A Quick Guide on How to Peel Garlic

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Peeling garlic is one of those things that seems like it should be simple, but turns into an ordeal if you haven’t ever tried to do it before. But, learning how to peel garlic is one of those things that everyone should know how to do – from the novice chef to the occasional home cook. And given that garlic goes well in almost anything, and is pretty common staple in the kitchen, it’s just one of those skills that’s important to have.

If you’ve peeled garlic any time in the last decade, you’ve probably heard of the knife trick to peel garlic. You take a clove of garlic, lay a heavy chef’s knifeflat over the garlic and give a pound with your hand. Move the knife, and you can quickly and easily peel the skin right off the garlic. If you’ve been using this method of peeling garlic, you probably didn’t know that there’s an even simpler way that will take less time and less effort – shocking, right?

How to Peel Garlic

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To really become a whiz at peeling garlic, you only need a few supplies: a strong fist (the one on your hand should do) and a glass jar with a tight lid. Take a head of garlic and use your hand to smash the base of the garlic down on your countertop (the base is the part at the top that holds all of the cloves together).

Next, throw out the base and toss the individual cloves into a jar with a tight lid. Make sure the lid is tightly secured so that no cloves escape during the next part. Now comes the fun: shake the jar vigorously for 30 seconds. Make sure that you really knock them around in there, as that’s how the skin ends us coming off.

Once you’re done shaking, take the lid off the jar and dump out the garlic. You should have perfectly peeled cloves ready to be chopped. If not, you may have to slide the skins off, but you shouldn’t have to use your nails to peel them off, saving you lots of time (and let’s be honest – a lot of hassle).

When in doubt, you can always use one of those silicon tube garlic peelers – put the cloves in, give them a quick roll and voila – peeled garlic!

Check out the video above to see all three ways to peel garlic in action!

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Do you have a trick or tip for how to peel garlic? If so, share it with us in the comments or on Facebook.

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