I know different prep of garlic results in strength of flavor. As a general rule when adding garlic to a marinade should it be crushed, chopped, or paste?
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I would say it depends on what you are marinading and what flavor profile you are trying to achieve. Garlic obviously imparts a strong flavor, so how much is a matter of taste. You don't want it overwhelming the marinade. Typically I either crush it or rough chop it, but again it's a matter of how much and what are you marinading. -
I take the clove and crush it. Mostly because I hate peeling garlic and crushing it makes it easy to remove the paper. And I LOVE garlic so if it is a little powerful, that is fine with me.Comment
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I lightly crush, peel, then rough chop.
Kind of funny how garlic presses seem to have fallen out of favor.Comment
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The finer you chop it the stronger the garlic flavor. Also, the faster it burns.
If you just want a bit, rough chop. If you want more, mince. If you think "Stinking Rose... Hell Yes" then mash to paste in a mortar and pestle with some salt.Comment
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When you crush, chop, or mince garlic you are exposing the enzyme alliinase to oxygen, which turns the allin to allicin, which is responsible for garlics aroma. It is also touted for numerous health benefits. Heat destroys allininase, so it's best to let it 'rest' for a bit before using it. Obviously, the finer the crush the more exposed. Here's a page I found that might be helpful in preparing it.Last edited by ComfortablyNumb; March 1, 2019, 11:22 AM.Comment
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Troutman & Potkettleblack covered it. It depends on what flavor you are after. There is no one way, sometimes ya gotta slice, sometimes smash, sometimes chop into itty bitty pieces & then there are times you do none of the above. You just throw the whole clove in. One tip that works for me that I heard Emeril give is, "whatever the recipe calls for, double it".Last edited by FireMan; March 1, 2019, 11:45 AM.Comment
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Or you could be like Paulie in GoodFellas when he was in prison, slicing garlic into thin sheets with a razor blade. That way it melts when it hits the hot gravy .....
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For a marinade I will chop/mince garlic.Comment
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After I brewed a few batches of beer it kind of dawned on me to treat garlic in cooking like you do hops in brewing beer. Aroma hops early in the boil, aroma garlic early in the cooking process. Flavor hops at the end of the brewing process, flavor garlic towards the end of the cooking process. So if I am in a mood for a lot of garlic, it will be used a minimum of two times during the cooking process of whatever I am preparing. We like our garlic.Comment
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I just add it using a garlic press - same as mincing but easier. A lot folks don’t know that you don’t have to peel a garlic clove before putting it through a garlic press. Easy easy.Comment
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As to peeling, I do something I learned from watching Rick Bayless. I toast the cloves in their husk in a dry skillet, until the paper has some blackening. Peels very easy and improves the flavor. Bit more mellow and a bit richer.Comment
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Probably depends upon how long you are going to marinade. Paste? or crushed should be better for shorter times, after that I doubt it matters.Comment
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I'm lazy when it comes to garlic. I buy the minced garlic in a jar. Also, I love garlic, so I tend to just heap giant spoonfuls in to whatever I'm doing - usually far more than the recipe calls for. My wife and I both love garlic, so neither of us have complained yet about too much garlic.
When I make 40 cloves and a chicken, I buy already-peeled garlic cloves. And my 40 cloves is usually around 70 cloves.Comment
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