand bulbils.

I'm curious. AFAIK the bulbs are of course the reason we grow garlic. I'm guessing the ones you're sharing, the ones in the picture, are they bulbs that were too small to use so you're replanting them to grow some more?

Also, I seem to get harvestable bulbs (admittedly, small ones) a year after planting my cloves. I guess I should leave them in the ground another year?

And also, if I leave them in the ground can I harvest the budding flowers at the top without harming the plant?

It's funny, I cut them off before they fully bloom, break them into individual sections (almost like breaking the bulb into cloves) and I really like them in salads. Is that weird?

Next time I grow them I'll let the flowers bloom and taste them and see if they would be good in something, probably a salad. There's other plants you can eat the flowers, for example zucchini. When they have nice flowers I leave them on and cook and serve the zucchini including flowers.

 

[blissful]

bulbils are the seeds off the top of the garlic.
Cloves are in the divided globes.
globes are the parts in the ground, made of cloves.

They are all garlicy.
Bulbils take two years to create divided globes.
Cloves make globes in one year.

I was once growing softneck garlic and the bulbils grew in the stem of the garlic, bursted the stems to get out.

If anyone wants bulbils, well, you pay shipping and you can have all you want.

I always just plant cloves, and get full globes the next year. A few thousand each year.

 

[CWS4322]

Is it better than store bought? And if so in what way?

I would say yes. I don't have a lot of success with garlic, but a neighbour does and I am about to go buy a bunch this weekend. It will be dry. The garlic harvest is 2 weeks ahead in our area.

Why bother? Well, when you grow the stuff, or have access to it, it makes sense to make your own garlic powder; same as it makes sense to make your own "hot pepper" flakes if you grow hot peppers...besides, those with big gardens are martyrs for punishment. If it can be done and we grow the the veggie needed, well, then it has to be done. I thought everyone knew that about those who have large gardens. Why else would I make tomato paste (and, I hope, this year, tomato powder)? Because I can.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Why bother? Well, when you grow the stuff, or have access to it, it makes sense to make your own garlic powder; same as it makes sense to make your own "hot pepper" flakes if you grow hot peppers...

It's funny you should mention chilis... I've grown them for years and I discovered drying them a bit by accident. I would leave a dish of peppers sitting in my kitchen and sometimes I'd just forget about them a while, and I noticed they became dried much like I've seen whole chilis in stores.

So well I eventually intentionally dried them out. I just chopped them up into sections and left them out to dry in my kitchen. (I had Thai chilis and jalapenos and serranos etc.) When they dried up I chopped them further into flakes and put them in bottles.

Now even a couple years later I still have a bit of my own home grown dried chili pepper flakes to use in spicy dishes.

Tomatoes are #1 easiest plant to grow in your garden, but for me chili peppers are #2. Here in So. Cal. they produce peppers almost the year 'round.

 

[CWS4322]

We went to a garlic festival yesterday. One of the things I could not resist was smoked garlic heads. I am dehydrating two right now to make into smoked garlic powder. I put the skins in a ziplock bag in the freezer so that I can add those to beef stock in the fall. I am wondering how one smokes garlic. The type smoked was "Music." It is very tasty.

 

[CWS4322]

We went to a garlic festival yesterday. One of the things I could not resist was smoked garlic heads. I am dehydrating two right now to make into smoked garlic powder. I put the skins in a ziplock bag in the freezer so that I can add those to beef stock in the fall. I am wondering how one smokes garlic. The type smoked was "Music." It is very tasty.

It seemed to take for_EVER to dehydrate the garlic. It was still a bit moist this morning when electricity rates switched. I turned off the dehydrator and headed out to the farm. When I got home, I thought I'd restart the dehydrator and finish. Wrong. The garlic was dried. I popped it into the coffee grinder that is dedicated for herbs/spices. Things I learned:

1. Do NOT open the grinder until the garlic dust settles. It goes up your nose--I think you get the picture.
2. Amazing stuff. I can hardly wait to use it. Wish I'd bought more cloves of the smoked garlic...wait a minute, I have a smoker...time to go to Google U to find out how garlic is smoked...

I only dehydrated 1-1/2 bulbs, not a lot. Wish I'd picked up more of the smoked garlic.

 

[CWS4322]

I didn't think to weigh the cloves, but I dehydrated the cloves from 1-1/2 bulbs. I have 4 cloves left, so guessing 10-12 cloves. I got just under 120 g (4 oz) of garlic powder.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

1. Do NOT open the grinder until the garlic dust settles. It goes up your nose--I think you get the picture.

Lucky thing you were not grinding hot chili peppers.

I didn't think to weigh the cloves, but I dehydrated the cloves from 1-1/2 bulbs. I have 4 cloves left, so guessing 10-12 cloves. I got just under 120 g (4 oz) of garlic powder.

That seems like a lot! I have a generic supermarket garlic powder bottle here that's 3.12 oz. and I'm guessing about half a cup.

 

[CWS4322]

The smoked flavor is really nice with the music garlic...a bit a of a bite, and then that smoky top note.

 

[CWS4322]

Lucky thing you were not grinding hot chili peppers.



That seems like a lot! I have a generic supermarket garlic powder bottle here that's 3.12 oz. and I'm guessing about half a cup.

I was pleasantly surprised--I didn't think I'd get that much garlic powder out of the cloves.