Storing Garlic

[minnikin1]

I can't keep the garlic from sprouting!
And my family can taste "green" garlic blindfolded, even if I pull out the green part before using.
How do you store yours? How long does it usually last?

[Emily Nouvertne]

My husband brought home a pile of peeled garlic in gallon plastic jars about a year ago. We gave away garlic to everybody we knew and then we packaged the rest in gallon zip lock bags in the freezer. When he or I want garlic for a cooking project we go out and take how many cloves we want, zip it back up and go. It still seems to taste the same to us and there is no sign that it is going bad either. Just our solution, might work for you too.

[bgak47]

Use a needle & thread & string it & hang it to dry.

[Chris in PA]

I know a guy who grows all kinds and vast amounts of garlic. He has a set of outside steps to his basement. The steps are covered with the metal doors, if you know what I mean. He stores his garlic on the steps. He said it gets cold enough that the cloves don't sprout but now cold enough that they freeze. He said you have to make sure you cure your garlic long enough before you store it also.

[Rita]

I too had trouble with the garlic sprouting and for the past three years I have blanched the separated cloves (the skin comes off easily, not sure how long just test a clove as you don't want them to cook) then put all of them in the food processor and chopped them as most of the time I use minced garlic then packaged them in very small plastic bags (hard to find these) and froze them. This way I keep one small bag handy in the upstairs freezer section. If I don't need the whole bag I let it soften and spoon out what I need and then put the garlic back in the freezer. I don't notice any problem but I'm not a garlic gourmet! Rita in TN

[Jeff54321]

Is this garlic that you grew or bought? The various varieties of garlic have substantially different storing qualities and much is dependent upon proper handling at harvest time. After that proper storage is essential no matter what the type.

"How to Store Garlic
Garlic heads and cloves should not be stored in your kitchen fridge. The garlic is likely to go soft and mouldy. The same problem is likely to occur if garlic is stored in a plastic container.

Garlic needs to be stored in a cool place away from direct sunlight.

The correct air circulation will extend the life of your garlic. An excellent way to store garlic is in a special garlic keeper. These are designed with holes to allow the air to circulate and also have the advantage of looking good in the kitchen."

http://www.garlic-central.com/storing.html

[WisJim]

There are 2 basic types of garlic, soft stem and hard stem. Hard stem garlic doesn't store well, soft stem does store well. We braid the stems of the soft stem garlic to make the long braids you are probably familiar with, and store it in the stair way to the basement, hanging on nails or hooks. The hard stem we keep in a bowl on the counter, or in a garlic storer, or in a large red clay flower pot with a plate or cover on the top, and use it as soon as possible. If we have a good crop, like this year, we will peel, slice and dry some of it. We put lots of it in dill pickles, as we like the garlic better than the cukes in the pickles.
We gro 8 to 12 kinds of garlic, lots of which we got locally from friends. We find that it may take a new variety of garlic a year or two to acclimate to our conditions, so we will always try a new variety for 2 or 3 years or more before deciding not to continue growing it.

Sometimes it seems like we use garlic in everything except lemon pudding and chocolate chip cookies, and if my youngest son is baking, I'm not sure of the cookies!