Making garlic powder at home is a great way to use cloves that lie lonely in the kitchen pantry. Once ready you can use it to flavor numerous dishes. You may think that making garlic powder at home takes a lot of time or work and therefore it is better to buy it ready-made at the supermarket, but in reality it is a very simple process that allows you to obtain a significantly tastier and tastier powder. than that normally on sale.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Prepare the Garlic
Step 1. Separate the garlic cloves
Peel the garlic heads and separate each clove from the other. The amount of powder you can get depends on the number of cloves you intend to use. Generally a head of garlic comprises about ten cloves, sometimes a few more, others a few less.
If you only need a small amount of garlic powder, use just one head of garlic. If you want to make more, use several
Step 2. Peel the garlic cloves
You can peel them using only your fingers or you can make the job easier by initially breaking the peel with a knife. Place the wedge on the cutting board, then place the flat side of the blade on top of it. At this point, gently squeeze the clove to make the peel break and detach from the pulp.
Do not press too hard on the wedge. It must remain whole and intact so that you can slice it with ease. After loosening the peel, remove it as normal with your hands
Step 3. Cut the garlic into thin slices
First remove the harder end with the knife. Generally all cloves have a hard base which is not necessary for flavor. After removing it, cut the garlic into thin slices; you can make them a few millimeters thick or even less if you can.
Once you have sliced all the wedges, arrange the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or on the dryer tray if you have one)
Part 2 of 2: Prepare the Garlic Powder
Step 1. Dehydrate the garlic in the oven
You can also use the dryer if you have it available. If you intend to use the common oven, preheat it to a low temperature before starting. In most cases, the lowest available oven temperature is between 50 and 100 ° C. Once hot, put the garlic in the pan and let it cook for about 1 hour and a half or 2 hours.
- As the garlic dehydrates in the oven, keep it in sight and stir it from time to time to make sure it loses moisture evenly. When the kitchen timer rings, check that the garlic is ready and remove the pan from the oven. Let it cool before continuing.
- To find out if the garlic is ready, take a few slices in your hand and see if it breaks and crumbles easily by gently squeezing it between your fingers.
Step 2. Dehydrate the garlic in a dehydrator
If you have this handy appliance, you can set it to the lowest temperature available (about 50 ° C) and let the garlic dehydrate for about 8-12 hours.
When you remove the garlic from the dryer, you should notice that it shatters easily simply by gently squeezing it between your fingers. It means that he is completely dehydrated
Step 3. Pulverize the dehydrated garlic slices
You can use a coffee grinder, a blender, a spice grinder, a food processor or more simply a mortar and pestle to pulverize the small pieces of garlic. Grind it until it reaches the desired consistency. Move it gently with your fingers and remove any larger pieces; you can gather them and grind them again.
- Grind the garlic only briefly if you prefer it to be coarse rather than powdery. If, on the other hand, you want to get a very fine powder, grind it longer.
- Wait about ten minutes before removing the garlic powder from the grinder. In this way the perfumed essences will be able to settle and will not impregnate the air.
Step 4. Add garlic to other spices to create a rich blend of flavors
If you have some chilli powder, pink pepper flakes or some other spice you like in your pantry, you can consider mixing it with garlic powder to get a blend with an intense and aromatic taste.
You will be able to use your spice blend on different occasions, for example on pizza or pasta
Step 5. Store the garlic powder
Transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in a cool, dry corner of the kitchen, out of the sun. A glass jar is the ideal container for storing garlic powder; you just need to label it to remind you what it contains.
