Recipe: Garlic powder
Mar. 7th, 2014 10:56![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillIf you like garlic powder, don't buy the commercial stuff in jars. You're paying too much and (worse) it's weak. If you put in a little effort once or twice a year, you can have the really good stuff.
I use my homegrown garlic when it starts to sprout in the spring; one advantage to that is that it's really easy to peel, being pretty old. You can also buy it from the discount bins, or buy it and then say you'll get around to it for a couple of months, or buy peeled cloves, or just spend the time peeling fresh garlic. I do recommend older stuff, though, as it's got less juice in it.
How much? That's up to you. Yesterday's batch of around 18 heads yielded about two baking sheets of chopped garlic, which turned out a cup of garlic powder. That may not sound like much, but I use about a quarter of what I'd use of the store-bought powder, because it's really potent.
What you will need:
Garlic
A food processor with blade (or a sharp knife and some patience)
Baking sheets lined with baking mats or waxed paper
A plastic pancake turner or flexible spatula
An oven (unless it's hot and dry out)
A small electric coffee grinder which has never been used for coffee
An airtight jar
A wire strainer (I use a tea strainer) and a bowl that fits it
A funnel
About 1/4 cup of flax seed, peanuts, pecans, cashews, or some other oily nut/seed
Tolerant housemates
Heat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Peel the garlic and trim off the root ends (and any blemishes). Load it into the food processor and chop it fine, to about 1/8" bits. Don't puree it. It should be relatively uniform, which is why I don't recommend just smashing it, unless you chop it from there.
Reduce the oven heat to 170 degrees F, and turn on the fan. No, really. If your stove's vent hood leads outdoors, all the better. Warn any housemates.
Open the food processor and spread the garlic on the prepared baking sheet(s), thinner than a quarter-inch deep. Put it in the middle of the oven and bake for three to six hours, checking on it every hour or so. Stir it (well, scrape it off the lining and mix it around) when the edges start getting crispy, so that the middle has a chance to dry. How long it takes depends on how much garlic you have, and how fresh it is.
When it's dry and crunchy, pull the garlic out of the oven. Let it cool for at least fifteen minutes; I often let it go overnight, so that the moisture in the bits can equalize.
When you're ready, load some into the grinder. Don't overfill it; most grinders want to be filled only up to the bottom of the lid, which is halfway up the cup. If you put in too much, the powder will overheat before you're done grinding, and that leads to all sort of grief. Grind it in long pulses until it stops sounding like sand, a minute or so. Now leave the grinder alone for another minute. You really don't want to breathe the dust in there. Set the strainer over its bowl.
Open it up and tap the powder into the strainer. Shake it gently until all you have are the unground bits; return those to the grinder and add the next round of dried garlic. Grind again.
Once you're done grinding, use the funnel to pour the powder into your airtight jar. It'll keep for at least a year, if you don't use it all. Be sparing, until you're used to it -- this really is intense stuff.
A note on cleaning the grinder: Don't pour water into the grinding cup. I hold it sideways next to the tap and use my fingers (UNPLUG IT) or a clean sponge to wipe it out with running water. A toothbrush gets the little crannies under the blades. Shake it out and let it dry completely. Since it's built to use the oils in coffee for its lubrication, using it just for spices will kill the grinder in a year or less... to keep it running well, grind 1/4 cup of oily seeds or nuts in the grinder, once it's dry. Dispose of the (potentially slightly garlicky) meal however you see fit (I recommend flaxseed in muffins or scrambled eggs), rinse out the grinder again, let it dry, and store it.
The reason I say to use a grinder which has never been used for coffee is that coffee oils are very persistent, and everything you grind in it will taste at least a bit of coffee. I use my dedicated spice grinder for coriander and other whole spices, and so long as I oil it afterward, it runs fine. Garlic is hardest on it, because of garlic's sticky nature.
That's it. Enjoy your garlic powder. :)
I use my homegrown garlic when it starts to sprout in the spring; one advantage to that is that it's really easy to peel, being pretty old. You can also buy it from the discount bins, or buy it and then say you'll get around to it for a couple of months, or buy peeled cloves, or just spend the time peeling fresh garlic. I do recommend older stuff, though, as it's got less juice in it.
How much? That's up to you. Yesterday's batch of around 18 heads yielded about two baking sheets of chopped garlic, which turned out a cup of garlic powder. That may not sound like much, but I use about a quarter of what I'd use of the store-bought powder, because it's really potent.
What you will need:
Garlic
A food processor with blade (or a sharp knife and some patience)
Baking sheets lined with baking mats or waxed paper
A plastic pancake turner or flexible spatula
An oven (unless it's hot and dry out)
A small electric coffee grinder which has never been used for coffee
An airtight jar
A wire strainer (I use a tea strainer) and a bowl that fits it
A funnel
About 1/4 cup of flax seed, peanuts, pecans, cashews, or some other oily nut/seed
Tolerant housemates
Heat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Peel the garlic and trim off the root ends (and any blemishes). Load it into the food processor and chop it fine, to about 1/8" bits. Don't puree it. It should be relatively uniform, which is why I don't recommend just smashing it, unless you chop it from there.
Reduce the oven heat to 170 degrees F, and turn on the fan. No, really. If your stove's vent hood leads outdoors, all the better. Warn any housemates.
Open the food processor and spread the garlic on the prepared baking sheet(s), thinner than a quarter-inch deep. Put it in the middle of the oven and bake for three to six hours, checking on it every hour or so. Stir it (well, scrape it off the lining and mix it around) when the edges start getting crispy, so that the middle has a chance to dry. How long it takes depends on how much garlic you have, and how fresh it is.
When it's dry and crunchy, pull the garlic out of the oven. Let it cool for at least fifteen minutes; I often let it go overnight, so that the moisture in the bits can equalize.
When you're ready, load some into the grinder. Don't overfill it; most grinders want to be filled only up to the bottom of the lid, which is halfway up the cup. If you put in too much, the powder will overheat before you're done grinding, and that leads to all sort of grief. Grind it in long pulses until it stops sounding like sand, a minute or so. Now leave the grinder alone for another minute. You really don't want to breathe the dust in there. Set the strainer over its bowl.
Open it up and tap the powder into the strainer. Shake it gently until all you have are the unground bits; return those to the grinder and add the next round of dried garlic. Grind again.
Once you're done grinding, use the funnel to pour the powder into your airtight jar. It'll keep for at least a year, if you don't use it all. Be sparing, until you're used to it -- this really is intense stuff.
A note on cleaning the grinder: Don't pour water into the grinding cup. I hold it sideways next to the tap and use my fingers (UNPLUG IT) or a clean sponge to wipe it out with running water. A toothbrush gets the little crannies under the blades. Shake it out and let it dry completely. Since it's built to use the oils in coffee for its lubrication, using it just for spices will kill the grinder in a year or less... to keep it running well, grind 1/4 cup of oily seeds or nuts in the grinder, once it's dry. Dispose of the (potentially slightly garlicky) meal however you see fit (I recommend flaxseed in muffins or scrambled eggs), rinse out the grinder again, let it dry, and store it.
The reason I say to use a grinder which has never been used for coffee is that coffee oils are very persistent, and everything you grind in it will taste at least a bit of coffee. I use my dedicated spice grinder for coriander and other whole spices, and so long as I oil it afterward, it runs fine. Garlic is hardest on it, because of garlic's sticky nature.
That's it. Enjoy your garlic powder. :)
