PrintThose green sprouts inside garlic
No matter how fresh the garlic is when I buy it, it always seems to develop those annoying little green centers shortly afterward. I always remove them because I find them to be bitter. Any ideas for preventing their appearance?
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25 Comments:
I discard the sprout. I have heard people say it's bitter but that's not my reason - it's usually the first thing to burn in the pan.
The only thing that causes sprouts is time. The garlic will continue to mature and therefore grow a sprout.
I'm not one for short cuts but recently Sam's club has had these humongous pristine peeled garlic cloves for sale. If you take precautions, you will have no waste. Not one of the cloves I have cut into had a sprout.
When I get the (rather large) container of garlic, I empty it all into a large bowl. I fold up a paper towel and put it in the bottom of the container, add some garlic, put another layer of paper towel and keep going. End with paper towel right under the lid. This works like a charm - and no waste.
chiff0nade at 1:10PM on 03/26/08
chiff0nade, what a great tip - how long does garlic usually last like this if you do the paper towel trick? I've been tempted to try those big containers of garlic cloves from Costco, just b/c I cook with garlic quite regularly, but was wary of the shelf life.
mrsbao at 2:55PM on 03/26/08
We got a huge container around January and I'm a little over half done with it. Garlic is still beautiful. :D Be careful when you choose a container - look for big cloves. I hate those little bitty cloves which is one of the reasons I stopped buying heads of fresh garlic. From the outside it looks like the cloves are really nice and big and when you crack into the skin, it's 67 little crappy ones really close together.
chiff0nade at 5:19PM on 03/26/08
I'm a bit apprehensive about what they use/do with the cloves to keep them fresh. I have to believe it's sulfites or nukes. If you peel garlic yourself, it doesn't keep too long. does it say on the bottle what else is in there?
passy at 5:46PM on 03/26/08
@chiff - I have been hesitant to purchase the container of peeled garlic. I am afraid it would be dry. I always discard the sprouts also. We use quite a bit of garlic and sometimes I feel like all I do is peel garlic and find big green sprouts.
crazyspice at 6:23PM on 03/26/08
I was at the market yesterday and encountered something I've NEVER seen before: small white onions which had long green spouts. Has anyone else ever seen that?
PumpkinBear at 7:32PM on 03/26/08
YEAH, IN MY GARDEN!
yupergrl at 8:14PM on 03/26/08
Just looked at the container - it's from Spice World - and there's nothing listed as being added as preservative. It says "perishable, refrigerate" but nothing else about chemicals. I'll try their website and see if there's any mention.
@crazyspice - My garlic is not new by any means and the cloves are not dry. One of the things I like to do is chop a clove, sprinkle salt on it, then with the side of my knife blade "smear" it against the board. I find the paste distributes well through foods. I did that very thing tonight to make vinaigrette and the garlic was as juicy as the first clove I used from the container.
@Pumpkinbear - aren't those "spring onions"?
chiff0nade at 8:28PM on 03/26/08
I couldn't find anything on their site so I e-mailed the company to ask about preservatives. I'll let you know if/when I hear back.
chiff0nade at 8:56AM on 03/27/08
(sorry I'm late to the party) @ Chiff I love your idea about the paper towels- how long do they keep fresh that way?
I've been freezing them in their container- but find they are a bit mushy and aren't as white once I thaw the clove to use.
bisbee at 12:24PM on 03/27/08
bisbee - they last a couple of months with the paper towels. Freezing garlic will definitely destroy the cell structure and that's why they're mushy when defrosted.
Spice World carries smaller containers of peeled cloves. Just over Easter, I showed my BF's mother my paper towel trick with a small container of garlic (make points!!! He, he, he, he).
chiff0nade at 1:46PM on 03/27/08
@chiff... so glad you posted this. I'm one of Costco's best customers, and I've often been tempted to buy the big jar of peeled garlic. I always chicken out because I'm so sure it will spoil before I use it all. What's funny is that I've used the paper towel trick for decades on all kinds of other produce (celery, lettuce, herbs, mushrooms, cut peppers, etc.), but it never entered my mind to do it with the garlic. I'm having a major DUH moment over here.
BTW, I'm guessing the only "preservative" is probably a harmless flush with (inert) nitrogen gas. By packing the containers in a nitrogen-filled environment, and then flushing the container with more nitrogen to remove any traces of air, there's little chance of oxidation and rotting (provided the container and its contents are very clean to begin with). Of course, once you open it, there's the air, along with moisture and condensation. So all bets are off. Not normally a problem for the targeted high-volume users (e.g., restaurants), but at home... well.
Anyway. This technique is very common in the produce industry where long shelf-life goods (e.g., apples, potatoes, carrots, etc.) are often stored in nitrogen-filled coolers. Years ago, when my ex and I almost bought an apple farm, they had a huge nitrogen-infused "refrigerator" (it was actually a warehouse) where they held the apples before distribution. Awesome.
LoCo at 3:24PM on 03/27/08
I just want to reiterate chiff0nade's comments and say that I have bought the exact same garlic tub and it's lasted quite a while in the fridge without any problems! It's very handy when I'm making a marinara sauce or something else that uses a lot of garlic since you don't have to peel them!
I also like to make a garlic paste and never encountered the garlic being to dry. If you are a cook who loves garlic, I would highly recommend!
jsnook at 4:37PM on 03/27/08
Headed to Costco this weekend. I am going to buy the peeled garlic. Big step for the crazy one, I have never done anything like this! I feel like I should join a 12 step!!
crazyspice at 9:20PM on 03/27/08
@Crazy... I'll tell you this. I know for sure I use a lot more garlic since I have those peeled cloves at my disposal! (Hope you and your significant other both like garlic...LOL.) The whole cloves are so much better than that pre chopped crap in the oil. You decide how you want to use it, whole, sliced, chopped, paste, or even roast a few cloves and you've got roasted garlic. Enjoy!
chiff0nade at 5:11AM on 03/28/08
I think I'm going to take the plunge and get the big tub of garlic too! :)
mrsbao at 9:11AM on 03/28/08
I use the Costco peeled garlic all the time! I'm sure I use more garlic than I normally would, because it's milder than freshly-peeled cloves. Usually I make it through the whole tub before they start to go off, but even if I end up throwing some away, at five bucks for three pounds it's not a fiscal tragedy.
WineCanine at 9:30AM on 03/28/08
I'm going to the asian mart & getting a new tub! Yay! Fresh garlic with no mush! thanks ya'll!
bisbee at 11:13AM on 03/28/08
The tub-o-garlic sounds great, but I would have to get a smaller one than the Costco size because I'm cooking for myself most of the time. I always buy a regular unpeeled thing of garlic, and it seems like the next week the inside is dry and the green sprouts form.
misseditor at 6:15PM on 03/28/08
@Chiff: No, they were Spanish onions that had these green growths, just like garlic sprouts after a while. It was so strange.
PumpkinBear at 3:26AM on 03/29/08
Removing the green 'germ' in a garlic clove takes no time at all to do. There are serious North American problems with the desire for total 'convenience', hence preservatives, over-packaging, freighted fruit and vegetables. Easy to trace a lot of our foodie 'woes'. Sometimes, often, good food takes a bit of time.
Raki5 at 7:19AM on 03/29/08
@Raki5 - Party Pooper!
crazyspice at 9:17AM on 03/29/08
raki5-It's not the time, it's the freshness. Each sprout has sapped goodness out of the clove, diminishing its flavor & size. Removing the sprout is easy, but I'd like to keep mine from sprouting. I guess there is no way, kind of like eyes on potatoes.
passy at 11:10AM on 03/29/08
You can't prevent the sprouting because (1) everything is SO old by the time it hits market (I remember reading that things like potatoes and apples have often been in cold storage up to a year before they get to the super), and (2) we don't keep root cellars anymore. Most of our houses are just way too warm for things like garlic and potatoes, while a refrigerator is way too cold, and way, way too damp.
I've been toying with the idea of installing two wine coolers -- one one for wine and cheese, and the other for cellar produce, such as potatoes, apples, onions, hard squashes, garlic, etc.
LoCo at 1:29PM on 03/29/08
My local grocery store, which sells some convenience/prepared foods (made there) sells peeled garlic in the produce section in half pint containers. For just a dollar or so...it's more economical than heads with 67 dried out tiny cloves (@chiff: lolol) and I find I use it all before it spoils.
A little tangent here for all the garlic lovers...I recently read that the nutritional value of garlic increases if you let it sit for a few minutes on the cutting board before adding it to the pan. (akin to spinach having more nutritional value once cooked vs raw).
JojoK at 2:34PM on 03/29/08