Smashing garlic

[babetoo]

when i am smashing garlic with the flat of a knife, almost never get it on first try. not strong enough in hands, i guess. was trying unsuccessfully to do it today. had a thought, use the meat pounder, flat side. wow, first time. i think i have hit on something here. how does everyone else do it?

[Andy M.]

I use a knife. I have seen Alton Brown on Good Eats use a small block of marble to smash the garlic. Bottom line is, use whatever works for you.

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by babetoo

when i am smashing garlic with the flat of a knife, almost never get it on first try. not strong enough in hands, i guess. was trying unsuccessfully to do it today. had a thought, use the meat pounder, flat side. wow, first time. i think i have hit on something here. how does everyone else do it?

Good thinking out of the box! I agree with Andy, anything that works. I use the side of a knife.

[merstar]

Good idea using a meat mallet. I don't like using a chef's knife either - it doesn't flatten the garlic enough for me. I use a medium/small heavy-bottomed pot.

[MSC]

I use a dough scraper, also known as a bench knife, as it has a much larger surface.
But if you don't have anything conventional handy, lots of other things could be used to do the job, like the bottom of an unopened can (of tomatoes for example) or using the bottom of a side plate and press down on it.

[zfranca]

Garlic press. It works so well....

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by zfranca

Garlic press. It works so well....

I've had one of those...note the past tense. I find them difficult to clean and they are single purpose. However, if it works for you

[mollyanne]

...thx for the good ideas!

[zfranca]

I forgot to mention that I also use my garlic press, to press fresh ginger root.

[kadesma]

The garlic press went the way of the horse and buggy.here.I use what's handy, a cleaver,chef knife,flat side of meat mallet What ever is handy
kades