Is a garlic press essential?

[blues]

how interesting. such depth of feeling that they're pointless. Anyone going to come out firmly in favour of "I can't live without my garlic press?"

 

[internetstalker]

Mine cracked, trying to crush a huge fat garlic clove. Can't decide if I can be arsed replacing it or not

nope

just chop it with a knife

 

[ScallyWag II]

I think people crush it because they either don't like chopping, or they don't like their fingers all garlicky.

It's not the chopping or the smell, it's the stickiness of chopping i find irritating, all the little bits stick to my fingers. It's still stickyish when you crush it but i find it easier. Each to their own innit

 

[mr steev]

Do you not have a tap in your kitchen, Scallywag?

 

[Greebo]

I find the garlic crusher more convenient (even allowing for having to wash the thing and pick out all the tiny bits of garlic sticking to the grid), but for other things, I prefer to chop it or at least slice it. I'd hesitate to use any of the kitchen knife blades for crushing, most of them (except a bread knife, paring knife and cheese knife) are a v cheap set from Ikea.

 

[ScallyWag II]

Do you not have a tap in your kitchen, Scallywag?

yes. I have a sticky phobia thing going on

 

[Jazzz]

you crush the garlic first because that is what brings out the essential oils and fragrance.

yes

You don't need a garlic crusher. Ridiculous implement. Complete pain to wash up too. As others have said, squash the clove under a knife, remove peel (this is now easy), then chop!

 

[onemonkey]

horrible pointless implements that never really work properly and are an absolute bugger to clean.

the large knife crush chop combo is far, far, far more satisfying.

and to prove i'm not prejudiced against implements per se let me state for the record that i have plenty of time for lemon zesters and melon-ballers

 

[teuchter]

Yet another vote for "pointless" here.

On a related point, potato mashers are nearly as annoying to wash up, but slightly more useful. Although I could probably survive without a potato masher too.

 

[keybored]

I took to slicing the cloves very thinly with a razor after seeing Goodfellas. Then a Polish housemate taught me to crush them with a little salt and the edge of a flat knife.

Fuck all that though, I've gone back to using a crusher. My girlfriend just bought me a peeler like the one below, but I haven't used it yet

Looks like something from a dirty mac shop.

 

[19sixtysix]

No but the Ikea ones are made of metal and only cost about 75p.

I've broken two of the ikea ones and a couple of others. I just chop with a knife now.

 

[IC3D]

Crush and chop, I eat about a kilo of the stuff a day and am pretty sure this is the best way

Tasty and a great antioxidant mmm

 

[kerb]

Paulie was doing a year for contempt and had a wonderful system for garlic. He used a razor and sliced it so thin it would liquefy in the pan with a little oil. It's a very good system.

 

[D]

I've seen tv chefs use a big knife and a cutting board to crush it between them. I've used a tenderizing hammer to stomp mine to bits. I put it in a plastic bag and pounded on it.

I use the big knife method - works like a charm.

If I ever need large quantities of very finely chopped garlic I'll occasionally buy it from the store pre-chopped. Though it's hard to find it that way without some sort of preservative added.

 

[sheothebudworths]

I never use a crusher. I use Hocus Eyes method, but cover the slices in salt and leave for a few mins. This softens the garlic and makes it really easy to crush - you can do it with a fork or anything.

I use this method too (taught to me by my mum when I was little ) except that I don't bother waiting a few minutes, being under the impression that the salt just provides a bit of grip, making it much easier to catch the garlic under your knife/spoon, rather than it actually softening the garlic etc...

 

[strung out]

chopping it makes your fingers stink of garlic though!

 

[felixthecat]

I don't use a garlic press either. I'm very good at crushing garlic with the edge of a large knife so I don't see the need for one.

 

[xes]

is using powdered garlic wrong?

Cos I do

 

[Badgers]

Right now I have 'lazy garlic' in the fridge which is fine for me.
Otherwise I just crush and chop with a heavy chef knife.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I use a garlic press/crusher a lot, like if I am putting garlic in a sauce or a stew, and can't understand why people don't like them.

They are dead easy to clean, so long as you have got a washing up brush, and you can even put them in the dishwasher.

Nice to be in a minority

 

[Guineveretoo]

is using powdered garlic wrong?

Cos I do

It depends what you are using it for...

 

[strung out]

killing vampires?

 

[fractionMan]

garlic squash?

 

[cliche guevara]

I use a garlic press, but not for everything. Sometimes it's nice to have chunks or thick slices, instead of tiny bits. I bought a jar of pre chopped garlic this week, is that the height of laziness?

 

[Stig]

chopping it makes your fingers stink of garlic though!

That's the best bit!

Nothing better than stinky garlic fingers.

Apart from the smell when you sweat it out later on.



...and radish burps.

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

i use my garlic press loads. its not hard to clean, just scrae it out with a butter knife and give it a quick rinse.
i dont use it when roasting things though because i like to faltten the clove using a knife and then once roasted eat the clove. shiftyjunior loves eating the roasted cloves too so we end up squabbling about who got more cloves

i cant chop garlic, i cant chop things very finely, i'm just not that patient and my knives are not sharp enough. all in all i find it less troublesome and safer for my fingers if i use a press. I got my sturdy metal one for a few quid and have had good use out of it. i like em.

 

[Part 2]

i use the fine side of a cheese grater...

Me too, stinky fingers and very fine garlic much quicker than a knife.

 

[tarannau]

How long does it take to chop garlic? It's literally about 10-15 secs a clove. By the time I set about looking for a grater in a drawer I could have pretty much grabbed the knife off the wall and chopped the garlic.

And if you grate it, don't you have to peel it? In which case you may as well use the knife that you have to hand. And is the garlic from a grater really pulpy and prone to burning and going bitter?

 

[ChrisFilter]

I think people crush it because they either don't like chopping, or they don't like their fingers all garlicky.

I use one 'cos I don't like garlicky fingers. It's a decent one and it makes life lots easier.

What most people don't realise is that you can leave the skins on when you crush the cloves, that's where the real hassle is saved. you then just lift the skin out out at the end and rinse under a tap. Job done, no smelly fingers, so faffing around trying to get the skin off.

 

[Epona]

I actually prefer using a garlic press, I have trouble wielding knives (especially heavy ones for crushing!) what with my dodgy hands so I can never get it crushed and chopped as fine as a press does it and it takes me ages. I get through a lot of garlic and for me that little bit of time saved for each clove really does help.