While a pack of four garlic bulbs at Aldi only cost 95p, sprouting cloves could mean throwing away the ingredient far too often before getting the chance to use it in your cooking.
Instead of physically throwing garlic (and therefore money) away in the bin, which leads to unnecessary waste, learn the best food storage hack to stop garlic from sprouting in the first place.
Chef Jerry James Stone shared the basics of good storage for a garlic bulb but then revealed a key way to preserve garlic cloves for much longer.
An intact garlic bulb will remain fresh for up to six months if stored in a dry, shaded area at room temperature, which is why garlic bulbs are best stored in a container on the kitchen counter.
However, once you crush open the garlic bulb to use a clove or two, the other garlic cloves may sprout much sooner than expected.
According to chef Jerry, an opened garlic bulb will only last for a couple of weeks before it starts sprouting unsightly legs for all to see.
The chef’s top storage hack for garlic involves putting peeled garlic cloves in a small jar of vinegar that then should be stored inside of the fridge.
Chef Jerry said this clever storage hack ensures that the garlic stays fresh for up to “four months”, which is much longer than it otherwise would if left in a kitchen cupboard.
Do note that the garlic clove may change colour and turn blue or purple while stored in vinegar, but the chef Jerry assured it’s “still completely safe to eat”.
Not only will the garlic cloves still be safe to eat, but the colour change will not affect the taste at all so you can continue to make tasty meals.
Once the four-month date is up, any remaining garlic cloves in the vinegar should be chucked away and not eaten.
However, the vinegar that has been infused with olive oil is still edible and makes a great salad dressing. “Vinegar lasts forever,” said Jerry.
While some people might be tempted to store garlic cloves in olive oil, Jerry strongly advised against this, urging them to “never do that”.
Chef Jerry said: “I won’t go into the specifics, but because of the low acidity in garlic and how much olive oil removes oxygen from anything that is around it, it just creates an opportunity for botulism.”
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) verified that botulism is “a rare but serious illness caused by a toxin that attacks the body’s nerves”.
“And that is the last thing that you want,” added Jerry, who is keen on sharing safe storage hacks, like his garlic clove storage hack in vinegar.
“It’s really important that you use vinegar,” Jerry emphasised in terms of storing garlic cloves, which is safe and contains the garlic flavour.
