Now that you've grown your garlic there is more to be had with it., you can eat it raw, cook with it, make a plant spray, dry it, what ever your use of garlic is, we are taking you through drying your garlic from start to finish.
Uses
There are many ways to use garlic, and one of our favorites is to dry it. Why would you dry your garlic? you ask? This is simply for the lazy chopper at heart. There have been MANY a time when a recipe calls for chopped garlic, and to be honest sometimes I'm just not about to spend a sweaty 20 minutes in a hot kitchen on a hot summers day mincing garlic. I revert to the handy ground garlic, which by the way is also amazing on pizza crust, or garlic twists and garlic butter.
How To
Start by slicing your garlic into thin "rounds" I choose to cut the garlic in slices opposed to chopping roughly, as garlic tends to be quite sticky the garlic will clump together and not dry uniformly. Place your sliced garlic in a dehydrator and set to 105°F - 110°F for about 10-12 hours. Be sure to check on your garlic after about 5-6 hours to be sure your not over dehydrating (it's a thing I promise) You can alternatively use your oven at the lowest temp your oven can go. My propane oven goes very low so I use 140°F and it takes about 3-4 hours to dry. When using the oven method you MUST stir your garlic about every half hour to ensure your garlic doesn't burn and dries out evenly.
Once your garlic is dry, let it cool. PLEASE let it cool. Otherwise you'll end up with bendy Gumby like garlic, not good. At this point you can do one of two things. First spin your garlic up in a spice blender until you have a semi fine (grainy) powder. Or jam it into a jar and blend when needed. Both options obviously have strengths and weaknesses. If you blend your garlic right away you can use it in a pinch, no blending before usage. However this method allows the oils in the garlic to dissipate and leave you with less than effective beneficial properties to your garlic. The other method of not blending your garlic bits right away leave the oils in tact, and therefore retain more of it's beneficial properties, but it's not a quick use a pre ground garlic. So you choose what works for you. Maybe a little bit of both?
Uses
You can add your garlic to your pizza crust, Or you can mix it with butter for a garlic butter. Add it to soups, stews, pasta sauces. Sprinkle on your salad, toss with your croutons. The possibilities are endless!
Recipe
Garlic
Dehydrator or Oven
Spice blender or equivalent
Slice your garlic into thin uniform slices. Place in your dehydrator evenly spaced (not touching) and turn on to 105°F-110°F. This should take about 12 hours or so. Once your garlic is dry AND cool, spin it up in your spice blender until grainy or pack it whole into mason jars and store away for future use.
If using your oven slice your garlic into uniform slices. Place in an even layer onto parchment paper. Turn oven to 140°F or as low as your oven will go. (Note; the higher your oven temp the more you will need to stir and watch your garlic.) Stir your garlic every half hour until fully dry around 3-4 hours. Let your garlic cool and then spin up in a spice blender or pack away whole in mason jars.
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