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Yakov Pavlovich
Professor, Head of the Department of Vegetable Growing
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Planting and growing garlic on your plot is only half the battle. The main thing is to know how to store garlic after digging, so that the crop can safely survive until the new planting season without loss. This vegetable stores well, which makes the task much easier. But to prevent the cloves from drying out and rotting, it is important to meet certain conditions and select a container for storing.
Choice of location and container
When, after harvesting, the garlic has been thoroughly dried and carefully sorted, it is necessary to allocate a place for its storage and suitable containers. Heads can quickly deteriorate if stored in improper conditions.
Until the next season, the harvest can be stored even in an apartment, for example, in a bank. But it is better to store garlic in a cellar, which is cool and dry. It should be taken into account that young garlic will have worse shelf life than well-ripened garlic. This vegetable is not too picky about temperature, but it is better if the room is around +5.
How to preserve and store peeled garlic?
You will learn a great way to preserve peeled garlic without worrying about its safety in the future.
- Vegetable oil
- Glass jars
- dark place
Many people believe that peeled garlic cannot be stored and that it quickly deteriorates or dries out. However, there are many ways that allow you to store peeled garlic without worrying about its safety. It is worth noting that such methods do not require special equipment, containers or premises. Everything is very simple. And how to store peeled garlic.
The first method involves storing peeled garlic in vegetable oil. For this, almost any oil is used - flaxseed, olive, sunflower. The jars are thoroughly washed and dried, and the garlic is peeled. Then the garlic is packed tightly into jars and filled with oil.
This garlic is very convenient when cooking when you don’t have time to peel it. And the oil will also be used, soaked in the garlic aroma, it will have a great taste and smell. This oil is very convenient to complement salads and other various dishes. In addition to the heads, you can store pre-peeled garlic cloves.
To do this, first the garlic is peeled, the cloves are placed in a clean jar and filled with vegetable oil. Garlic, which is stored in this way, is very convenient to use when there is no time to peel it. In addition, the oil remaining after storage is also suitable for adding to food (for example, for salads).
It acquires a rich garlic aroma. Now you know how to preserve peeled garlic for a long time. This does not require a lot of time, special products and great physical effort. In addition, such garlic will always be an excellent snack and an excellent seasoning for various dishes.
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Garlic
The first method involves storing peeled garlic in vegetable oil. For this, almost any oil is used - flaxseed, olive, sunflower. The jars are thoroughly washed and dried, and the garlic is peeled. Then the garlic is packed tightly into jars and filled with oil.
Methods for storing garlic
In apartment conditions, spices can be preserved in winter in several ways. For example, the vegetable is stored in almost any vegetable oil in its purified form or frozen, placed in insulated boxes with holes for air exchange and kept on a glazed balcony. Experienced summer residents advise braiding the tops and hanging them in the kitchen - both decorative and practical, and the slices will not rot.
Can it be frozen?
The spice is kept in the freezer all winter, but only in its purified form. Some housewives store the peeled cloves whole in the freezer, wrapped in foil or film. Others prefer to finely chop the cloves to make them more convenient and easier to use when cooking.
The spice is mainly frozen if the harvest is small and it is not used every day. You can use other ways to preserve the heads until spring arrives.
In a refrigerator
An excellent option for preserving a vegetable after harvesting, if it is small, is to simply put it in the refrigerator.
If you put it in the refrigerator, you must take into account that it will have a slightly higher humidity than necessary. Therefore, the harvest must first be thoroughly dried and all spoiled products must be removed, especially those with signs of beginning rot.
In the refrigerator, garlic is stored only in airtight containers. A large food container or glass jar with a tight lid will do.
Peeled garlic can be stored in a household refrigerator for a little longer than with the husk. Simply remove the husks and place the produce in a food bag, tie it tightly and put it on the bottom shelf in the vegetable compartment. It should be taken into account that garlic emits a very pungent, corrosive aroma, so you should not keep it next to other vegetables or foods that quickly absorb odors. Thus, a piece of hard cheese can become saturated with a garlicky smell very quickly due to this proximity. The product can be stored in a household refrigerator for about three months without losing its quality. But, if you sprinkle the crop with onion peels or salt and put it in the refrigerator, you can extend the shelf life for another couple of months.
See also: How to properly dry garlic after harvesting
In salt
For this method, first after digging, the crop must be dried and sorted, discarding everything spoiled and damaged. Then a layer of finely ground salt should be poured onto the bottom of a wooden or cardboard box.
The garlic should be placed on a layer of salt so that the heads do not touch at all. Then the vegetable is sprinkled with the next layer of salt, and everything is repeated again. This way you can lay three layers of garlic. This option is very popular and allows you to save the harvest without loss.
In flour
This is another common way to store crops for winter storage.
The whole secret of the long-lasting quality of the heads in flour is that it absorbs excess moisture, which prevents the crop from spoiling. To bookmark, pour a fairly thick layer of flour onto the bottom of the container (pan or bowl, jar). Then carefully roll the heads in flour and place them in a container with flour in layers. Sprinkle each layer generously with flour. The container must be kept tightly closed. This will keep the garlic fresh and juicy until summer.
In oil
After harvesting garlic from the garden, you can peel the bulbs and store them in vegetable oil almost all winter. This method is very common, as it allows you to preserve garlic with virtually no loss for up to two months.
To preserve a spice in oil, for example, sunflower, you should peel the slices and then place them tightly in a glass container, preferably with an airtight lid. When the product is placed in containers, it is simply filled with oil. The containers are closed, and then the workpiece is placed on the bottom in the refrigerator.
In the sawdust
Garlic is best preserved in pine sawdust. Garlic is placed in layers in a plywood or cardboard box, and each layer of heads is sprinkled with a thick layer of sawdust. The topmost layer in the box should be a layer of sawdust.
The box with the product should be placed in the cold, for example, on a glazed balcony. Periodically, the workpiece is reviewed and damaged heads are rejected. It is also advisable to update the sawdust at least once a month.
In purified form
Peeled garlic keeps well in the refrigerator. To prevent the product from drying out and losing its bright taste, it should be kept in an airtight container.
To store the heads, they are divided into teeth and each one is thoroughly peeled and then placed in a container. The advantage of this method is that you will always have an excellent preparation for cooking in the refrigerator.
See also How to properly prepare a bed for winter garlic for planting in the fall and when to plant it
Twisted in a meat grinder
The dug up garlic is stored and also twisted. You will get another option for an excellent garlic preparation for the winter, which will always be on hand.
Also, such a preparation can be made if, while storing the entire heads, for example, in boxes and braids, some have become damaged. In this case, spoiled cloves are thrown away, and those suitable for food are twisted in a meat grinder.
The heads are disassembled into separate slices and then cleared of scales, the product is passed through a meat grinder and a little salt is added to the mass. The workpiece is placed in small jars and closed tightly. The product is put in the refrigerator. The main disadvantage of this storage method is that the preparation will only be suitable for two months.
In fabric bags
The product can be stored for a long time in fabric bags. You can make bags from unnecessary scraps of fabric from natural thread.
One little trick will help extend the shelf life of the product with this storage method - the bags need to be rinsed in a strong salt solution and dried, and only then put the product in them. Salt will serve as a reliable natural barrier to the penetration of pathogenic microbes, and the garlic will lie well.
In paraffin
You can preserve the spice in winter in paraffin.
To do this, cut the roots of the bulbs and remove the very first layer of husk from them. Paraffin should be heated in a steam bath until it becomes liquid. Dip garlic in warm paraffin. When the paraffin layer dries, the workpiece is placed in a wooden or cardboard box. Garlic prepared in this way should be kept cool, for example, in a cellar. A layer of paraffin will not only help preserve the crop for a long time without loss of quality, but will also serve as a barrier against the spread of rot and the proliferation of bacteria.
Pickle or ferment? Choosing the optimal preparation method
We have looked at many ways to prepare garlic for the winter, each of them is worthy of the attention of housewives, but none of the recipes preserve the freshness of the cloves. For example, the same marinade. You can pour it over the heads entirely, almost without cleaning, or the cloves separately. As for the second option, look at the following recipe. Scald the peeled slices with boiling brine made from 50 grams of salt dissolved in half a liter of water (this operation is best carried out in a colander over the sink). For the marinade, add the same amount of 9% vinegar to a two-hundred-gram glass of warm water, dissolve 20 grams of salt and 50 grams of granulated sugar. Add 3 bay leaves, 5 allspice peas. Place the garlic in a jar and fill it with the resulting solution. Close the lid and store in a cool place.
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Scalding garlic cloves with brine
As you can see, garlic is not poured with boiling water in any recipe, so as not to deprive it of its natural pungent taste and preserve its benefits. But vinegar still has a certain effect. You can get by with just salt; there are various methods of fermentation for this. Here is one of the simplest recipes, vaguely reminiscent of pickling. For brine, for each kilo of garlic we take 1 liter of water, 2 tablespoons of salt, a pod of hot pepper, 2 leaves of horseradish, 10 allspice peas, 6 bay leaves.
Dissolve the salt in boiled water, which is then cooled. Place peeled garlic and herbs with seasonings in jars. Fill with warm brine, cover with gauze and place in a dark place for 3 weeks. Don’t forget to periodically prepare and add new portions of brine as the liquid evaporates from the jars. After the specified period, the pickled garlic can be covered with lids and stored in the cellar for the winter. In this preparation, as you can see, vinegar was not used at all, the taste properties will be better than in the marinade, the benefits of the product will be quite high. But this option is not the best possible.
Peeled cloves with herbs and seasonings
The optimal solution is to store the cloves in vegetable oil, such as olive oil. This method allows you to protect garlic from spoilage and at the same time, neither salt nor vinegar affects its taste, and the oil creates a neutral environment in which the benefits of the spice are preserved. There is a very simple recipe. All that is needed is to clean the cloves from the hard “soles” with which they are attached to the head, as well as from the hatching arrows, which are cut deeper. Next, put the slices, always dry, in small glass jars with screw-on lids, sterilized and well dried. The smaller the container, the better, since you won’t need to open the workpiece many times. Can be kept in a cool place, at temperatures up to 20 degrees.
Oil, even olive oil, after extracting garlic from it, retains its aroma and some taste, which is transferred to hot dishes prepared with the remaining sauce.
