5 ways to quickly peel garlic heads

Knife blade

Experienced cooks have several methods for quickly and neatly peeling garlic. Let's start with the simplest and most common: a wide kitchen knife. All you need to do is place the clove on a cutting board and, holding the knife flat, press down on it. After this simple manipulation, the cloves will be peeled. However, this will flatten the garlic cloves slightly, so if you need whole cloves, choose a different method.

Shake-up

Another way to quickly peel garlic is the so-called shaking method. Place the separated garlic heads in a metal bowl, cover with another bowl, and then shake the entire assembly vigorously for about 30 seconds.

We remove the makeshift lid and, lo and behold, all the cloves are clean! All that's left to do is pick them out of the skins and trim the ends. The downside of this method is that the cloves may become slightly bruised during this cleaning process, and insufficiently dried cloves are not cleaned this way.

Cold water

This method is perfect for removing undried spice cloves from the skins. It involves placing the cloves in cold water for about 20 minutes – during this time, the skins will soften and peel off easily. However, only the outer skins will be removed; the thin membranes will still need to be removed with a knife.

Garlic "device"

Have you noticed those brightly colored silicone tubes with seemingly incomprehensible purposes on the shelves of hardware stores? Turns out they're quite useful. This is nothing more than a special peeler for peeling garlic cloves.

How do you quickly peel garlic with this tool? It's very simple: insert a few cloves and roll the tool on the counter, similar to how you would use a rolling pin. The result is clean cloves and separate flakes. For many home cooks, this peeler has become indispensable, as it eliminates the distinctive garlic aroma from your hands.

Microwave oven

Another surefire way to help with the difficult task of peeling garlic cloves is the good old microwave. Place the required number of heads in the microwave and set the timer for about 15 minutes. After that, you can peel the garlic by hand, without any additional equipment. Remarkably, this method doesn't even require separating the heads into individual cloves. The only thing you'll have to work with is the thin membranes covering the flesh: they won't peel in the microwave (just like cold water).

These are all the ways to peel garlic heads with minimal effort. Try them out and find your favorite!

Video: Peeling a Head of Garlic in 10 Seconds

This video will show you how to peel a head of garlic in just 10 seconds.