The Best Way to Peel Garlic

Too many people spend way too long extending and protracting the process of peeling a clove of garlic. There’s no need to roll it in a rubber sheath nor strip at it with a paring knife. Life’s too short to waste time on such unnecessary inefficiency. Three steps, five to ten seconds, your garlic is peeled.

1) Place your knife flat upon the garlic.

place your knife upon the clove

2) Press down firmly, but do not strike the blade.

press down but do not strike

3) Grasp the peel at the sprot end in one hand and the garlic at the root end with the other.

take one in one hand and the other in the other

They come apart effortlessly. If you have to peel a lot of garlic, perform each step on all cloves before proceeding to the next step. Only press down on one clove (or clove group, if a couple or three cloves are stuck together as one) at a time. If you’re trying to mash multiple groupings, none of them come apart as well or as quickly as if you were to do each separately in succession.

Also, if you need a great deal of garlic for any particular purpose (~1 bulb or more), place the bulb on your cutting board root side up and press down on it as you would to peel a single clove of garlic.  The cloves will come apart from the bulb much more quickly than if you were to try to pull them all off individually.

6 Responses to “The Best Way to Peel Garlic”

  1. Corduroy Orange » Blog Archive » Huevos con Papas y Col Rizada Says:

    [...] This dish is a great way to practice your knife skills, too—it will give you a chance to practice dicing potatoes, carrots, and onions; peeling garlic; and introduce you to a great way to slice leaves of anything: the chiffonade cut! [...]

  2. Corduroy Orange » Blog Archive » Garlic Hot Sauce Turkey Injection Says:

    [...] Simply smash a few cloves of garlic (6-8 or so) so that they’re basically whole, but broken. That way their natural oils can easily comingle with the hot sauce and lend their flavor to it. Put the garlic in a sauce pan and add 12 ounces of cayenne pepper hot sauce. Put over a medium flame and let simmer for about a half hour or forty-five minutes. Strain the garlic from the hot sauce and let it cool. [...]

  3. Corduroy Orange » Blog Archive » Knife Skills Table of Contents Says:

    [...] Peeling Garlic: It doesn’t have to be a time-consuming process.  Following this simple technique will help you get it done more quickly than you thought possible. [...]

  4. tammy Says:

    put the garlic into boiling water for a minute or two… then let cool… they will peel with ease!!!

  5. Gladys Says:

    Thank you so much!!! I am a self-training cook, and I love this space…help me a lot, once again Thank you/Gracias…

  6. Corduroy Orange » Blog Archive » Revised Garlic Peeling Instructions Says:

    [...] text and video, I have recommended peeling garlic by first crushing it with the flat side of your [...]

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