Shelf life of garlic?

[velochic]

I use garlic a lot, but not nearly as much as some here do. I've found that when I buy the garlic braid and store it hanging in my cool, dark (but not damp) basement, that it keeps before I use it all. I do sometimes get the sprout when I'm using up the last of the cloves. I take them out, too.

The garlic bulbs in the store don't seem to keep as well for me. I wonder if they are just "older" already by the time they get to the store... even those that pass muster.

 

[ella/TO]

I find it very annoying, that all but the summer months, when I can buy from here in Ontario, that the garlic in most of the stores comes from China. What about you other DC'rs?

 

[jennyema]

I have been freezing my garlic when I buy a sleeve of it.

 

[Claire]

We're getting ready to travel for a couple of weeks and Husband is going to roast whatever garlic is left in the kitchen, then I'll freeze it. I don't hate sprouted garlic, and in the summer when it happens I plop them into the herb garden, and use the greens. I agree that the bulb can (not always, to me) be bitter once it sprouts.

 

[ChefJune]

I live in Ireland and grow my own garlic. I store it as platted ropes hanging from the beam close to the solid fuel stove, but not in direct line. It usually keeps until the new crop is ready. Now in May little roots are showing, but the bulbs are still firm. Chopped up, small bits of green shoot show. So what? As Garlic grows through the winter it is not heat which makes them sprout, but moisture.

I was about to say that if the garlic is really garden fresh, it can keep for quite a few months. However when you arebuying in the supermarket, you have no idea how long since it was picked.

As for the sprouts, some of us can taste when they're there -- they're bitter. Others don't care. One of the funniest ongoing back-and-forths between Julia Child and Jacques Pepin was over garlic. Julia would carefully remove the sprouts, and just as fast, Jacques would EAT them!

 

[MoodyBlueFoodie]

You can freeze garlic?

 

[CookLikeJulia]

I guess, they told already the right thing to see if the garlic is not good anymore. One thing, if you want to have your garlic a long shelf life, never put it in a container were it can develop moisture.

 

[buckytom]

I find it very annoying, that all but the summer months, when I can buy from here in Ontario, that the garlic in most of the stores comes from China. What about you other DC'rs?

from china, ella? wow.

i wouldn't eat anything from china. besides how cheap locally available garlic is here (5 small bulbs/$) china is so corrupt that i'd be afraid of toxins in the food. they get my money from so many things, i can do without their food.

btw, same goes for candy from mexico and latin america. mmmmm, mango or papaya flavored gummy candy, now with extra lead!

 

[blissful]

We just harvested 12 dozen globes of garlic last week-end. They are hanging in bunches of 12 in the garage to dry for a few weeks.

The hardneck varieties are not as long storing as the softneck varieties, and the softnecks can last up to a year. I'll be storing the majority of it in the fruit cellar in the basement. Some will get dehydrated in chips to be ground later--after I figure out how I blew the circuit breaker with the micro/convect/dehydrater on the outdoor circuit when I put it on the picnic table outside. Some will be pickled, though I haven't figured out how to peel the cloves without smashing them somewhat.

Most of what I've learned about garlic is from friends, internet research and this site. www.wegrowgarlic.com From what I've learned from reading, there are many many types of garlic, some more fruity, some hot, some with garlicy after taste, large and small cloves ranging from only a few cloves/globe to dozens of cloves/globe. Have fun with it! Bliss

 

[ChefJune]

blissful: try some of that garlic FRESH! I like fresh garlic even better than the dried.
And the young shoots you can get in the spring when you're thinning out your plants? Well, those are just over the top. Makes the best Spaghetti Aglio/Olio ever.

 

[blissful]

June: Actually, we did have garlic scapes (a shoot that comes up with the flower pod from the middle of the plant) from the hardneck variety this spring (you probably already knew that)--sauted and added to macaroni salad. We didn't need to thin the garlic at all--they were planted about 12 inches apart.

Fresh garlic is great, I had to harvest some of it early because last years garlic was drying out and sprouting and I needed (garlic fix) some of it. Harvesting a few globes early let me see how close we were to harvest.

I'm surprised at what a low maintenance crop garlic can be, with proper planting, covering, wait until spring, little weeding, easy harvest and let dry. I'm hoping the drying will help in removing the coverings on the cloves, they are difficult to remove fresh. I'll give a try to your suggestion of Aglio/Olio over pasta, thank you, Bliss

 

[gage]

I grow hard neck. i keep it at room temp in the dark, if it senses cold it will try to sprout. just put some in the fridge and check. I usually use all mine up ( wife gives it away at christmas .) by May and then use store bought or local farmers,,, i'll be picking mine next week. The sprouts I find to be sweet , I cut some out to check because Jacques Pepin said that it is wrong what we were told about them being bitter. maybe the sweet turns sour when it overcooks but so does the rest of it.
depending on what I'm making sometimes i love the bitterness of fried garlic.
I have a wings recipe that I use two or three heads in. Lemon garlic wings. so it disappears in a hurry sometimes

 

[CharlieD]

I usually buy a half gallon size jar from sam's club. It keeps for quite a while, but interstingly the comercial refrigerator in the place I volunteer keeps the same jar at lewast twice as long.