thanks phil...a jar of that shit would probably be best in my kitchen

i never use my garlic soon enough before half of it goes bad

They sell them in sizes smaller than 48 ozs.

Good luck on your garlicquest, jonboy.

I like this.

Yeah, I always keep a small jar of that minced garlic in the fridge. It comes in handy more times than I care to admit. Just because I can break down garlic cloves quickly with a knife doesnt mean I always want to. Plus I buy the ones minced in olive oil: Spread around a little of that mess on your chicken breasts, salt and pepper, simple goodness.

I find the taste of minced garlic in a jar a little too harsh.

I don't taste much of a difference at all.

I keep a small jar of the roasted on hand, because I get lazy at times, too, but I definitely can taste the difference between jarred and fresh. Do you really go through a 48 oz. jar of that stuff a month?

i used to use a lot of the jarred stuff, but i'm with tentoze, i think the difference in flavor is noticeable (although this would be less of a problem if I went through it as quickly as phil). i have sort of just accepted mincing garlic as i did flossing: at first it's annoying as hell, but eventually you just have to accept it as part of the routine.

i'll use a garlic press from time to time, but for the most part it pulverizes the garlic too much for any recipe calling for "minced" or "chopped" garlic.

I wouldn't buy the roasted, I can roast it myself. I think the roasted minced garlic from spiceworld tastes a little burnt.

Yeah, in a typical month we'll go through at least one and sometimes 1 and a half. In lean months of cooking where we're both busy, we'll still go through a half to 3/4s of a jar.

And I'll still crush the garlic with the side of the chef's knife to release some oil, i think if you just toss the jarred stuff in without agitating it, you can taste a bit of difference from the fresh. I still would say that there's not a huge enough difference to make me only use fresh. Does fresh garlic taste mellower? Yes, fresh raw garlic tastes mellower, but by the time i'm done cooking it down... not a lot of difference from the cooked down jarred stuff.

That is an enormous amount of garlic (and I love it). I couldn't use that much even if I was still cooking for my family every day.

jarred garlic is taboo .. there is definitely a difference in taste.

taboo is a pretty strong word there paul.

Now if i was making a special meal, yeah i'd use fresh. Or if I owned a restaurant... same thing.

But for just knocking around in my home, it's fine.

thoughts on bulk peeled garlic?

Costco sells a very large jar that'd probably get us through 6 weeks.

sort of like this.

yeah i don't like it either and i don't mind smashing the side of the knife against it. then again, i put too much garlic in almost everything.

And another hypocritical point- i love this stuff, although my Laxmi market carries a different brand:

5 lbs. might be too much, plus it'd take a lot of space up in the fridge.

I think the bulk peeled is garbage. I tried it once and was mad at myself.

mincing garlic can be kind of a pain in the ass. peeling garlic, on the other hand, is pretty freaking easy if you know the knife trick or have one of those little rubber tubes.

Jesus, Phil. I think I'm going to retract all the good things I've written about your cooking.

That minced garlic is fucking HORRID.

You probably used jarred parsley, too, huh?

Sorry - garlic is in probably 98% of the things that I make, and I ALWAYS use fresh.

I tried minced garlic out of a jar for the first time over Xmas. Ostensibly 100% pure, it definitely tasted funny to me. I just press or chop.

I buy the organic minced garlic and have had no taste issues. I still use whole garlic for other dishes, but for on the fly cooking, minced works just fine for me.

I found time to make a seafood (shrimp, blue crabs, & okra) gumbo yesterday.

Tell us more.

for a guinea from NYC, the word is just right, sorry. Garlic pretty much goes into everything..bottled garlic is like using a jar of Ragu- just won't happen.

But it all depends on how it tastes...

also though, Im sure if you do the math, you are paying someone to mince that stuff too.. probably more than you would be willing to...

I started by making a seafood stock. I threw 4 crabs, shrimp shells, celery, onion chunks, parsley stalks, peppercorns into a gallon pot, and covered it w/ water. I brought that to a boil and then reduced to a simmer. It's simmered about an 1 hour and half.

While that simmered, I made my roux. About half a cup of butter and half a cup of flour. I cooked that stirring constantly on medium heat until it was the color of dark chocolate.

I added a diced onion to the roux. It's key to add the onion before the other vegetables b/c it releases sugars into the roux and darkens even more. It's a pretty cool trick. Then I added a diced green pepper and 2 diced celery. I cooked that for about 5 minutes. Next I added sliced okra that I had previously cooked on the side. It's very important to cook the okra in a different pan then add it to the other vegetables because otherwise your gumbo will be slimy.

After all the veggies were in the pool, I added a can of crushed tomatoes to the roux-veggie mix until it was a rusty brownish black color.

I then strained the seafood stock and added to the roux mixture about a cup of a time. After all of the stock was in, I brought it to a boil and then reduced to a simmer. I let it simmer about an hour.

Finally I threw in some some chopped parsley, green onions, and shrimp and cooked it about 5 minutes. I seasoned w/ salt, cayenne, and crystal hot sauce to taste. I served it w/ rice.

I knew I saved those shrimp shells for a reason. This looks fucking awesome Tanner.

No, we grow parsley or buy fresh.

You didn't complain about the minced garlic in that crab lasagna.