That garlic-peeling trick

I figured out that cooking tip I’ve seen a million places that says “Smack the garlic cloves with the flat of your knife to easily peel them.” My previous attempts were oriented toward the idea that the garlic itself would come shooting out of the skin, or that it would pop out whole, or maybe that the skin would vaporize with the impact.

It’s more like cutting glass, where you have to score it and then give it a firm thump. You’re not trying to completely remove the skin, just break it. Think of it like a balloon, with the garlic inside. You’re not crushing the skin, you’re popping it. It will still completely surround the clove of garlic, but, with the shape of the clove distorted by your whack, the skin is no longer a perfect fit and doesn’t cling to the clove.

Wimpy cooks didn’t have any trouble figuring this out because they never whacked their garlic too hard in the first place.

5 Comment on "That garlic-peeling trick"

  • I find I can accomplish the same thing by twisting the clove of garlic. I don’t know how that compares to smacking the close with your knife. Somehow cutting off the bottom of the clove and then twisting it to shuck off the husk seems more natural to me. Maybe people less endowed with hand strength can’t do it.

  • Arlan Post author

    You’re right. I tried it. Accomplishes the same thing, and I think twisting is more convenient.

    Partly, though, I just wanted to know how anyone got the whacking thing to work.

  • Ive gotten it too work, but I dont find slamming knives on garlic the best way to do it. I normaly rest the knife on the garlic and push. It does the same thing with less of a chance for it to go flying.

  • Arlan Post author

    I can’t picture Justin cooking . . .goes to show what happens when you leave for five years or so. Are you in the supper rotation or just a luncher?

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