9

I have tried smashing the garlic with a knife and even bought a fancy garlic peeler once. Smashing with a knife has the downside of deforming the garlic which is not always desirable. The garlic peeler was still slower then smashing with the knife and had the down side of shooting the garlic across the table if one was not careful. Is there anything else I can do?

Improve this question
0

6 Answers 6

Reset to default
12
  1. Take two large bowls.
  2. Put the garlic cloves into one of the bowls.
  3. Place the second bowl upside down on top of the bowl with the cloves.
  4. Shake the hell out of it.
  5. In about 10 seconds, all cloves are peeled and you can fish them out of the bowls.

For a more visual explanation;

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

Instead of using the two bowls, @KellyThomas suggests using a plastic container like a lunchbox (or the 1L plastic container used by @KellyThomas).

Improve this answer
5
  • This also works well using any suitably sized container, no need for matching bowls if you have a lunchbox around.
    – Kelly Thomas
    Dec 11, 2014 at 12:35
  • Yep... But a lunchbox could be too small -> the garlic cloves get split open themselves from 'shaking the hell out of it'
    – RichardBernards
    Dec 11, 2014 at 12:41
  • I have good success with the 1L plastic container I use to take leftovers to work for lunch. I grip it in one hand and then shake it like a spray can.
    – Kelly Thomas
    Dec 11, 2014 at 12:49
  • @KellyThomas updated the answer with your findings
    – RichardBernards
    Dec 11, 2014 at 12:52
  • My wife puts the garlic in a tupperware with a lid and shakes it. Same effect, no worry about breaking bowls.
    – par
    Jan 1, 2015 at 5:09
7

Placing the whole clove of garlic in the microwave for ten to fifteen seconds will make the skin almost fall off a garlic clove. Very easy to peel without the use of a knife to smash it or any other peeling tool. The only downside is that it does cook the garlic slightly.

Improve this answer
0
5
  1. Smash the garlic with a bowl
  2. Put it into a container, close the lid and shake them well.
  3. Take out the garlic skins from the garlic easily.

enter image description here

source

Improve this answer
5
  • Wow! This is a awesome answer, I have to use this more often for sure :) I 1+ totally, but the one problem I saw was that the sources for the photos weren't listed. I thought they came from food-hacks.wonderhowto.com, but I can't be sure. I always make it a priority to have the sources for all info used, but I don't know the full policy for this. You may be right, its just a suggestion :) Congrats on the awesome answer, anyway quality makes the site better! ;)
    – Pobrecita
    Jan 3, 2015 at 8:38
  • Hi again! My other comment was a bit big and I couldn't fit anything else into it :( Anyhow my question was that "Does this method ruin containers at all?" I would think that with the constant shaking the containers would become weaker or even crack! But that is my ideas and they may be inaccurate, if you could add the Cons to using this method, I think the answer would go from Awesome to Extraordinary! :)
    – Pobrecita
    Jan 3, 2015 at 8:45
  • @darthnesscoveredthesky Apologies- I have added now. I started adding the sources w.r.t (meta.stackexchange.com/questions/246348/…) on my recent posts, This is older one. I will try to edit the old posts.
    – Joachin Joseph
    Jan 3, 2015 at 8:50
  • @darthnesscoveredthesky I have tested two times since I posted this. It worked like a charm. I wonder how it will ruin a plastic when a garlic is being hit.
    – Joachin Joseph
    Jan 3, 2015 at 8:55
  • No need for apologies :) This is a collaborative site and suggestions are a given, as is their accuracy(some are more than others). That's good that you are updating your old post, but I really think that any new data or old should be put into this post so that it gets the Upvotes it deserves :) Personal experience validates the post and shows people it worked for you, I think never to shy from putting that in the post :)
    – Pobrecita
    Jan 3, 2015 at 9:07
1

Use a sharp paring knife and slice down the back side of the clove (the convex part). With the tip of the knife, push it under the skin and that should let you peel it off the rest of the way.

Improve this answer
1

Here is a popular method that is also explained on WikiHow:

Soak the garlic cloves in a bowl of water for 5 minutes before peeling, the WikiHow article says that it is advisable to have the whole garlic clove underwater. After soaking for the allotted time remove the garlic, cut both ends off and then peel the Garlic. The Garlic should be easier to peel because the water loosened the seal between the garlic and the peels.

Improve this answer
2
  • WikiHow says to use cold water although, I have never experienced this solution. Someone with better knowledge should edit more details into this answer and confirm the current details or this answer should be removed appropriately.
    – Pobrecita
    Jan 3, 2015 at 8:31
  • This answer is ok and useful, it contains ample information and resouce
    – Jon
    Jan 6, 2015 at 6:33
0
  1. Take an empty clean glass jar (I find that a 1 litre empty honey jar works best, but you may prefer smaller jars).
  2. Place the garlic clove(s) in the jar, and close the lid tightly.
  3. Employing vigorous up/down movements on the jar, let the cloves bounce off its lid/bottom.
  4. After a few repetitions of step (3), the clove(s) will be peeled (either completely or to a degree that you can peel them like you'd peel a banana).
  5. That's it.
Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.