How to Peel Garlic

Oct 29, 2011 by The Bald Gourmet    1 Comment     Posted under: Cooking 101

One thing I’ve noticed again and again when teaching cooking classes is that most of my students do not come to me with an understanding of how to peel fresh garlic.  I’ve watched them painstakingly peeling little strips off the garlic cloves, wasting a minute or more when all they need to take is a few seconds.

Peeling Garlic Can be Easy When Done Right

When your recipe calls for chopped garlic, simply place your garlic glove on a cutting board.  Please the side of your chef’s knife on the clove, and hit the knife with the palm of your hand.  This will crush the garlic clove inside the skin, thus separating the garlic flesh from the skin and making it easier to pull out of the skin.  The harder you hit the knife, the more crushed the garlic will be.

If your recipe calls for sliced garlic, like in Wok Fried Spinach with Garlic, gently hit the knife so as to keep the garlic clove as whole as possible while still releasing the flesh from the skin.  You may need to cut the root end off with your knife at this point to fully release the skin.

Hit Side of Knife to Peel Garlic

Smash Garlic with Side of Knife

Garlic Clove After Hitting with Knife to Peel

Peeling Garlic

Peeled Garlic Ready to Slice

How to Remove Garlic Smell From Your Fingers

Sticky, pungent garlic juice likes to leave it’s delicious aroma on your skin for a long while, even after washing your hands with soap.  But there is a magical trick that will get rid of it instantly.  I say magical because it really seems like magic to me.

To remove the “stink” from your fingers, run your fingers across a stainless steal object (like the side of your chef’s knife you just chopped the garlic with) under cold water.  Something about the steel and water magically removes ALL the garlic aroma from your skin.  Repeat this a couple times, turning your fingers so as to expose all their surface to the steel, and walla!…..no garlic smell.

The Bald Gourmet’s cooking tips come from years of cooking and teaching experience.

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