I have a dirty little secret. One of those things that foodie people mock loudly and then all their groupies join in, laughing, while some of us awkwardly chuckle as our eyes dart around, nervously, to see if we’ve been found.
For years, I primarily used jarred garlic. And you know what? I still have a jar in my fridge.
Sure, fresh garlic is cheap and tastes better. But getting those pesky skins off each clove was making me nuts! Then my fingers would stink for days, no matter how many times I ran cold water over my fingers while rubbing them over the back of a spoon or using lemon juice. Real garlic only got pulled out for company and jarred was good enough for us.
And then, last year, this little friend arrived in my stocking:
Sure, I’d seen these at the store before, but always thought, “Seriously? What a gimmick!” I mean, come on, a rubber tube? What good would that going to do? I thought it was sweet that Jim tried to get me a new gadget, even thought it wasn’t going to work. Right?
Oh boy, little rubber tube + fresh garlic = WIN! All it takes is a couple of seconds of rocking and rolling on the counter and the skins just shed off. Perfecto!
But now, to mince. Again, I don’t want stinky hands. Enter:
The GarlicZoom. It looks stupid, but works really, really well. Between the tube and the Zoom, I have freshly minced garlic in under 1 minute, no joke.
Now, you may have noticed that I said that I still have a jar of garlic. Sometimes I’m out of fresh or I’m really just that lazy. But I have to give it to these little, vampire-repellent tools of the trade. They rock.
*I just want to note that I was not paid or asked by either company to promote these products. I just has a luv.
25 Responses to garlic rehab
Featured Friends of nom!
It’s here!
Okay, now I want one of each. I know what I want in my Christmas stocking for sure!
Best presents ever!
OMG! I have that garlic zoom thing and it did bring fresh garlic back into my life! I bought it at the grocery store, oddly enough. It work great! I even use it for fresh ginger too…
Ooh, ginger, I hadn’t thought of that. Yay!
Awesome! I, too, absolutely hate the sticky mess inherent in preparing fresh garlic, though my boyfriend would probably disown me if I started using the jarred stuff (confession: I covertly picked up a huge gar of ginger-garlic paste for Indian cooking).
To get the skins off, I just set a clove on a cutting board, smash it with the flat side of a knife, and pick off the outside, and rubbing my hands on stainless steel gets the smell off pretty quickly right away, too — sounds weird, but it’s really worked for me! But the mincing kills me (and my knife-magnet fingertips). Is the GarlicZoom easy to clean? It looks high tech, and I kinda want one!
Yes, the mincing is the worst. The garlic sticks to your hands and makes a mess!
It’s actually really easy to use. It comes apart into two pieces and is quick to wash.
i love me some gadgetry. i’ll ask channukah harry for these items.
Yes!
The Garlic Zoom has changed my life, too! 😉 I know a good knife-blade trick for getting the skins off, but I hated that my fingers would smell like garlic for days. I have a small problem with the zoom not rolling very well on our wooden kitchen counter (anyone have some good tricks for this?), but it’s still a thousand times better than chopping each clove by hand.
The zoom doesn’t always roll that well for me, but I try going in short bursts back and forth, rather than long ones. And often, I find, I’m putting too much garlic in it, so I have to scale back or at least mince a couple of cloves and then throw the rest in.
Awesome gadgets! I’ve never seen either of those. I still use jarred garlic – and my fair share of garlic powder. I am very pleased, though, that when I make a recipe requiring garlic in my VitaMix, I can just throw in the garlic peel and all!
The level of laziness my VitaMix has encouraged is kind of sad. Like, if I would normally just puree or mash something but don’t want to deal with peeling or chopping it, I just throw it in Edgar (my VitaMix) to just be done with it.
Those two items look great! And I would totally purchase them right now if I hadn’t come across the Pampered Chef Garlic Press a few years ago at a friend’s party:
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=26463&words=garlic
You just put the unpeeled garlic in the hopper and it magically only presses/minces the garlic, leaving the skin in the press. Super freaky, but super neat. The press comes with a little tool to scoot the skin out, so no stinky fingers!
I do have to admit, though, that I go for the powdered garlic (I know, gasp, for shame) when I get a little lazy
I used to have one of those presses, too, but was tired of digging the skin out of the little holes. It’s cool that one comes with a tool to help!
It’s great that Jim’s gift has set you on the path to making friends with fresh garlic!
The GarlicZoom looks cool (design-wise), but they lose me when they say “Cleanup is easy, since the chopper is top-rack dishwasher safe” – that leaves me with the impression that it will be a pain to wash by hand…
Josiane, it’s actually a cinch to clean up. Jim got me so many kitchen presents last Christmas, it was great!
I have a garlic press that’s messy and annoying, so I still use the jar of minced (gasp!). The Garlic Zoom sounds interesting, though.
I have one of those nifty zooms, too, but sometimes I find it easier to grate the garlic on my microplane zester. But truthfully, sometimes I like just mincing it up with a chefs knife.
I have a generic slap chop, which I love because I hate mincing tons of garlic at once, but I do love the fresh stuff. The way I get the garlic smell off is to rinse with warm water right after I’m done chopping.
OMG–I NEED a garlic zoom! I am fine with getting the peel/skin/paper off the garlic, but mincing? My fingers reek for days! I hate it! I use garlic powder sometimes just to get out of mincing…shameful, I know. I am embarrassed!
Courtney
I use a microplane grater as well. And for some reason peeling garlic doesn’t frustrate me – I just roll it on the counter top underneath of the cutting board for a few second. Presto!
PS – I am laughing and pointing at your jarred garlic, but you can laugh and point at my canned legumes.
Don’t forget that by rubbing your garlicy hands on stainless steel all the smell comes off! It is totally amazing! I love my garlic press, but I have always wanted to try the tube!
I am totally getting one of those tubes, I have a good sturdy garlic prrss but peeling garlic makes me irrationally angry – especially when a recipe calls for a lot of garlic.
So weird, I was actually talking about the little tube roller thing earlier tonight with one of my friends while peeling about 10 cloves of garlic. I’m glad to know it actually works, but I’m definitely going to pick on up now!
I literally chuckled out loud seeing that second contraption. I don’t seem to have a problem with the garlic smell lingering on my hands; and i’m one of those people who just smashes garlic with a big knife until i hear the skin ‘crack’ then peel it off. During the summer; fresh garlic is sooo cheap (4 for $1 bulbs? yes please); but in the winter..at $5.99 per lb; i use way less garlic in the winter.