As a spice, garlic is used in all cuisines of the world, being especially popular in the cuisines of the Mediterranean and China. In the kitchen there are uses for both above-ground and underground parts of the plant.

The underground part, or rather the cloves of garlic, can be used to prepare soups, marinades, various meat and vegetable dishes and even desserts.

Along with whole cloves and slices of different sizes, chopped (crushed) garlic is also used to prepare salads, vinaigrettes, sauces, sandwiches and light snacks.

Garlic: properties and benefits

1. Natural flavor and aroma enhancer. In addition to taste and aroma perception, the body also receives a set of nutrients.
2. Benefit for health. Garlic is not only a food and a seasoning for food, but also a medicinal vegetable, recognized as medicinal and used in traditional and alternative medicine.
3. Prebiotic food. Garlic is a natural prebiotic, a food that helps increase the amount of probiotics. By feeding probiotics, garlic prevents the risk of them being destroyed by bad, disease-causing bacteria.

How to prepare garlic for the winter

Peeling garlic takes a lot of time. How to solve this problem? Some cooks recommend peeling the garlic cloves in advance and storing them in tightly sealed containers. This idea solves the problem with some "buts".

It should be admitted that this is not the best solution, since when stored for a long time without husks, the garlic cloves oxidize and become yellowish. The taste also becomes less bright. Therefore, if you have the luxury of free time, it is better to peel and chop the garlic immediately before cooking.

The best solution is frozen chopped garlic. What needs to be done for this? Peel the garlic, grind it in a food processor, meat grinder, or pass it through a garlic press, fill ice trays and freeze. Although these procedures will take up your precious time, the benefit is that the garlic will retain its full freshness.

How to Freeze Garlic in Ice Trays

• Garlic - 5-6 heads
• Form for ice
• Knife and cutting board
• Grinding device
• Refrigerator freezer

1. Peel the garlic cloves, wash and chop.

If you decide to prepare a large amount of garlic, it makes sense for you to use a meat grinder with small holes to chop it. A regular garlic press, popularly called a “garlic press,” can handle a small number of cloves. A few cloves can be crushed with the flat side of a cleaver. You can use any alternative grinding methods.

2. Place crushed garlic in ice cube compartments.

Place the required amount of chopped garlic into the cells of an ice cube tray, preparing for freezing. Each cell holds about 2 teaspoons of garlic mass. This is a sufficient amount to prepare any dish.

3. Place in the freezer to freeze overnight.

Place the trays of minced garlic in the freezer overnight. Overnight, the garlic in the cells will harden into strong cubes.

4. Remove the garlic cubes from the ice cube tray.

Lift each garlic cube with a knife and remove it from the tray. Now you need to transfer the frozen garlic to a container for permanent storage. This can be a regular plastic bag or container in which you can place the garlic cubes in a more orderly manner, placing the layers with paper so that they do not stick together. And when you need garlic for cooking, just use a frozen cube.

On a note!

Freezing garlic in a tray overnight is optimal in terms of time. After freezing, the cubes are quite dense and can be removed from the cells without falling apart. But if you don't have time, leave the tray in the freezer for at least 4 hours.

After you remove the garlic cubes from the cells, be sure to thoroughly wash and dry the tray before adding water to make ice cubes. After all, let’s face it, garlic-flavored soft drinks are not an attractive idea.

There is an even better way to preserve garlic - cover the crushed mass in the cells with vegetable oil before freezing. It will prevent unnecessary oxidation and weathering when the garlic cubes are exposed to air. True, you will have to wash the greasy tray more thoroughly later.

Freezing garlic in olive oil

We hope that, having learned all the intricacies of the method of preparing garlic by freezing in chopped form, you will appreciate and take advantage of its benefits for preparing various savory delicacies.

Modern housewives have become even more sophisticated and therefore have come up with a lot of ways to store vegetables for the winter. For example, it is customary to simply store garlic in a jar, box, or braid it. But it should be remembered that frozen garlic has the longest shelf life.

How to freeze garlic for the winter in the refrigerator:

Advantages and disadvantages of freezing garlic

Storing garlic frozen has certain advantages:

• The product fully retains its antibacterial properties;
• Almost all useful microelements present in the fresh product are preserved;
• The shelf life is much longer than with other storage methods;
• After defrosting the garlic, you can start consuming it immediately.

But there are also certain disadvantages:

• Slight loss of aroma;
• Loss of taste (the taste of garlic becomes less intense than that of a fresh product);
• After freezing, loss of appearance and deformation may occur.

ATTENTION: In winter, to use pasta, you just need to take out a few frozen cubes and add to the dish.

Methods for freezing garlic

Garlic, compared to other vegetables, can be stored in winter in various ways.

Entirely

The presented storage method requires virtually no effort, but you still have to perform several manipulations to prepare the product for freezing:

• You should peel all the heads of garlic from the remaining soil;
• The heads are placed in a bag or wrapped in cling film;
• After carrying out the above manipulations, you should place the product in the refrigerator.

It is precisely because of the combination of the presented factors that such freezing is considered only in cases where there is not enough time to use another method.

ATTENTION: Despite the simplicity of the procedure for freezing the heads, few housewives use this freezing method, since due to such storage the garlic softens and loses its primary shape. Garlic husks are quite difficult to separate.

With cloves

In addition to whole freezing, it is possible to store garlic in individual cloves.:

• Only those heads that show no signs of incipient growth should be used. In addition, it is recommended to use garlic that has no signs of rotting or any other damage;
• The head is divided into separate lobules. The ideal option would be to immediately remove the peel and rinse the garlic thoroughly with water. These manipulations are performed so that in winter, after removal from the freezer, the product is immediately ready for consumption;
• Next, the garlic should be spread in one even layer on a piece of gauze and covered with a towel on top to remove excess moisture;
• Well-dried cloves are laid out on a plate and placed in the freezer.

If everything is done correctly, the cloves will not stick together and then, when preparing various dishes, you will not need to waste time separating each clove.

REFERENCE: After complete freezing, all available garlic should be placed in bags or containers. After final packaging, the product is placed in the freezer for the entire winter period.

Garlic paste

This is the most optimal option for winter preparation, since using various additives, garlic can be given a completely different taste.

To prepare the paste, use a meat grinder or blender. That is, the main task is to grind the ingredients so that a homogeneous mass is obtained.

Finely chopped parsley or dill is added to the finished mass (it all depends on personal preference). After this, using an ordinary spoon, the resulting mass is poured into containers for making ice and placed in the freezer.

There is another method for preparing garlic paste. But in this version, chicken broth is additionally used. And all subsequent manipulations are the same as in the described recipe.

A convenient way to store garlic in winter:

Garlic greens

Freezing green garlic is carried out according to the following plan:

• The garlic greens are thoroughly washed and dried, and then cut into pieces measuring 4 centimeters in length;
• The prepared greens are blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes;
• After removing the greens from the boiling water, they need to be placed in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process;
• After the greens have completely cooled, they should be placed in bags or containers and stored in the freezer.

Greens with garlic:

Garlic arrows

When selecting arrows for freezing, you need to choose the youngest ones. In this case, there should be no various types of damage on the surface of the hands.

Having selected suitable arrows, they need to be thoroughly washed and cut into small pieces. After this, the workpiece is distributed into bags and sent to the freezer. It should be noted that the bags in which the garlic is placed must be hermetically sealed, as a strong odor will spread throughout the refrigerator.

Frozen garlic arrows recipe:

Garlic paste

This freezing option is mainly used as an addition to frozen garlic cloves. That is, the arrows should be brought to a homogeneous mass using a meat grinder and olive oil should be added (a 1:2 ratio is used). After this, the dish needs to be packaged in molds and sent for freezing. This must be done as quickly as possible, because otherwise, oxidative processes begin and the product becomes unsuitable for further use. After the finished mass has hardened well, it is placed in a container and put into the freezer for further storage.

Garlic paste:

How long can frozen garlic be stored?

The main advantage of this storage method is that the shelf life of the product is significantly increased. That is, now it amounts to - 12 months.

It should be noted that this type of storage is suitable even for those types of vegetables that have never been frozen or stored for a long time.

Frequent phenomena during long-term storage of garlic are drying out, unpleasant odor, and rotting. Many fruits fail to survive until spring, which is why housewives and owners of summer cottages are forced to buy spices in the store. If there is a lot of garlic harvest, then some of the heads can be frozen in the freezer. This does not affect the vitamin composition and antibacterial properties of the spicy fruit in any way; only partial loss of shape and aroma is possible.

What happens to garlic in the freezer?

There will be nothing left in the freezer with chopped garlic if you prepare it correctly. It will not become damp, will not become soft, and will not lose its astringent taste.

The freezer is one of the best ways to preserve not only garlic, but also other vegetables, both whole and cut. The shelf life is extended to 12 months - exactly until the next harvest.

Advice
You can immediately place some of the heads in the freezer, or you can save drying fruits in this way closer to winter. But you should not freeze those cloves that cannot be stored fresh.

Another way to provide your family with the benefits of garlic for the winter is to add the cloves to homemade preserves. But still, in the freezer, raw garlic will remain as vitamin-rich and tasty as possible.

How to freeze: ideas

The easiest way to keep garlic healthy is to freeze the heads whole. But the taste and shape of thawed cloves will be significantly inferior to fresh ones. Heads of unpeeled garlic are placed in a chamber, wrapped in cling film.

You can also store peeled cloves. Once removed, they will be immediately ready for use. There's no need to defrost them; just place them straight into salads, soups, and other dishes. Use freezer bags or containers for storage. And in order not to mess around, chop or grate the cloves in advance and send the ready-made aromatic additive to the food into the chamber.

Advice from Miss Clean magazine
There is no need to freeze vegetables; there is a place in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator for them.

Another idea for storing garlic in the freezer allows you to maximize the taste, aroma and crunchy texture - chop the garlic cloves and add to the sauce.

Here is one of the most popular recipes:

1. Take vegetable oil (refined or aromatic sunflower, olive, sesame oil - whatever you like) will do.
2. Add fresh chopped parsley, dill, cilantro or any other.
3. Peel the garlic, cut the cloves, finely grate or press using a garlic press.
4. Mix the sauce thoroughly and add other seasonings if needed.
5. Use small serving containers or clip-on bags for storage.
6. Add this mixture to side dishes, soups, and salads as needed.

You can come up with your own recipe for garlic sauce based on butter, sour cream and other products. Approach the issue of storing garlic creatively, and your winter menu will always delight your family.

I don’t remember exactly when and how the idea of ​​freezing garlic arrows for the winter came about; I always felt sorry for throwing them away. They contain much more useful substances than a head of garlic! I asked my neighboring summer residents if it was possible to freeze garlic arrows - no one knew, so I decided to try what would work. I cut it into pieces and put it in the freezer. And I really regretted that I had done so little, it wasn’t even enough until winter. For the next year I already had grandiose plans: I now knew how to freeze garlic arrows for the winter, all I had to do was wait for the harvest and get down to business.

Freezing garlic arrows for the winter

Ingredients:

• Garlic arrows - arbitrary amount;
• butter;
• olive oil;
• parsley, dill - a bunch;
• dense bags (regular or with a zip-lock fastener);
• silicone molds or ice container.

How to freeze garlic arrows - three freezing methods

We cut off the upper part with the unopened bud; we won’t need it. Only fleshy stems will be frozen. Under no circumstances should they be hard or rough. I will write about when to cut them at the end of the recipe; these tips will be useful for those who decide to make a healthy preparation for the first time.

We load the prepared raw materials into the kitchen sink with cold water, rinse two or three times, wash away soil particles and other contaminants.

We first cut long shoots into several shorter pieces, then cut them into smaller pieces.

Pour into bags, roll up into a tube, letting out the air. Or put it in a ziplock bag. We put it in the freezer.

How to freeze garlic arrows with herbs

This preparation will be useful for seasoning first courses. It’s very convenient: one cube will contain parsley, dill, and garlic at once. The greens need to be washed, dried, and finely chopped. Chop the garlic arrows with a knife. After grinding, mix everything. The proportions are arbitrary, to suit your taste.

There are two options: the first is to simply pour everything into a bag and freeze. The downside of this method is that the greens instantly defrost. If you keep it warm for at least a minute, it will melt and may darken when frozen again. The second option is to put it in molds and pour a little water into each. For this purpose, you can use small silicone molds or a container for food ice. After 3-4 hours, when the water freezes well, remove from the molds and transfer to bags. It’s more convenient for me to do portion freezing; I use the second method.

How to properly freeze garlic arrows with butter

Well, it may not be a completely accurate formulation of the question, but this does not change the essence - even in such a simple matter, mistakes are possible. In winter they can no longer be corrected. So we do everything right right away. We cut the garlic arrows into pieces, not necessarily finely, but this will make it easier for the blender to grind them.

Pour into a glass, grind into a pulp, almost homogeneous. Or with small pieces. If you don’t have a blender, that’s not a problem; we grind it in a meat grinder; although the garlic mass won’t be completely homogeneous, it has its own originality. Divide into three bowls. One will contain no additives. Add butter to the second. This is where the first mistake lies - the butter does not need to be melted, it must be soft so that it can easily mix with the aromatic paste. If desired, you can add a little salt. This way we make garlic butter, and if we melt it, it will be melted with garlic. It will go well with potatoes, but it’s not for everyone on a sandwich.

Pour olive oil into the third. Just a little to soften the overt garlic flavor. Mix. I don’t use sunflower for freezing - it can behave unpredictably, while olive hardens stably at low temperatures.

Place in small molds or place each type of freezing in a separate container, jar and freeze.

After a few hours, pour the aromatic cubes into glass jars or bags, be sure to mark what is where, so that in winter you don’t mistakenly add garlic to the soup instead of spinach.

Garlic shoots have also begun to appear at the market, so if you don’t have a summer house, but see these greens on sale, buy a couple of bunches. After all, freezing garlic arrows for the winter is not at all difficult, especially when there is a detailed recipe.

When to collect garlic arrows

Cutting should be done when the stems are elongated, but while they are tender, juicy, and the skin has not become rough. Pay attention to the bud at the top - it should be closed, thin, not filled with seeds. Every year this is a different time, and it depends on the region and the weather. Once yellowness appears or the buds open, they are no longer suitable for culinary purposes.

There will soon be a separate selection of recipes with photos on what to cook from garlic arrows. Don't miss the moment and make healthy preparations for the winter!

Preface

Garlic is capable of killing bacteria within a radius of half a meter from itself, but is defenseless against its own diseases. One way to store it for a long time is to use the refrigerator.

To store any vegetable, it is necessary to create certain conditions and garlic is no exception in this regard. However, this culture comes in two main types, and in accordance with its belonging to one of them, you should choose the methods of its storage. If you do not adhere to such selectivity, then garlic, placed in conditions that are unsuitable for it, will not survive the expected period and will not only lose its presentation and aroma, but may also become no longer so useful, healing and even deteriorate altogether. Therefore, you should know that this vegetable plant can be spring or winter. From the name it is obvious: the first is planted in the spring, and the second in the autumn, with the approach of winter.

In addition to the time of planting, winter garlic differs from spring garlic in its higher yield and the fact that it is stored worse.

If the garlic is from your own plot, then there should be no doubt whether it is spring or winter. The owner already knows what and when he planted and collected, as well as what it should look like. If you buy garlic, you should know how one type differs from another in appearance. In spring, non-shooting, stemless varieties predominate, and the cloves are arranged in several rows around the center of the bulb and usually in a spiral. Winter garlic always has a stem (arrow). The teeth around it are arranged in 1 row, and they are, as a rule, larger than those of the spring one, but there are much fewer of them. If you cut a clove of winter garlic crosswise, then in its core you can clearly distinguish the rudiment of the future arrow-stem.

Depending on the type of this vegetable, you should choose one of the following main methods of storing it, which differ in humidity level and temperature conditions:

• for spring - humidity 50–70% and 16–20 o C;
• for winter crops – humidity 70–80% and 2–4 o C.

It should immediately be noted that spring garlic can be preserved in conditions suitable for winter garlic, but vice versa - not. However, it will lose its freshness, aroma and will be stored for less time. When warm, winter crops quickly begin to germinate and are also susceptible to easy damage by various diseases and drying out. If the necessary conditions are created, storage of spring garlic can last all winter until spring without significant loss of its aroma, taste and vitamin content. Winter crops will last much less time in their own storage environment than their spring counterparts in theirs. This period can be increased, however, with a noticeable loss of the aroma and taste of garlic, by freezing.

Only healthy garlic that has no signs of damage or disease is suitable for storage, especially for the winter. You should select ripe, but not overripe, strong bulbs that have strong, tight-fitting scales. Such root vegetables are guaranteed to last their intended shelf life.

Based on the above, you should only store it in the refrigerator for a long time. For a short time you can use both it and spring. These are those cases when there are extra teeth left, peeled for consumption or use in cooking or preparations for the winter. This garlic should be placed in a separate container or plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator. The same should be done with spoiled teeth, which should first be peeled and their wilted and rotten areas trimmed off. If unripe bulbs were purchased or dug up, they should also be placed in the refrigerator, but as whole, unpeeled heads.

In all of the above cases, garlic can be stored in the refrigerator without loss of aroma and taste for 6-7 days, and it will not spoil. If it has to sit there longer, it will gradually begin to rot and may even become moldy in places. Such areas will need to be trimmed periodically.

Before long-term storage in the refrigerator, ripe winter garlic must be sorted, leaving only healthy bulbs, and dried well. Then you can:

• place in small cardboard boxes or paper bags;
• treat the bulbs with vegetable oil and place in a bag made of silk or other natural fabric, but soaked in a strong saline solution and then dried;
• pour into a glass jar with a tight lid or a plastic bag, where the vegetable will need to be sprinkled with flour, onion skins or coarse salt.

After this, the container with garlic is placed in the refrigerator. During the entire shelf life of the vegetable, it must be periodically checked and, if necessary, any bulbs that are beginning to deteriorate should be removed from it, as well as the filler should be changed. These methods allow for 3-4 months in the refrigerator.

Cleaned teeth can be preserved in vinegar or wine. This garlic can be stored in the refrigerator for about 4 months or even longer. Suitable for canning:

• white distilled vinegar or white wine vinegar;
• dry white or red wine.

The peeled teeth should be poured into a glass jar, and then filled with vinegar or wine. Then close the container with a tight lid and place it in the refrigerator. You can add salt to the jars (1 tablespoon per 1 cup of liquid) and red pepper, dried herbs, such as rosemary, oregano or bay leaves. This will give the canned garlic a special piquant taste. After adding the seasonings, shake the jar to mix everything. If, while storing garlic in a container, any signs of mold formation appear on the surface of the marinade, then all its contents will have to be poured out.

Freezing is considered not the most suitable way to preserve garlic. At the same time, it somewhat loses its aroma and taste, and after defrosting it becomes mushy and spreads out. However, for winter garlic there is no other alternative to prepare it for the winter and store it until the next harvest. Freezing can also be used for spoiled spring bulbs - they also won’t last long in warm conditions. This harvesting method allows you to store garlic for 6–7 months.

Considering the form that garlic takes after thawing, it is not recommended to freeze whole heads of it, since it will then be very difficult to peel the cloves and then use them for culinary purposes. They must be dehusked before freezing. It will work out even better if you then make a garlic mass from the cloves, which you will need to freeze. Below are several options for storing garlic in the freezer.

Whole, even cloves or with damaged areas cut out are placed in plastic bags, tied loosely and placed in the freezer. Space is left in the bags because garlic expands when frozen. You can also use small plastic containers with airtight lids or wrap the cloves in foil or cling film. Another option is to cut the cloves into small plates and place them in bags or containers. You can add finely chopped parsley, dill, any other herbs and even chopped carrots to the chopped garlic. All this will need to be mixed with the clove plates, and the resulting mixture distributed into bags, which, again, should not be packed tightly.

To freeze the garlic mass, the cloves are first crushed through a meat grinder or in a blender. Moreover, there is no need to achieve a puree; small pieces of garlic should remain. Again, you can chop it together with various greens and even carrots. Then you can add just a little olive oil to the resulting mass. Then the garlic mixture is spooned out in teaspoonfuls onto a tray covered with baking paper or into ice cube trays and placed in the freezer. The resulting briquettes will be approximately the size of 2 cloves. When the garlic mixture is frozen, transfer it to bags and store in the freezer. Used in cooking or added to ready-made dishes.