# Peel a Head of Garlic Quickly



## Steve Kroll (Nov 23, 2011)

Apologies if someone posted this previously, but I saw this on YouTube a couple of weeks ago. My first thought when I saw this was "that can't possibly work!" But last night I tried it and it really does. I peeled 5 heads of garlic in maybe 2 minutes. You also don't have to use the humongous bowls like the guy in the video. Small metal mixing bowls work just fine.

Check it out...

How To Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds - YouTube


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## pacanis (Nov 23, 2011)

No way.
That does look too easy.

Great post, Steve. I gotta try that out, but I used my last toe last night.


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## forty_caliber (Nov 23, 2011)

It works.  Makes lots of noise.  I get the best results from the outer cloves.  The inner, less evenly shaped cloves don't seem to work as well for me.

.40


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## Andy M. (Nov 23, 2011)

I gotta get me a couple of them bowls!!!


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## GLC (Nov 23, 2011)

Steve Kroll said:


> You also don't have to use the humongous bowls like the guy in the video.



Well, I just kind of assumed that any guy who can peel 5 heads of garlic in 2 minutes probably has humongous bowls.


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## Steve Kroll (Nov 23, 2011)

GLC said:


> Well, I just kind of assumed that any guy who can peel 5 heads of garlic in 2 minutes probably has humongous bowls.


Well... sometimes I tell folks they are large, but that's just guy talk.

Oh wait. You said "bowls"?


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## Aunt Bea (Nov 23, 2011)

That is amazing!


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## Timothy (Nov 23, 2011)

Steve Kroll said:


> Well... sometimes I tell folks they are large, but that's just guy talk.
> 
> Oh wait. You said "bowls"?


 
Steve, Steve, Steve...

Yer killin me


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## roadfix (Nov 23, 2011)

I have them bowls!


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## CWS4322 (Nov 24, 2011)

I think I saw that on Chopped...it does work.


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## The-molecular-chef (Nov 24, 2011)

Or you can cut the bottom of the bulb off and microwave for 10 seconds which is even more effective


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## blissful (Nov 24, 2011)

I've seen that video, good idea.

I saw somewhere here, someone said to soak garlic in water for 15 minutes and they easily shed their skins......that didn't work so much for me. My garlic might be too dry or water repellant?

I still throw them in boiling water for 1 minute, put in cold water.......the skins come off much easier for me. (for peeling 20-50 cloves at a time) I like that they are not crushed and they are whole.

I haven't tried the microwave method yet.


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## FrankZ (Nov 24, 2011)

Do I have to go pick up some garlic to try this or is anyone else willing to be the tester?


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Nov 24, 2011)

I saw Rachael Ray do this on her 30 minute meals show a long time ago. Unfortunately, the only pair of bowls I have are glass, and very heavy. All that noise would probably give me a headache and I'd have to stop cooking and go lie down.


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## Timothy (Nov 24, 2011)

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> I saw Rachael Ray do this on her 30 minute meals show a long time ago. Unfortunately, the only pair of bowls I have are glass, and very heavy. All that noise would probably give me a headache and I'd have to stop cooking and go lie down.


 
Just watching all that work made me want a nap! Use a couple of stone bowls and make it a bit quieter!


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## FrankZ (Nov 24, 2011)

I wonder if you really need the bowls to be that big.  And if so, stoneware might be well, way too heavy to toss about like that.


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## Timothy (Nov 24, 2011)

FrankZ said:


> I wonder if you really need the bowls to be that big. And if so, stoneware might be well, way too heavy to toss about like that.


I think it would be almost impossible to toss a couple of stone bowls about like that, Frank.


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## ThePurpleChef (Nov 25, 2011)

Lykewoah.

I wonder how many takes he had to do? If I did that, me being the klutz and butterfingers, the mixing bowl woulda smacked me in the face, lol. :P


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## Steve Kroll (Nov 25, 2011)

FrankZ said:


> I wonder if you really need the bowls to be that big.  And if so, stoneware might be well, way too heavy to toss about like that.


Actually, the ones I used were small metal mixing bowls, maybe 6 or 7 inches in diameter. They worked just fine. I'd be willing to bet you could even get away with using plastic. I think the big ones the guy in the video uses are more for show than practicality.


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## Kathleen (Nov 25, 2011)

I would likely drop the bowls and find shriveled garlic cloves, perfectly peeled, of course, when spring cleaning occurs.


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## Aunt Bea (Nov 25, 2011)

I used a stainless steel pot with a tight fitting lid and it worked pretty well.


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## Kathleen (Nov 25, 2011)

Aunt Bea said:


> I used a stainless steel pot with a tight fitting lid and it worked pretty well.



Now there you go making sense again.


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## spork (Nov 25, 2011)

I'll have to give this a shake...
But I wonder if the method's success comes more from the karate chop, rather than the shaken bowl.


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## jpe (Nov 26, 2011)

I wonder if one of those twirling salad dryers would work just as well (or better?) - gotta try.


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## Fabiabi (Nov 26, 2011)

Amazing! and just looked at the website, seems quite good


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## pacanis (Nov 26, 2011)

I'm thinking it is the smashed garlic crashing into each other that separates the skin. I'll bet if a clove doesn't have the skin already loosened from the smash, exposing the stickniess, it won't be peeled. We need someone to use glass bowls and give us a frame by frame


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## pacanis (Nov 26, 2011)

Unbelievable.
And what is left is dry toes you can work with. Not sticky at all.
I used a couple bowls about 8" in diameter. Smashed a head. Shook. Picked them out. It's like picking Spanish peanuts out of their red skins. This is about the neatest kitchen tip I have ever seen


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## PrincessFiona60 (Nov 26, 2011)

Great Fred!!  Thanks!


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## pacanis (Nov 26, 2011)

Thank Steve. I will never buy another jar of minced garlic again for making multiple fatties again! I thought there would be some hang up, like the skins sticking to the bowl... something, but it just plain works.
Do you need some garlic? lol


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## Timothy (Nov 26, 2011)

pacanis said:


> Unbelievable.
> And what is left is dry toes you can work with. Not sticky at all.
> I used a couple bowls about 8" in diameter. Smashed a head. Shook. Picked them out. It's like picking Spanish peanuts out of their red skins. This is about the neatest kitchen tip I have ever seen


 
That is sweet. I'd about stopped using fresh garlic because of it being a PITA to peel.


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## Dawgluver (Nov 26, 2011)

I will have to try this!  SIL sent some nice garlic home with us.  Thanks for the report, Pac!


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## Steve Kroll (Nov 27, 2011)

pacanis said:


> ...it just plain works.
> Do you need some garlic? lol


This is where I ended up as well. I had so much fun doing it that I now have several heads of peeled garlic to deal with. I put them in the fridge in some olive oil. I love garlic, so I'm sure it will be used up quickly enough.


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## LPBeier (Nov 27, 2011)

Hmm, wish I had known this when I was at culinary school.  About twice a week we were told as a class when there was nothing to do, to peel and de-vein a whole basket full of garlic.  We always wondered where it all went......until we made it out of training kitchen into the restaurant kitchen and we had all this prepared garlic waiting for us!


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## Skittle68 (Nov 27, 2011)

I had pretty much stopped using fresh garlic too, but this method might just make me convert back!! Awesome!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Nov 27, 2011)

I wonder if an 8 inch heavy duty paper plate over an 8 inch bowl would work, otherwise I will have to go buy another bowl to fit over mine.  I might have a metal pot lid that would work.


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## Skittle68 (Nov 27, 2011)

PrincessFiona60 said:
			
		

> I wonder if an 8 inch heavy duty paper plate over an 8 inch bowl would work, otherwise I will have to go buy another bowl to fit over mine.  I might have a metal pot lid that would work.



Or a large Tupperware container with a cover? Or pot with a lid- I'm probably going to use my pressure cooker so the lid doesn't go flying


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## PrincessFiona60 (Nov 27, 2011)

I have to have something fairly light, my shoulders don't work well anymore, too heavy and I wouldn't be able to shake it even once.


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## Addie (Nov 27, 2011)

Oh great! I tried this and my recipe called for one small clove of peeled garlic. Looks like a big Italian feast for one tonight.


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## pacanis (Nov 27, 2011)

I made this with my garlic. It freezes well, too. 

Garlic Puree - YouTube


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## FrankZ (Nov 27, 2011)

Thank you for the independent confirmation.

I wonder if there is a difference in different materials for the bowl?  Stainless vs plastic vs whatever.


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## 4meandthem (Nov 27, 2011)

I tried this method on Fri with 2 heads of garlic and only about 5-6 cloves came free of their paper. I shook it several times but nothing.

I did poach my cloves in olive oil and will never roast whole heads again.
The cloves cooked more evenly and you dont get your hands messy squeezing the whole head to smear some on toasts. I also got the added benefit of the oil to brush my bread with and drizzle on my grilled veggies.
A lot less garlic went to waste too.


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## jpe (Nov 27, 2011)

The salad twirler doesn't work - at least not for me

Tried 2 bowls and half came out OK - the rest loosened - will certainly affect the calorie damage if you then eat garlic fries

Basically a lot of work - maybe dependent on how fresh the fresh garlic is.

+++

In any case - what is to be avoided at all costs is commercial powder or garlic salt.

Abominable - the lot.

But you can slice and dry cloves pretty nicely - they keep wonderfully - and you can also stick them in a coffee bean grinder and get great own powder.

But keep the slices locked up - my 2 yr old grandson got hold of them and chomped a bunch of them - one whiff and he could have had a Serbian passport inimediately! 

(I was once on a Belgrade train and all the Serbs across from me in the compartment were chewing garlic cloves like candy)


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## FrankZ (Dec 1, 2011)

So I tried this.  It worked ok, but not as well as I might have liked.  It takes longer than 10 seconds to pick out the peeled cloves.  

I think velocity and distance might help, really big bowls.  I had to use a bowl and a lid since I don't have two bowls that would match up that are of any real size.


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## Steve Kroll (Dec 1, 2011)

While playing with this technique, one thing I found that really helps. Ok... two things really.

First, it makes a difference how fresh the garlic is. This seems to work *much* better with fresh garlic bulbs.

Second, if you take a sharp knife and cut away the root before smashing the bulb on the counter, it helps the skin separate more cleanly. The root is what seems to provide the most resistance to the skin coming off cleanly. 

Though this probably adds another couple of seconds to the whole process.


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## Andy M. (Dec 1, 2011)

Steve Kroll said:


> While playing with this technique, one thing I found that really helps. Ok... two things really.
> 
> First, it makes a difference how fresh the garlic is. This seems to work *much* better with fresh garlic bulbs.
> 
> ...



Be realistic.  No one has the time to do all that intricate extra work!


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