Kitchen helper – How to store and preserve garlic
With the Tasmanian garlic season soon coming to a close, here’s how to store and preserve your garlic to get you through the colder months until harvest next summer.
With the Tasmanian garlic season winding up, now is the time to store and preserve garlic to last you over the winter months. We’ll still have Tasmanian garlic in store for a while, but towards winter this will have to be replaced by mainland and overseas supplies. So if you want to keep enjoying Tassie garlic, here are a few ways to store and preserve it.
1. Store whole bulbs in a cool, dark place
Whole bulbs can be stored at a temperature of between 16C-18C - so perhaps in an unheated part of your house like the laundry or an outdoor shed free from critters. At this temperature, and also if they are kept in the dark, sprouting will be prevented. Bulbs should be stored whole in a ventilated container or basket, and definitely not in plastic, which will create moisture and mould. Whole bulbs stored like this can last up to six months.
2. Freeze whole or minced cloves
Peel cloves and place in a Ziplock bag either whole or finely chopped. You can take out a clove or a teaspoon of minced garlic as you need it and return the Ziplock bag to the freezer. Note that the texture of the garlic will change as a result of being frozen – it will be soft, however the flavour will be unaffected. Garlic stored like this will last up to one year.
3. Freeze minced garlic in oil in ice cube trays
Mince your garlic and spoon into ice cube trays. One teaspoon of minced garlic is equivalent to about 2 cloves of garlic. Then top up each ice cube section with olive oil and freeze. These are great to pop out as you need them and add them straight to the pan when starting a sauce or stir fry. Garlic stored like this will keep fresh for about 4 months.