which garlic keeps the longest?

[sally wright]

Dear All,
I have grown 2 types this year Thermindrome and Music. What I want to know is which will keep the longest as bulbs as I will be putting the rest into vinegar as minced garlic and/or processing into the freezer with soup or stews.
Regards Sally Wright.

[Colin_M]

There are probably many sources for this, but have a look at http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/growing_show_vegetables_1/garlic_elephant_1.php

This would be useful for a wider range of questions:
http://www.reallygarlicky.co.uk/moreabout.html

This is from a US-based site, but has some interesting info, including how to cure garlic before storage:http://thegarlicstore.com/index.cgi/howto.html


Looks like Music is a Hardneck and Thermidrome is a Softneck.

Colin

[Granny]

That last website is excellent for ideas on preserving garlic. My garlic, like others' has had rust this year so I'll need to do something quickly with it. I wondered about chopping it, open freezing it on a baking tray then storing in a plastic tub. I thought that would be the most flexible way of taking how much I needed at any one time. Has anyone tried this?
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Granny

[Jenny Green]

I haven't tried it. Won't it affect the taste?
Why not just dry it?

[Colin_M]

My garlic, like others' has had rust this year so I'll need to do something quickly with it.

Interesting. Have you previously had problems with garlic not keeping well after being affected by rust? Mine has had rust for the last few years, but usually stores fine.

Mind you, my crop this year *does* seem to be smaller as a result of rust, but I still intend to dry & store it in the normal way.


Colin

[Granny]

Hi Colin, I've never had rust before on any alliums. I've had problems this year with onions beginning to rot, which I put down to very wet conditions particularly as we have a very high water table round here in the fens. The garlic has gone the same way. Also, the bulbs are much smaller this year - about the same as when I first started growing garlic and planted it in March. These are overwintered.
I initially put everything down to the rust, but your question has made me wonder if the rotting is caused by the wet conditions and the rust is causing the small bulbs.
What do you think?
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Granny

[Granny]

Hi Jenny, I've never dried garlic. I don't have a food drier so would have to use the oven. Do you just put whole, unpeeled cloves in the oven on lowest setting and wait?
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Granny

[Colin_M]

Hi Jenny, I've never dried garlic. I don't have a food drier Do you just put whole, unpeeled cloves in the oven on lowest setting and wait?

I hope not!
The usual method is to dry the uprooted plants in the sun, or at least somewhere dry & out of the rain (eg. hanging in a greenhouse).

The creatives ones can then go on to plait them. Apparantly the main thing is to:
- Leave the bulb intact (don't dismantle, till you need to cook with them)
- Leave the dried stalks on them
- Leave the roots.

The latter 2 steps do mean that they'll take up more space. Apparantly it does increase their keeping qualities though.

If what you meant was chopping up the garlic & freezing the paste, well, maybe (if you have time). Chopped garlic shouldn't be dried.

Colin

[Jenny Green]

Yes, mine are on the greenhouse staging at the moment. I just dug them up and put them there as they were - roots, stalks, everything. They'll stay there another four weeks or so then I'll hang them in the big shed.
The garlic you buy in supermarkets is dried. It's the usual way of preserving them. They'll stay that way, providing no moisture gets to them, until at least the winter.

[Granny]

Sorry - I'm with you now. I've always dried garlic like that - just never thought of it as 'drying' it, just keeping it. Put it down to age.
I've got garlic this year where some of the cloves are rotten but the middle ones are fine. I've now got a bowl of separated cloves with no skin on. They're the bits I was meaning. I'll make a paste and freeze that.
I can't believe I've bought garlic for so many years without considering it 'dried'.
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Granny

[helixdesign]

Dear Granny

Freeze your garlic puree in ice cube trays, when frozen empty into a freezer bag. You then have small useable portions.

Helix

[Granny]

Yes, I tried that, thanks, after reading that just chopping and freezing it open might affect the taste. I freeze pesto the same way, which works well.
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Granny

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Granny, i think we have got that now.

[Granny]

That was exciting! I kept reading what I'd put and editing it, not realising I'd submitted it. I'll bin the first ones.

[Granny]

How do you delete an entry?
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Granny