Garlic press alternatives

Slinky

maman said:

-taff said:

I use a grater now if I want a stronger taste of garlic or I just chuck in the clove whole and squash it when it's cooked for a milder flavour. I did try the lazy garlic stuff but honestly, the jar was just too big and I ended up chucking quite a lot of it out.

I assumed it was 'pickled' in vinegar so I've never needed to throw any away. I buy the 'Lazy Garlic' from Lidl but the branded one (while more expensive) is a smaller jar if that helps.

I agree about the lazy garlic. It's pickled in white wine vinegar. We just store it in the fridge when opened and have never thrown any of it away.

joedenise

I use a garlic plate.  Really easy to use and makes a really good paste.  Bought from www.garlic and ginger.com

-taff

It'd been in the fridge for well over a year and half opened and I just disn't trust it, it didn't smell right, so I chucked it. Didn't help that it was a jam jar sized jar...If I was going to by one again it'd be a much smaller jar.

Happy_Sloth

i just use the fine side of a grater i've got a garlic press and still use the grater because the press is a pain in the butt to wash haha.  

MrsStepford

The problem with a garlic press is picking bits out of the holes. We whack ours with a meat tenderiser.

kboss2010

Buy garlic in BULK (like 10-15 bulbs), separate the cloves, place into a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes, peel really easily after being soaked, chop the ends off, stick in a blender with a bit of water & purée. Freeze in ice cube trays to individual use size (I bought an ice cube tray with a lid & soak it in Milton afterwards to get rid of the smell) & once frozen, decant the cubes to a double freezer bag.

We do enough to last us at least 6 months at a time so no
mess, no added oil/salt & no garlicky hands!

JIL

I buy the olive oil with garlic £1.59  from aldi.   I really dont like using fresh garlic, its smell lingers on my hands for ages. 

Rosa_Damascena

Happy_Sloth said:

i just use the fine side of a grater i've got a garlic press and still use the grater because the press is a pain in the butt to wash haha.  

My sentiments exactly! Although I find a toothbrush works well for cleaning small and intricate kitchen gadgets (eg spiraliser blades).

I bought a load of garlic in bulk (we're looking at about 25 heads!) for pennies and then froze the individual cloves in a Kwik-bag. You can access the right dose and its easier to peel when its been frozen. Also a lot easier to grate, doesn't turn to mush quite as quickly. But the problem of smelly fingertips remains

Happycas

I gave up with fresh garlic and always buy frozen.  It's sort of minced and loose frozen so you can just use a spoonful.  It's money saving really because there 's no waste and it never starts to sprout or goes mushy. No smelly fingers either.
( Btw you can get rid of the garlic smell by rubbing your hands with soap and water and then rubbing them, while still wet, on something made of stainless steel - the sink?, a pan? - and then rinsing off. No, I don't know why it works either!  Works for onions too )

[Deleted User]

I'd second frozen garlic and also frozen ginger, it comes in handy little blocks and you can chuck it into whatever you're making straight from the freezer, fabulous stuff!