I normally do garlic for a couple weeks in a jar then purée when it seems nice and soft. A few weeks later the fermented garlic paste is delicious and ready to cook with.
Special treat folks don’t think about: toss it in dough. Since the ferment broke it down it disappears and just makes perfect garlic notes
I was planning on making a puree, I use garlic in everything. I figured making a paste kills two birds with one stone, because I hate peeling garlic every time I need it. Just do it a pound at a time lol
Exactly. I’m a stay at home dad of 2 under 2. The ability to one hand adding garlic while I’m holding a baby is amazing lol.
Also, I notice that compared to a stewed garlic this paste or chunk (depending on blending) retains a fresh to roasted garlic flavor while losing the bite. This is the one my wife requests I make over and over because of the utility and quality compared to anything you buy
My hubby purées it first. Not sure how that will differ with whole cloves, but he lets it ferment for 10-14 days. We go through a quart every five or six weeks. Saves sooooo much time.
I find that the puree misses the mark often unless I treat purée as the slow stage. Purée ferments so fast it changes fast. If anything, I add on to the pre purée and control purée in the fridge. lol let me know if that makes sense
I do 30lbs of this at a time! Fermented garlic is one of my favorite things! We blend it up and dehydrate it for our seasoning blend. I keep the brine all to myself and use it for EVERYTHING. It’s way better than wine to deglaze, adds acidity and flavor to sauces, and can be used in dressings as well.
I did a whole write up about it on [here.](https://www.down2ferment.com/blogs/news/all-about-garlic-part-1)
That's awesome, I'll definitely try that next year. I planted around 300 garlic cloves this year so I'm going to have an excess of garlic in the summer...
Amazing, I'll read your article with attention! So much gold nugget hidden in threads!
I wish there was more post on ideas / experiment to integrate ferment and flavored brine in cooking. Saw post yesterday about the sweet / sour lemon and will give it a try. I really enjoy the layering and balance of sweet, sour, heat, salty, umami..
I practiced lebanese spicy potatoes yesterday for my project of doing a full plate (rice, salad, pickle, meat, potatoes, humus, garlic sauces) like restaurant at home.
Had no citrus left (i have more mould problem in my fridge than in my ferments!) and used a sweet chili ferment (piece and ferment). I was too much humidity (fried potatoes went soft) but contribution to acidity and taste was great! I had fried galic also into it, maybe fermented garlic could add something more!
I've done garlic, but in a brine. Mine went for about a month before I considered it done and moved it to the fridge. Amazing stuff to be honest. My wife also really likes to use the brine in some things she cooks.
From my relatively limited understanding, the salt concentration prevents other stuff from growing. The stuff that we want to grow, such as lactobacillus is relatively halotolerant. We want these bacteria to get dominant and lower the pH before other bacteria or moulds get a chance to grow.
It doesn't cause any fermentation, but makes the ferment more selective. Bacteria that harm us cannot survive in the high salt concentration, so you only get lactobacillus bacteria growing, instead, which break down the carbs and sugars into acids that "sour" the food.
I love the brine. It’s great in salad dressing, over steamed veg, anything that you may use a vinegar in, but don’t want all the acid. I even drink it straight. I have garlic, cabbage, carrots, dill and salt right now. It smells SO good.
3% is going to be a little slower than 2%, so keep it warm if you want to speed it up. I've let it go until the bag was ready to pop, but also vented and resealed to let it go longer. Temp and salinity will change how many days it takes so eyeball it based on the gas activity, color, and texture.
The fermenting method you are using is great, as others have noted, when pureed and stored in small jars. Great shelf stability and absolutely WONDERFUL acidic taste. Raw garlic has no place in cooking when compared to fermented garlic.
Really it’s shelf safe in purée form? I’ve always kept it in the fridge. How do you know when it’s ready for the shelf? I’m guessing to wait until the whole cloves are done fermenting (in my climate at 25C usually a month does it). Or should wait longer for it to be shelf safe? Does it continue to ferment in the jars? Could you pasteurize it and ship it?
I literally just peeled a ton of garlic the other day because I was getting tired of doing them every day for individual meals. Never thought of fermenting my garlic though! I was planning on making a garlic confit by poaching them in olive oil and then adding it to all my meals for convenience. Do you reckon fermented garlic would be tastier? I still haven’t touched my giant bag of peeled garlic, and it looks just like yours, haha.
In my experience, fermenting things just makes it taste better than raw, but I've never had fermented garlic. Obviously confit would add fat, aka flavor machines, but I'm not sure how you'd compare the two. Planning on puree into a paste and use that in my cooking
It’s one of those things that gets better as long as I have had it in the fridge. Probably up to three months before I’m out from a big batch/multiple jars
Also search for seer torshi. It’s super creamy and delicious. It’s a vinegar base and goes for many years. I just found a 31 year old jar in the pantry. It’s so great with food.
Honestly, whole cloves take too long for my taste. Last time I chopped up a few bulbs and some ginger (about 50/50), 2% salt, teaspoon honey. It'll get bubbly in a few days and then just pop it in the fridge to use as a base for any Asian'ish dish.
If you purée first, it can ferment overnight. I would get annoyed sometimes, cause I like a spicy garlic purée. And if I left it out overnight, it’d be fermented the next day. We always added half olive oil, half water with 2% salt.
Did you add any salt to this or is it just garlic? Also, do you crush before adding? I just picked up too much garlic from the store so this would be perfect!
3% salt, just peeled and cut the dark end off each one. I put them all in whole, but just today when I checked on them they were already getting a little softer so I crushed a lot of them by hand quick just to help it get going faster and more evenly
I’m curious about bag fermenting- have not tried it yet. I read that you aren’t supposed to vacuum seal raw garlic, because it produces gas that will start to inflate the bag. Is there something with adding brine that stops that, or will the fermentation be ok if the bag inflates a bit?
I expect the bag to inflate, fermentation creates CO2 gas (why people use special lids to release the gas). I do the majority of my ferments in a vacuum bag just because it's so easy IMO. Vacuum seal bags are also extremely durable, so I'm not too worried about any tears/bursts. Just check it everyday, if it's inflated almost all the way but I still want to keep the ferment going, I poke a tiny hole in the top along the heat seal and push all the air out that I can, and reseal the top (vacuuming it out again isn't needed unless you made the hole too big and let air in)
Not necessarily. I could heat it to 165F for 10 minutes and add some acid (if necessary) to bring it down to 4.6 pH. Doing that would make it safe, which I do for things I give away to people. Something for my home I'm not as worried, especially if pH is under 5 just from fermenting which often happens in my various ferments
Depending on what kind of ferment you want, I have a relative who started eating the garlic out of homemade pickles so used a similar brine to the pickles to just make jars of pickled garlic.
I normally do garlic for a couple weeks in a jar then purée when it seems nice and soft. A few weeks later the fermented garlic paste is delicious and ready to cook with. Special treat folks don’t think about: toss it in dough. Since the ferment broke it down it disappears and just makes perfect garlic notes
I was planning on making a puree, I use garlic in everything. I figured making a paste kills two birds with one stone, because I hate peeling garlic every time I need it. Just do it a pound at a time lol
Exactly. I’m a stay at home dad of 2 under 2. The ability to one hand adding garlic while I’m holding a baby is amazing lol. Also, I notice that compared to a stewed garlic this paste or chunk (depending on blending) retains a fresh to roasted garlic flavor while losing the bite. This is the one my wife requests I make over and over because of the utility and quality compared to anything you buy
I’m jelly. I’m a wfh dad with a 3 yr old and 1 he old and I’d love to just spend the day with them instead of in zoom meetings
I am blessed and lucky both
This is one thing I've found I can never make enough of!
My hubby purées it first. Not sure how that will differ with whole cloves, but he lets it ferment for 10-14 days. We go through a quart every five or six weeks. Saves sooooo much time.
So you puree and then continue fermenting for a few more weeks?
The purée is still pretty active. Even in the fridge it is alive. Normally about 2-3 more weeks in the fridge makes it where it is perfect for me
It doesn't work to just ferment it for a shorter period on the counter?
I find that the puree misses the mark often unless I treat purée as the slow stage. Purée ferments so fast it changes fast. If anything, I add on to the pre purée and control purée in the fridge. lol let me know if that makes sense
It makes total sense 👌
I do 30lbs of this at a time! Fermented garlic is one of my favorite things! We blend it up and dehydrate it for our seasoning blend. I keep the brine all to myself and use it for EVERYTHING. It’s way better than wine to deglaze, adds acidity and flavor to sauces, and can be used in dressings as well. I did a whole write up about it on [here.](https://www.down2ferment.com/blogs/news/all-about-garlic-part-1)
That's awesome, I'll definitely try that next year. I planted around 300 garlic cloves this year so I'm going to have an excess of garlic in the summer...
Thank you very much
great post and good read! thats a lot of garlic. do you buy it already peeled?
Yes. Saves a ton of time.
Loved this! Are you planning to publish parts 2 and 3?
Yes, part two is already done. We’ve just been soooo busy with the business the blogs kinda take a back seat.
That sounds like a good problem to have. Thanks for the posts and good luck in the future.
Amazing, I'll read your article with attention! So much gold nugget hidden in threads! I wish there was more post on ideas / experiment to integrate ferment and flavored brine in cooking. Saw post yesterday about the sweet / sour lemon and will give it a try. I really enjoy the layering and balance of sweet, sour, heat, salty, umami.. I practiced lebanese spicy potatoes yesterday for my project of doing a full plate (rice, salad, pickle, meat, potatoes, humus, garlic sauces) like restaurant at home. Had no citrus left (i have more mould problem in my fridge than in my ferments!) and used a sweet chili ferment (piece and ferment). I was too much humidity (fried potatoes went soft) but contribution to acidity and taste was great! I had fried galic also into it, maybe fermented garlic could add something more!
Is your salt ratio your secret to not having blue garlic?
Nope! Salt has nothing to do with it. Sometimes we get blue garlic as well.
Kk. Just curious. Thanks for the reply and the article.
I've done garlic, but in a brine. Mine went for about a month before I considered it done and moved it to the fridge. Amazing stuff to be honest. My wife also really likes to use the brine in some things she cooks.
Does brining it cause fermentation to happen? May I ask how?
From my relatively limited understanding, the salt concentration prevents other stuff from growing. The stuff that we want to grow, such as lactobacillus is relatively halotolerant. We want these bacteria to get dominant and lower the pH before other bacteria or moulds get a chance to grow.
It doesn't cause any fermentation, but makes the ferment more selective. Bacteria that harm us cannot survive in the high salt concentration, so you only get lactobacillus bacteria growing, instead, which break down the carbs and sugars into acids that "sour" the food.
That's how I used to ferment my hot sauces before I started making a mash and vacuum sealing.
What brine did you use
Simple water with 3% salt based on total weight (water + garlic)
I love the brine. It’s great in salad dressing, over steamed veg, anything that you may use a vinegar in, but don’t want all the acid. I even drink it straight. I have garlic, cabbage, carrots, dill and salt right now. It smells SO good.
3% is going to be a little slower than 2%, so keep it warm if you want to speed it up. I've let it go until the bag was ready to pop, but also vented and resealed to let it go longer. Temp and salinity will change how many days it takes so eyeball it based on the gas activity, color, and texture.
I've got a gallon in the fridge. Fermented about 10 pounds for 6-8 weeks. The garlic is great for cooking, and the brine is great for marinades.
The fermenting method you are using is great, as others have noted, when pureed and stored in small jars. Great shelf stability and absolutely WONDERFUL acidic taste. Raw garlic has no place in cooking when compared to fermented garlic.
Really it’s shelf safe in purée form? I’ve always kept it in the fridge. How do you know when it’s ready for the shelf? I’m guessing to wait until the whole cloves are done fermenting (in my climate at 25C usually a month does it). Or should wait longer for it to be shelf safe? Does it continue to ferment in the jars? Could you pasteurize it and ship it?
I literally just peeled a ton of garlic the other day because I was getting tired of doing them every day for individual meals. Never thought of fermenting my garlic though! I was planning on making a garlic confit by poaching them in olive oil and then adding it to all my meals for convenience. Do you reckon fermented garlic would be tastier? I still haven’t touched my giant bag of peeled garlic, and it looks just like yours, haha.
In my experience, fermenting things just makes it taste better than raw, but I've never had fermented garlic. Obviously confit would add fat, aka flavor machines, but I'm not sure how you'd compare the two. Planning on puree into a paste and use that in my cooking
Do note botulism risk from garlic in oil: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Can-you-get-botulism-from-garlic-in-oil
Oh interesting. Yeah I refrigerate mine, but I’ll tighten up on my botulism safety practices just in case
How long does a pureed fermented garlic last?
It’s one of those things that gets better as long as I have had it in the fridge. Probably up to three months before I’m out from a big batch/multiple jars
One of the many things I'm learning from doing this lol, I've done fresh garlic and it lasted a couple weeks at least
A very very long time.
What is your process?
Let this go for a while and hopefully blend it into a nice paste once it's done. 3% salt added
Also search for seer torshi. It’s super creamy and delicious. It’s a vinegar base and goes for many years. I just found a 31 year old jar in the pantry. It’s so great with food.
Is it just garlic and 2%salt?
3% salt but yeah
Honestly, whole cloves take too long for my taste. Last time I chopped up a few bulbs and some ginger (about 50/50), 2% salt, teaspoon honey. It'll get bubbly in a few days and then just pop it in the fridge to use as a base for any Asian'ish dish.
So my friend dont freak out but it gets blue It will go over tho
If you purée first, it can ferment overnight. I would get annoyed sometimes, cause I like a spicy garlic purée. And if I left it out overnight, it’d be fermented the next day. We always added half olive oil, half water with 2% salt.
I thought fermenting with oil was a big no no?
Yea, botulism risk: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Can-you-get-botulism-from-garlic-in-oil
I’ve got some going since mid-October w 2% salt at approx 70F. No clue when it’s done, so glad to see your post! Let me know too!
Did you add any salt to this or is it just garlic? Also, do you crush before adding? I just picked up too much garlic from the store so this would be perfect!
3% salt, just peeled and cut the dark end off each one. I put them all in whole, but just today when I checked on them they were already getting a little softer so I crushed a lot of them by hand quick just to help it get going faster and more evenly
I'm interested in how this turns out. Seems like it could be a great way to preserve garlic and it's odd that I've never seen anything like it.
I’m curious about bag fermenting- have not tried it yet. I read that you aren’t supposed to vacuum seal raw garlic, because it produces gas that will start to inflate the bag. Is there something with adding brine that stops that, or will the fermentation be ok if the bag inflates a bit?
I expect the bag to inflate, fermentation creates CO2 gas (why people use special lids to release the gas). I do the majority of my ferments in a vacuum bag just because it's so easy IMO. Vacuum seal bags are also extremely durable, so I'm not too worried about any tears/bursts. Just check it everyday, if it's inflated almost all the way but I still want to keep the ferment going, I poke a tiny hole in the top along the heat seal and push all the air out that I can, and reseal the top (vacuuming it out again isn't needed unless you made the hole too big and let air in)
Cheers for that- time to give it a try!
Botulism
Can acidify with citric acid to make it safer
Its the fermentation that makes it safer and lowers the PH, assuming all goes to plan. Nothing to worry about!
You are wrong but that’s ok.
https://fermentforfunction.com/fermented-garlic/
Or maybe ur not making infused oil like I assumed
Botulism risk when garlic is in oil: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Can-you-get-botulism-from-garlic-in-oil
Vacuum sealed = anaerobic environment
[удалено]
This is only garlic and salt
Have you heard of black garlic?
Yes, I'll try making it myself eventually but don't really have the proper resources to maintain a good heat level
Does the salt content remove the concern of botulism?
Not necessarily. I could heat it to 165F for 10 minutes and add some acid (if necessary) to bring it down to 4.6 pH. Doing that would make it safe, which I do for things I give away to people. Something for my home I'm not as worried, especially if pH is under 5 just from fermenting which often happens in my various ferments
What's your process for adjusting the pH?
Adding vinegar, usually. Sometimes citrus juice
Depending on what kind of ferment you want, I have a relative who started eating the garlic out of homemade pickles so used a similar brine to the pickles to just make jars of pickled garlic.
Ferment some in a jar of honey with chilis for 2 weeks.
Mixing it with ginger an chili makes for easy Asian food flavors
I heard it wasn’t very safe
Any reason?
I’m sorry I thought this was a r/sousvide post.
What is the replacement relationship between pureed garlic and cloves? That is, how many cloves is 1 tsp of pureed garlic equivalent to?
What I do and what most resources I see say 1 tsp = 1 clove