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food preservation

Paint shaker does not peel garlic cloves

Matt McSpadden

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posted 2 years ago

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Hi All,
A while back I came across a thread here on Permies about someone trying to find a way to peel a decently large amount of garlic cloves. One suggestion the OP was talking about was using a paint shaker with a clean paint can. I thought it sounded like a good idea since I had about 300 head of garlic I wanted to peel and turn into garlic powder. Also, many online suggestions say to put two bowls together and shake them. I don't think the person ever came back to say if they tried it. So I thought I would. I got a clean can and bought a paint shaker and tried it out. Boy did it fail miserably. It does not work. This is because a paint shaker does not move back and forth far enough to get the garlic cloves moving fast enough to loosen the skin.

I have since come across this Commercial Electric Garlic Peeler. https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Electric-Stainless-Restaurants-Barbecue/dp/B0B2WGXVB2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=170CJPDKID9VA&keywords=garlic+peeling+machine&qid=1672154804&sprefix=garlic+peeling+machine%2Caps%2C71&sr=8-1

It looks promising, but only has a single review and does not look like a well known company (at least no here in the US). Anyone have any experience with those? Or similar?

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Anne Miller

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posted 2 years ago

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I don't remember the thread you are talking about nor do I remember anything about a paint shaker.

I have never had problems peeling garlic though most recently all mine are dried from the store.

Here are six ways to peel garlic:

https://www.thekitchn.com/the-best-method-for-peeling-garlic-23085986

There is a Youtube that says:

Ultimate Garlic Peeling Trick -- How to Peel 20 Cloves in 20 Seconds!

For some reason I could not copy the URL. ???

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Pearl Sutton

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posted 2 years ago

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Anne: Here's your video

I have noticed the garlic peeling tricks depend on how fresh your garlic is. My fresh garlic from the garden doesn't work with them. The older stuff from the store does.

The way I found that worked best for my fresh garlic was break them up, soak them, cut the stem part off, and then just peel them, the paper comes off easily.

I haven't used a machine. I have tried shakers of various types, and looking at paint shakers, yeah, they wouldn't move enough. Looking at your link, it doesn't say how they peel it. Not something I'd buy. If you are looking at machinery, check the restaurant supply places on the net. Those would be known to work.

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Matt McSpadden

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posted 2 years ago

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Hi Ann and Pearl,
Thanks for the article and youtube video. I think you both touched on something that I hadn't given a lot of thought to... my garlic is much fresher and potentially less dried than what one would typically get in the store. I'm sure that effects the effectiveness of some of these options.

Unfortunately most of the methods described, are for a handful of cloves, perhaps a head or two. I'm dealing with a larger scale. 300 head of garlic with 5-10 cloves each... could be 1500-3000 cloves. Last year I used the bowl method... my arms gave out. It was not nearly as easy as they make it seem. Again, perhaps mine were not as dry. Piercing with a knife or smashing with a knife sounds faster than simply peeling it, but does not seem practical for a larger amount. I had not tried the microwave thing... I'll give that a shot. Someone suggested freezing the garlic and when you take them out for a few minutes, the skins are supposed to slide right off. I'll report back on these two methods.

Rebecca Norman

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posted 2 years ago

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Since you are going to be dehydrating it, here's what I found actually works in practice.

Cut the whole bulb in half, bisecting all the cloves, or squash the bulb to separate the cloves and cut them in half. I'm only doing a couple bulbs at a time so I also cut the base end off, but I think it would work fine without doing that, especially if you are going to powder them anyway.

Dehydrate them part way (or probably all the way would work great). Now they are shrunken away from the skin. Any of those shaking or agitating or rubbing methods work easily now.

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Douglas Alpenstock

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posted 2 years ago

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Aside: I always thought a paint shaker would be great for washing socks ...

Matt McSpadden

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@ Rebecca
I have heard of cutting a garlic head in half to roast them before, but not for dehydrating. I've still got a lot left that haven't sprouted too much. I'll have to try that. I wonder if I could cut a bunch in half, put them on a cookie sheet in the oven just enough to loosen them. Then dump out the clove pieces for the rest of my processing.

Now I have three additional methods to try. I'll find a good one yet :) unfortunately I've been fighting off a bad cold, so it's delayed my testing.

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