Granulated Garlic
 

What's the deal with granulated garlic? I like garlic but sometimes find all that chopping and mincing tedious and time consuming. What is granulated garlic? Can I use it in place of fresh garlic? Is it better than garlic powder, or is it the same thing?

You can buy fresh garlic pre-minced in a jar at most grocery stores. Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby!

you can also just get one of those small food processors about $10 when they are on sale and mince away garlic, onions, and other fresh herbs.... in about 2 button presses.

Yeah, garlic powder and the like are a waste, although the pre minced stuff isn't as good as chopping a clove right there, it's way better then dried stuff.

I find that smashing the garlic clove with the blade of the itself (not the sharp part) is the easiest way to get rid of the peel and to start the mincing process. Just smash a few cloves, remove the peels, and a quick mince, and you are all set.

Thank you for your responses. I guess I'll keep a jar of minced garlic in the fridge for when I'm pressed for time or feeling lazy, and the rest of the time, keep peeling, pounding and chopping.

By the way, did you ever hear that rubbing your fingers on stainless steel removes the smell of garlic? It's true!

Rub your fingers with parsley or lemon as well...I use the flat knife on clove method to discard the skin, then through the smashed clove into the saute pan and after a few minutes mash it with a fork right in the pan that you are cooking in (no mincing needed) Also be careful not to let the garlic get brown (just starting to brown is OK), it completely changes the flavor.

pre-minced garlic dosn't tase like fresh garlic at all, but it is better than dried garlic.
Have you tried a garlic press?

i have a garlic mandolin that grates garlic on one side and slices on the other....i love it! i bought it at bed, bath & beyond. fairly cheap.

A mandolin for garlic...cool! I'll look for that. I have tried a garlic press and, at one time, I swore them off. I thought it ended up being more trouble than mincing. I loved the way it turned a clove into paste, but I'd get about 1/8 tsp from a clove. Although, now that I think about it, fresh garlic is so cheap that maybe I just should have used like 8 cloves in the press to get a teaspoon of garlic. Am I over-analyzing? I do that.

I mince with a knife because I don't like presses that get all plugged , I did use a Henkel press that worked pretty good. A morter and pestle work good if you want to mash a bunch.