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A garlic press. I avoided them for years because of a mixture of guidance saying it's just as easy to chop it or it tastes worse from a press. I don't have the tastebuds to notice it being any worse and it's certainly a lot easier than chopping since you don't even have to peel it.
The more you smoosh garlic, the more allions exposed and the more intense the flavour. That's how you can range from whole roasted = mild to minced = asshole burning.
So a chopper is not a replacement for a press or a grater and vice-versa
It's definitely better than cutting with a knife, but TBH I've gone a step further and just started buying it pre-mashed in jar.
Try a tiny grate for garlic.
Press is too hard to wash after use, but swapping to grate made wonders. I have two now.
The "tastes worse from a press" is entirely dependent on the material of the press you're using. Garlic reacts with stainless steel, hence those stainless steel "soap bars" they make to remove garlic smell from your hands. I got a zinc press for this exact reason.
How you prep garlic depends on what you are doing with it, or what the recipe calls for.
What it comes down to, the more garlic flavor you want out of a clove, then the more you need to damage the garlic's cellular walls.
So this means if you want some garlic flavor, then a rough chop would be fine. If you want a good amount of flavor, then mincing is necessary. If you want a metric f#$k ton of garlic flavor then you run it through a press.
Why wouldn't you just use fewer garlic cloves and just use the press all the time? There are many reasons, but mainly because a pressed clove may be too over powering for the recipe. Also, if you are doing a slow cook, then larger pieces of garlic will enfuse the recipe better over the longer cook time than pressed garlic.
I hope the above makes sense. On the surface it appears that it's just better to press garlic cloves and just adjust the amount you put in the recipe. However, there are real differences to the final product based upon how the garlic is prepped and added to the recipe.
This is an excellent comment. This isn't the image you reminded me of, but still helpful.
You're right. But it has never been an issue in my house nor ever someone ever composed a phrase conveying the feeling that there was too much garlic on the food.
Oh, we have at my house and it was completely my fault.
I was making marinara sauce in bulk for a specific recipe that we make often. At the last minute I decided to press the garlic, but not reduce the amount and the results were not pleasing. It was way too much and none of us are vampires.
that's exactly what a vampire would say...
Oh man, a great hack is to microwave your garlic for about 5 seconds and the peel comes right off.
Take two bowls, toss the garlic cloves in, put the bowls together like clamshells and shake. Peels come right off.
Never tried that, but I use the press and roll method. Simply press the garlic clove into a cutting board and roll it around a bit while pressing down on it. The peels mostly come off straightaway. I combination with my cheap garlic press, it’s been so nice dealing with garlic such that I use it more.
You can also just use a cocktail shaker or a jar with a lid and shake them. Peels come off so easily and you just mostly sift through them to get the cloves.
I just smash it with a cleaver. Faster than pressing and more fun.
Wait, you don't have to peel it if you press it?