4 Ways to Peel Garlic (And the One Method That Works Best)

Garlic is the ultimate wonder food. Not only does it ward off vampires, it makes your savory dishes Michelin-star level. However, peeling garlic can be a tedious pain if you’re doing it the wrong way. Most people tend to dig into the garlic skin, leaving your fingers feeling sticky and, well, “garlicky.” You could buy cloves that are pre-peeled, but it just doesn’t compare to cooking with just-peeled garlic.Fortunately, there are several methods you can try to make the process of peeling garlic much easier. We’ve got four that work pretty well, including one that is the most effective.

Shake and Peel in a Jar

What you need: A mason jar that can be tightly sealed.

How to do it: Put the garlic into the mason jar, seal it, and give it a good shaking. Remove the garlic and put it on a clean surface. Separate the cloves from the skin.

Our impressions: Well, this is Martha Stewart’s favorite hack, so who are we to argue? Also, if you’ve got a mason jar laying around not making any contribution, this method presents a golden opportunity to make that mason jar shine! Issues do arise if you’re only in need of a clove or two since there just isn’t enough friction in the jar to help the peels come off the limited number of cloves. So really, it’s only worth your time if your dish requires lots of cloves. Beyond that, you also have to do a bit of pre-peeling to remove the outer layers of the garlic, and lots and lots of vigorous shaking to loosen the skins. We get exhausted just trying to relive these memories! Even with all that effort, there is still the need to separate some of the garlic from the skin after it’s removed from the jar. This method is way too complicated and should only be done if your goal is to build your biceps.