Buying Garlic In Bulk Without It Going To Waste – Homemade Crushed Garlic

I use Garlic in just about every savoury dish I cook and can be pretty pricey, when you think about it.

You can buy pre-crushed garlic, but this also works out expensive.

Dried garlic is not up to par, in my opinion.

So, what to do?

Go to your local Farmer’s Market or similar and buy a large amount of garlic when it is at it’s cheapest – generally all times of the year, but keep an eye out and check each stall.

I generally buy a kilogram (about 2.2 lbs) of Organic Garlic for $8 Australian. This is in comparison to $25-$30 a kg in supermarkets, which people never notice as it’s sold in such small bags.
Don’t worry if you get a few that are sprouting; you can plant these.

So, yes, that’s obviously cheaper, but how are you going to use a kilogram of garlic before it goes bad?

• Firstly, wash and air-dry a large jar.
• Peel all the cloves of garlic (this can be a bit tedious).
• Cut off any browned or bad bits and remove the woody base.
• Give them a rinse and drain well.
• Then put them into a food processer/blender and blend until it is a slighty coarse paste. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of the food processer/blender. Alternatively, you could use a hand garlic press – I did before I had a food processer and I’m telling you, it takes ages.
• Mix in a pinch of salt to the garlic paste.
• Transfer the garlic to the dried jar, smooth down so that it sits evenly in the jar. Wipe off the excess around the inner rim with a clean cloth.
• Top with enough oil (I use olive) so that it just covers the garlic, pop the lid on and put it in the fridge.

Voila! Home-made low-cost crushed garlic.

This keeps for ages – months and months, as long as you always use a clean, dry spoon to scoop the garlic out (this stops it from becoming contaminated). Top up with oil if there’s none covering it.

If you don’t use as much Garlic as I do, buy less or give half to a friend or family member.

The benefit of doing this with Organic Garlic is that it is not contaminated with pesticides – the onion family are very good at absorbing pesticides, making them one of the worst carriers for pesticide toxins in our food.