Garlic, preferred forms

[Prof Bunky]

Mrs. uses wax paper and a big smash.

[klflowers]

I love garlic but I hate peeling it. In fact I have complained about it excessively elsewhere in this forum. But I usually use fresh - I have a jar of minced stuff but it has been here a very long time. I probably need to get rid of it. I haven't tried the bags of pre peeled but I may try it out soon.

[RichieB]

For the most part, peel fresh. Just crush and the outer layer comes right off. Then prepare as needed. My wife buys minced in a jar. If a recipe calls for it and I'm lazy, I will use it.

[yakima]

The garlic conversion chart is handy. It will get taped inside a cupboard door. Thank you, @jfmorris.
I just finished a Costco jar of minced. Won't get more. Need to do some taste testing. Maybe tie it in with my impromptu olive oil tastings. Thank you all for your comments!

[jfmorris]

If you are looking for good quality olive oil, a key thing to look for is harvest dates on the bottle. I won't get it older than 12 months, as it's really only good to about 18 months. A lot you find on shelves is older than that and moving towards rancid.

My goto is Cobram Estates, either their Australian or California olive oils, with the most recent harvest date I can find. It's usually harvested in fall, so the Australian/California is 6 months apart. California Olive Ranch is good too.

[yakima]

Yes re harvest date importance. There is an olive oil thread here, under oils in the general food channel. TJ Robinson and his freshpressedoliveoil.com has me hooked.

[surfdog]

jfmorris Indeed. I’m fortunate enough to live close to several small producers. Does it cost a bit more? Oh yeah it does. But then they’re not producing on the scale that big box stores would demand. And most a simply smaller family run operations or slightly larger. Sure, they may have quite a few employees…at least during the harvest, but again…nothing like a mass production companies.

[itsnotmyfault]

I am definitely with the fresh camp. Smash it with the Chef's knife, and it comes out of that skin pretty easy, and tastes soooo much better. The fresher, the easier to get it out of that skin after the smash. Don't get me wrong, Granulated has it's place too, making Rubs, etc. I tried the jarred, chopped version a couple of years ago, sure is convenient, but just doesn't have the flavor or aroma of fresh. Love that Gawwlic!