Adding garlic (ingredients, health, butter, dressing)

[jaycich]

Anyone else have problems with garlic burning?

It seems no matter what I do I can't get garlic to dissolve in butter. I've tried chopping it up as fine I can. I've also tried a garlic press and it still burns. Today I decided to just crack the cloves by pressing down with the side of the knife. Hosted up the butter, dropped in the garlic, let it sizzle for a couple of minutes and removed the cloves with a spatula.

[George Chong]

You might be adding the garlic too early for your recipe.

Never Burn Garlic Again with These Tips | Bon Appetit

[Debsi]

You're supposed to add garlic to a cold pan to avoid burning it.

[saibot]

Well, garlic does not dissolve in butter or anything else; it remains a solid. It sounds like you don't want any pieces of garlic in your food? You could try mincing it or using a garlic press, then smashing the small pieces of garlic with the side of a table knife or something like that until they are basically a puree, then using the pulp.

I agree that garlic that is dark brown or burned does not taste good. Let it cook in the oil or butter for only a minute or two and keep an eye on it. If you have other things in the dish that need to be cooked or browned, like onion, put them in first and add the garlic during the last minute.

[charlygal]

Garlic doesn't dissolve. If you want it smooth and spreadable, try roasting it in the oven.

[IslandCityGirl]

Cook it on low heat. Garlic is something that I add to a sauté pan after everything else in the dish has cooked. It's almost a finishing ingredient. At the point that everything else is cooked, turn down the heat to low/med-low, add the minced garlic and cook for not more than 1 minute, before removing it from the heat. Once you get the garlic aroma coming off the pan, it's done.

If you want to confit the garlic (cook it in fat), then add your cloves to cool, melted butter or oil in a saucepan, bring the fat just barely to a simmer (medium-ish heat), then reduce it to very low and cook until the garlic is tender (could be about an hour).

If you want garlic that disappears into a dish, mince it finely, sprinkle with salt and using the side of your knife, scrape and press the garlic+salt mixture back and forth across your cutting board a few times. You end up with garlic paste. I use garlic paste often for adding to things like salad dressing or a sauce that I want to serve in a hurry. It allows the garlic flavor to permeate quickly, and prevents people from biting down on chunks of fresh garlic.

[BrandyKim]

I know garlic is good for health but I don’t love to eat garlic because its smell irritates me.

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by charlygal

Garlic doesn't dissolve. If you want it smooth and spreadable, try roasting it in the oven.

Good idea! I roast garlic fairly often when cooking and it almost gets paste-like and would certainly mix better with other ingredients.

[Threestep2]

Try low head, fan or smash your cloves, run them through your butter or oil and fish them out. Do not run them through the garbage disposal! Use garlic powder. See if you can find garlic essence. Infuse butter with garlic and store it as ghee.

[Jkgourmet]

Easier, quicker method to create garlic paste: Use a microplane (watch your fingers).