Does anyone have any ideas on how to preserve garlic gloves?  I bought a couple of bulbs because I needed some for some recipes, including Paula’s Lots ‘o Meat Lasagna, and it was GREAT!!!!  Anyway, I have cloves that I haven’t used, and I don’t want them to go to waste.  What can I do if I’m not going to use them immediately?

It will keep ina cool dry place for a couple of months, beyond that freezing is your best option. I’ve seen lots of methods: freeze it whole and unpeeled in a freezer bag, peel it and freeze individual cloves in olive oil in an ice tray, peel it and freeze it in freezer bags. I’m afraid to try it for fear of creating flavors/odors in other things I’m freezing. My mother tried to freeze some minced garlic and the results weren’t tasty. The oil method would seem less likely to do that. Any other ideas out there?

Thanks, Lt!  You are SO helpful.  I’m a little apprehensive about freezing it as well, but hey, it’s worth a try on a couple of the cloves.

Lt. Sanders - 08 March 2009 02:33 PM

It will keep ina cool dry place for a couple of months, beyond that freezing is your best option. I’ve seen lots of methods: freeze it whole and unpeeled ina freezer bag, peel it and freeze individual cloves in olive oil in an ice tray, peel it and freeze it in freezer bags. I’m afraid to try it for fear of creating flavors/odors in other things I’m freezing. My mother tried to freeze soem minced garlic and the results weren’t tasty. The oil method would seem less likely to do that. Any other ideas out there?

I froze some leftover garlic cloves and they were awful!!!!!!  Too watery or something.  No flavor, just messy to deal with.

Chz

You’ve confirmed my fear

I buy my Garlic in sleeves of 5 at a time at my local Grocery store. I keep the extra bulbs in my spice cupboard, and the one I’m currently using in a Terra Cotta dish. You can go to a Kitchen supply store and buy a Terra Cotta Garlic Keeper, but I just happened to have this dish laying around. It works wonders!! My family & I love garlic but we don’t use it a lot, a sleeve of 5 lasts us a month or so.

Wonder if you could microwave them with a touch of oil or butter, then use on top of a homemade pizza, make garlic bread, add to ground meat, stuff like that.  We use garlic on everything, lol.  even making homemade salad dressings. 

Does anyone know if she can the raw cloves directly into some oil (with a light fitted lid), like in a mason jar?  I see pics of that all the time, then you’d have garlic oil, which sounds wonderful.

Here are a few links with tips on storing garlic.
http://www.patthegarliclady.com/storinggarlic.html
http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu/garlic.htm
http://www.hoodrivergarlic.com/garlic-tips.htm

I’ve been doing this for years. I buy bulbs of garlic, put them through a garlic press into a clean jar with a tight fitting lid. Just cover the garlic with extra virgin olive oil. Don’t use too much or the garlic will be too oily. Cover with the lid and store in the fridge, preferably in the bottom, or the coldest part. It keeps for months. Use 1 teaspoon of this for 1 clove of fresh garlic. Chefy