[MaxCast]

How do you know when garlic cloves are ready to be tossed?  I usually use the minced in a jar, but picked up some cloves (bunches) awhile back.  Some coves are darker than the others are they bad?
Thanks   

[satfrat]

Garlic rots like an onion does,,, as cheap as garlic is I toss them when they turn brown & soft to the touch myself. I use a garlic press and cloves need to be firm for it to work properly.

Cheers,
Robin

[MaxCast]

heh, but I'm cooking right now and am not going to the store.  Thanks Robin.

[pjchappy]

If they start sprouting, you should toss them.  I don't always do, but the flavor changes, etc.  When they start to sprout, the middle will look a little different, too. . .more so towards the sprout.

Beyond that, yeah, they get soft with brown spots. . .then, definitely toss them.

The minced garlic in a jar doesn't even compare to the fresh stuff!!!   

[satfrat]

Well you know what they say, what doesn't kill ya will make you stronger. Throw it in and git-r-done.

[JerryM]

Garlic cloves, like onions, will ferment before they actually start to rot. Select cloves that are not dark and open them up. You will know by the smell if there is a garlic-alcohol content. If all is well, then so it is.  

Have fun,
Jerry

[MaxCast]

Thanks much guys 
I tossed the half used bunch that started to sprout.  And yes, the center was green like the sprout.
The other bunches are half brown/white.  I will cut up some and make a call.
If it smells and tastes funky I will have to go to the jar 

It's going in soup, btw.

[pjchappy]

If it smells and tastes funky I will have to go to the jar 

GO TO THE STORE!!!!   

What kind of soup?  Soup is good!!! 

[satfrat]

Thanks much guys 
I tossed the half used bunch that started to sprout.  And yes, the center was green like the sprout.
The other bunches are half brown/white.  I will cut up some and make a call.
If it smells and tastes funky I will have to go to the jar 

It's going in soup, btw.

Chickin$hit,, I would have used it!

[MaxCast]

ahhhh, all is well !!  the garlic was not as bad as I had thought.  After I peeled the cloves I found they were white with a very little green trace in the center.  I V cut that out and chopped the $h!t out of it.

I am making 15 pea soup from scratch save the beans, FWIW.  Smelling very goot as I type.

Ingredients: package of 15 beans, meat form a pork roast, bacon, meat from grilled chicken, carrots, celery, portabellos, garlic, onion, beer, 1 cup juice from a beef roast I am cooking also, water, thyme, cumin, dash of season salt, um...I think that's it.

[satfrat]

ahhhh, all is well !!  the garlic was not as bad as I had thought.  After I peeled the cloves I found they were white with a very little green trace in the center.  I V cut that out and chopped the $h!t out of it.

I am making 15 pea soup from scratch save the beans, FWIW.  Smelling very goot as I type.

Ingredients: package of 15 beans, meat form a pork roast, bacon, meat from grilled chicken, carrots, celery, portabellos, garlic, onion, beer, 1 cup juice from a beef roast I am cooking also, water, thyme, cumin, dash of season salt, um...I think that's it.

Thataboy! Don't forget the saltines.

[mcgsxr]

Am I the only one with a bad "Girls Gone Wild" style infomercial running in their head, with Garlic Gone Bad as the new theme?

Good work sorting it out and using it up!

[lonewolfny42]

Am I the only one with a bad "Girls Gone Wild" style infomercial running in their head, with Garlic Gone Bad as the new theme?

Here's one of those "bad girls".......





Rich.....
Soup tastes great in the winter !!! Warms one up after a cold day outside.

[gonefishin]

       I've found that there's a bunch of bad garlic being sold in stores during the winter.  I'm not sure if it's due to complications/improper storage during winter with moisture getting into the back of the store, shipping or what.  But there was a period, of about two months, where all the stores near me (and believe me I hit them all...I was pissed) had soft garlic that wasn't worth buying.  It wasn't just old stuff sitting on the shelves either, the new boxes that they had were the same way. 

   When buying the garlic give it a squeeze...if it's soft pass it up.  If you've got garlic sitting around and it's starting to sprout don't throw it away until you get the new stuff.  All you need to do with the green sprouts is fling it out with the tip of the knife or just pull it out with your fingers if it's big enough.  But do take it out...

   There's some really good varieties of garlic out there...and differences that could be distinguished in any double blind test (can I bring up DBT's in this forum ). 
Gourmet Garlic Gardens is a good place to buy from if your looking.  You'll want to buy and plant in late fall the year before you want to harvest.  Still, there's still lots of good information at the site for growing garlic.  If you're going to order you'll want to order some of the heirloom varieties early on in the garlic planting season.  Places online usually sellout of the hard to find varieties fairly quick.

     Freshly picked garlic usually does have a better flavor to it.  Partly due to the fact that you just grew a better variety (think about a store bought tomato or a heirloom garden tomato).  But another factor of the flavor in fresh garlic is due to allicin, a compound in fresh garlic.  Unfortunately it's not a very stable compound.  Research has shown that commercially grown garlic contained undetectable amounts of allicin.  Just one more reason why fresher,and locally grown, is better!

    Garlic can breed Botulism, especially if it's improperly stored in oil.

     A couple other flavors that I don't think I could live without are Olio Nuovo (fresh harvested olive oil) and jamon Iberico bellota.

    enjoy the food!

   dan

[stone deaf]

When garlic starts to sprout plant it in a pot. Same for unused green onions, if there are roots showing when you buy them plant those you don't use in a pot and they will continue to grow. If you cut the tops from the green onions to use in a recipe more tops will grow back, I keep a pot full of them on the patio all the time.