To blanch your garlic:
- Put desired amount of garlic in a pot and cover with cold water.
- Bring water to a boil.
- Once water boils, strain garlic and add it back to the pot.
- Cover with cold water, and repeat previous steps for a total of three times.
- Blanching your garlic in this manner will get rid of the bitter taste and allow you to use as much garlic as desired without having to actually roast it. This technique also works great for any white garlic sauce, such as a garlic béchamel.
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Great tip. Basic- yes. But not to those who have never tried it. Thanks.
Hey Chris,
Thanks. Good to know that you’re enjoying the information. The nice thing about blanching garlic is that you can have all of the garlic taste without the overpowering bite that will pretty much take over the flavor structure of just about any dish.
Do I leave it in the skin when I blanch it? I’m making hummus and I like the garlic flavor but raw garlic is too overpowering. Thanks
Yes, I would take the garlic out of the skin before blanching. You can buy it pre-peeled at the supermarket. I always use the Christopher Ranch brand.
You can also separate out the cloves individually, place in a Tupperware container with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously. This will peel your garlic faster then you ever thought possible.
Good luck on the hummus.
I had no idea about that tip! I love it. I always wondered how get the bitter taste out. Now, I am off to make ice cream(kidding).
Thanks for the great tip: I love garlic, and this technique has opened a whole room for me to experiment in.
Speaking of peeling, since I can’t find any pre-peeled stuff in the local stores, I usually put the separated cloves into boiling water for a second, and quickly remove them. After that, their skin peels very easily.
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What do you mean by strain it? It that putting it through a garlic press????
How long will the blanched garlic keep? Also, must it be refrigerated?
@ Pam,
When I say strain, it just means to drain off the water. Check the video in this post for the complete process.
@Linda,
You should keep the blanched garlic refrigerated, and if stored in an airtight container will keep for about a week.
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I like the taste of the roasted garlic when I make a garlic butter compound. I use the compound butter for garlic bread and sometimes on top of a hot and juicy grilled steak. I have found however that it seems a little robust or heady. Do you think that blanched garlic would be better?
@Sean,
I love roasted garlic as well, but it sounds like some blanched garlic could help solve your problem. What I would try is do a half and half mix of roasted garlic and blanched garlic. That should help tame some of the “robust” flavor you’re describing. Of course you could always go 100% blanched garlic, but you’d miss out on some of that roasted flavor. In the end, your decision to roast vs. blanch garlic really comes down to what kind of flavor profile you’re trying to create.
Does blanching the garlic make it mushy?
Once the garlic is blanched, it will still be al dente (firm to the bite).