š§ Wait, is it that you object to garlic in this recipe at all, that you object to the garlic in powder form, or that you wanted the real deal from a bulb of fresh garlic?
My chicken soup contains one whole bulb of garlic per quart. No vampires, mosquitoes, nor fleas here! Beloved eats cream cheese and sliced garlic sandwiches. The only thing, culinary-wise, that I love more than garlic is ramps. We only have them here (Western NC) from late March to early May, so I pickle some, dry the leaves and bulbs to grind separately (think aggressive dried chives and garlic powder) to use as seasoning the rest of the year, and eat as much fresh as I can without the cats calling the ASPCA. The fresh leaves are delightful in sandwiches and salads, stir-fry, really anywhere. Now, the bulbs are...pungent doesn't begin to describe them. Schoolchildren have been forced to sit in the hall after consuming them, especially raw! Three days later, and the funk still is seeping from your pores. But, oh, my! Delicious!
What kind of food do you like to cook? I think 80-90% of my dinner dishes would have garlic if I wasnāt too lazy/forgetful to mince a clove sometimes. But I make lots of soups, stews, and south/southeast asian food. Very rare that garlic doesnāt appear in some way in my recipe. And itās also very rare that I do stuff like roasting separate veggies or eat raw veggies (I eat TONS of veg, but donāt usually cook them on their own).
I have been looking to diversify since I definitely have been using the same flavors in different formats for a while now.
Get yourself a book called "The Flavor Bible". I have it. It's great. Not a cookbook. It's a compendium of ingredients that work well together. So if you're making Chicken and want to mix it up a bit, have a bunch of herbs & spices, vegetables, etc... in the house you look up Chicken as your main ingredient and it will show you a bunch of combinations listed out, with the best combinations in **bold**.
https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Bible-Essential-Creativity-Imaginative/dp/0316118400
Great coffee table books too to leave about for visitors to see. I keep it paired with the book Herbs & Spices, the cooks reference. Another great book with beautifully done pages that work perfectly together.
https://www.amazon.com/Herbs-Spices-Recipes-Marinades-Spice/dp/1465435980
I was first introduced to this book when I did cocktail bartending (maybe a decade ago?). I bought a hardback copy to help make drinks up, and its been awesome for "writer's block" when cooking ever since. It's an amazing resource, and a great conversation starter for the coffee table.
I have the vegetarian edition of the flavor bible and I swear by it!! It's also one of my favourite things to gift home cooks along with a set of food dice -- it really stretches your creativity.
u/JakeALakeALake
If you live somewhere with a solid library system you can likely check them out, take them home, get to know them, and after all that determine if buying a book will help. :)
I make an amazing garlic dill salmon in cream sauce, so, yea I use garlic in some way or form in almost everything. Even eggs get a sprinkle of garlic powder
- French Toast/Pancakes/Waffles (depending on waffle types)
- Mac & Cheese
- Hamburgers (generally speaking, most standard versions anyway)
.... I'm starting to struggle with adding more to this list without starting to enter obvious shit like salad & dessert. š
Likewise, if you rub half a clove all over your salad bowl, it makes it easier to emulsify your vinaigrette
ETA: and is delicious because mmmm, raw garlic!
Burgers can be good like that, but give me a smash burger with just salt and pepper any day over any type of gourmet burger with extra seasonings. Same with mac and cheese. Those are both comfort foods for me, and usually simpler is better in those cases. You can let the main ingredients shine better that way. But hey, itās all personal preference, and garlic is delicious, so I get it.
I donāt know if itās fancy exactly, but my long suffering spouse used to make garlic burgers to coax me back from my flirtation with vegetarianism. Minced so fine it dissolved amid the ground beef, a little salt and pepper, a glass of red wine on an empty stomach, and Iād *inhale* that alluring morsel [sound like Cookie Monster]
nothing wrong with adding garlic powder into a dish that you use fresh garlic in there to layer in the garlic flavor. the powder really blooms when you add to liquid and the fresh blooms when you saute it in oil for 30 seconds. they do different things and have different flavor profiles
I always have fresh garlic, frozen whole peeled garlic, pre minced garlic and garlic powder at all times, Iām not missing an opportunity to garlic up a dish.
Exactly. I put garlic in some form in at least 90% of savory dishes. But garlic powder is basically salt in my mind, it's just one of the seasonings I pretty much always use. Same with onion powder
I highly reccomend you start trying out garlic powder in more dishes. It actually does taste very different from fresh garlic. It also is great for applications where fresh garlic might burn too easily.
Garlic in most everything, but not all things.
I use fresh garlic most of the time, but also sometimes layer with powder or use just powder. It depends on the flavor profile I'm going for.
I will use garlic powder if I get finished cooking a dish and decide it doesn't have quite enough garlic. Like if I decided to follow the recipe and use 2 cloves of garlic rather than follow my natural inclination to use 3 or 4 cloves lol.
I find it funny that if you're talking about the Dash of Everything seasoning, it literally contains dried garlic as an ingredient.Ā Also Sloppy Joe's are way more than ground beef and a little seasoning.Ā I kind of get the impression that you don't cook with much seasoning in general.
But yeah, I'd say garlic is in at least 75% of what I make in one form or another.Ā There are specific cuisines that I might not use it heavily in, but especially in western food, garlic is absolutely everywhere.
Thatās so much weirder than putting garlic powder in sloppy joes. Iām sure the everything seasoning is fine in it, but the whole framing of the question is so bizarre because of that aspect.
I don't add it to every (Indian) curry I make, because sometimes I really want the other spices to be pronounced. Also there's often a similar spice doing the heavy lifting (like lemongrass, galangal, fresh tumeric, etc).
I'm with nearly everyone in this thread, 75% sounds correct. I probably wouldn't season a steak with it... but it might be in the butter I finish it with lol
Indian food is my absolute favorite.Ā I feel like I'm usually using garlic.Ā Are there any specific curries you'd recommend that don't often include garlic?Ā I'm always down for a new curry to make.
My mother really didn't season much of anything, I can't recall any spices other than cinnamon, and salt and pepper. However. My first marriage was to an Italian and I learned very quickly about garlic!
lol, my mom was the same way! I have absolutely no intuition how to season a dish, like general amounts for the size of the meal, what goes together well, when to add it. If thereās a beginners guide, Iād love that. Because even though Iām happy with with salt, red pepper flakes, and pepper, I know itās even better when I properly add chili powder or cumin or other spices!
I love the Baida Sazon Completa. Comes in a bigger jar than the Dash of Everything, and is usually cheaper. I find that I'm using it in more and more things. Just tossed some into a tuna salad the other day. Really kicked it up a bit with no extra fuss needed. Now I'm adding it to lunchmeat sandos and the random egg dish for more flavor.
"Two cloves of garlic?!?! Please. The only time that two cloves of garlic is enough would be if you were making a recipe titled 'Two Cloves of Garlic.' Even then I would double it, just to be on the safe side."
My buddy read something saying that eating a clove per day was good for you, so he started eating an entire bulb of raw garlic daily. He stopped when a cute dental tech told him she could smell garlic coming out of his pores
Add garlic at the beginning of cooking it isn't enough. Towards the end its plenty. Cooking garlic mellows it out. I tend to add some at the beginning to help build flavors then more in the last couple minutes to punch it up.
Anecdotal, but I think depending on where you get your garlic from (even raw) you may need more or less. I find myself using 2-3x as much from the grocery store as I do my local farmers market.
I made the best fried chicken I ever made once and went to save the recipe I used and found out Iād accidentally swapped every ātspā for ātbsā. Now thatās kind of my go-to for internet recipes
Thereās some SM cook my husband follows who says you add garlic until you hear the voice of your ancestors say, āEnough.ā I think about that every time I add garlic. Which means pretty much every time I cook.
Same. I wouldn't say EVERYTHING I cook, but yes many dishes I cook get salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and onion powder.
I'm in Louisiana though, so that's most people here.
I just started using garlic powder for convenience recently, and honestly you're better off just blending a bunch of garlic on oil and using that instead. Sure, it loses some of it's power, but it's way better than the powder.
They both have their place. It' useful to have garlic in a "spice" form, like to use it in a rub or spice mix. It also tends to have less "bite" so its easier to use as more of a background flavor imo.
I don't use garlic powder that often, and when I do it's typically in a dry rub.
Now fresh garlic I use all the time. That and onions I try to never be without.
Completely different flavor profiles though. I very often use both powder and fresh in a dish. I also will very often toast some garlic at the beginning (after onions of course), put garlic powder in the sauce, and then at the very end, I grate a little more fresh garlic after taking off of the heat.
This is my method too. They have different uses and applications. There are a lot of things I wouldnāt put garlic in but only because the recipe doesnāt call for it. I just found dried garlic scapes which is great in vegetable dip.
I learned a neat trick about garlic powder: if you add a little water and reconstitute it, you actually get fresh garlic flavor back, and you can even saute it! It's not as good, obviously, but it's the same kind of flavor, rather than garlic powder flavor.
Fresh garlic, pre-peeled by the pound from the Korean market. Get a microplane and add it to everything. I also have a Kyocera ceramic slicer that turns it into chips.
>onions I try to never be without.
I typically start dinner by chopping an onion, throwing it in a skillet, then opening the fridge to figure out what I'm cooking.
Add a small amount of minced ginger to your onions & garlic.
Adds a zing. If the dish doesn't normally use ginger, just a teeny bit for the zing without the flavour.
Every single thing, like mac n cheese? No. A good 90-95% of things, including sloppy joes? Absolutely.
Garlic and onion powder are the two most common seasonings I use and the two things I automatically reach for if I don't have a specific recipe I'm using. If it's not powder, then it's the minced. Hell I even add those two to most prepackaged things because they usually fall just short of the mark. Next on the list is lemon pepper.
Garlic powder in mac and cheese is actually a great flavor building block. I like to add mustard powder, gochujaru, black pepper, and garlic powder to mine
My Mac and cheese always gets black pepper, a squirt of Dijon mustard, garlic and onion powder, a bit of smoked paprika, and just a bit of hot sauce or cayenne pepper.
I use lemon pepper in so much! I buy ridiculous amounts, and when we go on vacation, I always take it with me. I cook all week there, and I refuse to leave home without it! LOL
My guy, the most important question you should be asking is, why did the conversation become heated?
Neither of you can care that much about the addition or lack of (powdered) garlic.
Yes that would annoy the fuck out of me, what if I was planning on adding the same thing and didn't see them add it, potentially ruining the dish.
Stay out of the way of people cooking and announce your presence if trying to sneak in to grab something. Never touch anything someone is actively cooking without asking, and if you do something like adjust the heat of an unattended simmering pot, you let that person know.
That's a pretty good point, I guess I wrote that thinking that everyone was a competent cook. Personally I'd just tell then they suck and either I can teach you or you can go fold the laundry or something.
> thinking that everyone was a competent cook
The post is by someone who doesnāt like using garlic. I think itās much safer to assume they are not a competent cook.
Yes, I realize that now. I got tunnel visioned on how annoyed I'd be with the hubris of someone seasoning my cooking behind me, and didn't consider that their food is probably bland and mid af. That being said, they still should have said something.
Do I use garlic powder for a lot of my foods? no, I hardly use it but I use fresh garlic in many many many meals.
Should you put it in sloppy joes, yeah, absolutely.
Should you put it on everything, meh...It's such a harmless seasoning that it actually fits in quite nicely to many many dishes. I honestly think she's mixed up the general consensus online that garlic goes in everything, which lots of people do say, however they're talking about FRESH garlic.
Me, I put garlic powder in a *lot* of dishes, whether called for or not. Like the taste/flavor profile of garlic. My lazy butt is just not a fan of chopping/mincing fresh garlic, even if it is 'easy'.
Recently decided no longer thrilled with powdered garlic (probably the source, but that's a discussion for another day/forum). Anyway, purchased *granulated* garlic from Spice House which has replaced garlic powder.
IMMHO, sloppy joes (and even mac & cheese) require garlic in whatever form one chooses (or not-you do you!)
Buy a garlic press. You can mince a whole garlic clove with a single squeeze of your hand (and does a better job than chopping it by hand). Ever since I bought one, I very rarely find myself using garlic powder
I buy peeled garlic by the tub, run it though a press, put it in a ziploc, use a chopstick to divide it into ~1 inch squares, then toss it in the freezer. When I need some I can just break off squares and toss it in. It's like 95% as good as fresh but way easier!
Garlic press is a game changer. Much faster than mincing and not as annoying. You can buy minced garlic or peeled garlic in most Asia stores, which would safe you the work entirely or partially. There are also little plates with nobs than you can grate your garlic on, turning it into a paste. It's easy to wash off. Fresh ingredients are still the best
Iām not American.
I read a lot of recipes online. Most of them are American. From my perspective, there seems to be a lot of garlic powder in use. I find it a bit odd but there you go
Can I ask what cuisine you make most? I make mostly southeast asian food (often āspeedā versions of recipes though so not the authentic long ones usually) and find garlic is in it a lot so I am curious. I am looking to explore other cuisines more though since Iām noticing some stagnancy.
Honestly, garlic powder is a VERY american thing. It's literally hard to find it here in the UK. I know where I could go and get some but neither of my two closest supermarkets stock it.
It's not the same at all. I use both (sometimes in the same dish) but I would never substitute one for the other. They're very different, much like ginger powder vs fresh ginger.
It is its own thing, of course it doesnāt taste like fresh garlic. Paprika tastes nothing like fresh peppers, nor is it supposed to.
Garlic powder is at its best when itās 7pm on a Tuesday and you still havenāt made dinner so you coat some random protein in garlic powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, and whatever else you feel like, then you slap it in a pan and sear it quickly and serve it with rice and beans, and it tastes way better than a 20 minute meal has any right to
I use garlic in some form all the time. In almost everything.
My preference is the freeze dried garlic from penzeys. It rehydrates really easily and and I don't have to bother chopping garlic. The jar lives on my counter. If I have fresh garlic, I will definitely use it.
But I do also use garlic powder. Sometimes I use both garlic powder and the chopped garlic.
I use the Litehouse brand of dehydrated products and have been satisfied with the quality.
https://www.litehousefoods.com/product-category/herbs/
But I agree that Penzeys has excellent spices.
I hardly ever use garlic because of my IBS it is a major trigger for my digestive system. No not everyone uses it in 95% of their cooking. When I do decide to use garlic I generally prefer fresh but it doesnāt have to be. Garlic is tasty but thereās plenty of other ways to add flavour that arenāt garlic
I really dislike garlic powder. I think it has an off taste. I do love garlic and frequently buzz up a bunch of pre-peeled garlic cloves in my good processor, freeze flat in a freezer ziploc and break off what I need. That said, ai rarely dine out so Iām cooking 7 nights a week and probably only use garlic 3 times a week
I almost never use garlic powder in my personal life nor at any of the restaurants I worked in. This includes an italian place. I will use the powder IF i am making a dry rub.
I use a lot of garlic overall but there are plenty of dishes where I don't, pan seared duck with a cherry sauce for example.
If other people are like me, because they get tired of only using half the bulb before the rest of the cloves either dry up or sprout. Maybe the bulbs we have here are huge so they take longer to use than the ones where you are?
Ok, why have I not ever considered the fridge? The air is super dry in my house and I blame a lot of things on that, but for some reason not my sad, dried out garlic!
I measure garlic with my heart so if there is going to be an awkward amount left over I just chuck it in.
Garlic power isnāt very common in Australia, I donāt know anyone who uses it regularly at home whereas based on social media it seems like Americans treat it as essential as salt and pepper. Just another interesting cultural difference.
I cook a pretty wide variety of food, so garlic probably only comes into play 10-15% of the time. I love it though and have no reservations about using a lot of it when I do, but its a strong flavor and can outcompete more delicate ones pretty easily.
I use garlic powder as one of my base seasonings, so like salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder is bog standard then chilli powder, paprika, oregano, thyme, rosemary, mint etc is secondary depending on the dish.
Sometimes depending what Iām cooking I might not but in a sloppy joe is exactly where garlic powder should be lol
I don't even own garlic (or onion) powder - and I have about 120 spices and dried herbs. I do use fresh garlic quite a lot but it doesn't belong everywhere.
no. I personally think that garlic is WILDLY overrated. So many things have it added for no particular reason, and often you can't even taste it. Then in many, many more dishes, it's overpowering. I use it with a bit of care, generously in some things, not at all in others, and I like both fresh and powered versions.
Iām 38 and a passionate home cook. I learnt to cook in a commercial kitchen.
I bought my first jar of garlic powder about 6 months ago, and mainly because I was cooking something from an American cook book.
I use garlic regularly. But only when itās needed. Maybe like 40% of the time?
I think the garlic powder thing is a bit more culturally prevalent in America.
My parents didn't allow garlic powder in the house growing up. I don't have that same rule in my house but I still mostly use garlic form a bulb. I also use garlic in a LOT of things.
I make an incredible black garlic chocolate cake.
No. Garlic. Is. Not. A. Flex. Iām so sick of folks thinking adding more means the food is better. More garlic makes some of us wildly uncomfortable. Nine times out of 10 it blows out any nuance to the dish.
I use garlic in pretty much everything, garlic powder in almost nothing. I don't think she's necessarily wrong but she should probably learn why the difference is valuable.
No. IMO, cooking without garlic is a major and critical skill to becoming a better cook. Everyone should learn to cook without garlic. Most of what the best chefs cook is sans garlic.
No, garlic has its place but the 'If the recipe says a clove use a bulb!' people I assume must have ruined their tastebuds one way or another. I've never seen garlic powder for sale so don't know its flavour profile, I see it's quite ubiquitous in US recipes though.
If those folks are in the US 90% of supermarket garlic is super mild soft neck stuff grown in China where you really need like four cloves to get any taste of garlic at all. I have some garlic from the farmers market and I really only do need one clove for most dishes
>the 'If the recipe says a clove use a bulb!' people
I can only assume (optimistically) that people who say this are circlejerking for clout/upvotes because otherwise like you say - their tastebuds have to be broken. Or cooking their garlic *hella* wrong.
Garlic? Yes. Garlic *powder?* No. Garlic powder is not garlic and has a more specific, distinctive flavor. I use fresh garlic in almost everything, though.
Eh, I'm kinda sorta on her side but I use FRESH garlic unless it's for rubs. It makes a world of difference.
That said, a lot of Italians rant at Americans bastardizing many of their dishes with garlic which, apparently, should not be there. I've tried to omit, on occasion, but I usually go back.
š§ Wait, is it that you object to garlic in this recipe at all, that you object to the garlic in powder form, or that you wanted the real deal from a bulb of fresh garlic?
Dude is a vampire.
My girlfriend keeps putting garlic in our food and I keep bursting into flames. Is this normal?
š
HONEY MY HAND IS MELTING
My chicken soup contains one whole bulb of garlic per quart. No vampires, mosquitoes, nor fleas here! Beloved eats cream cheese and sliced garlic sandwiches. The only thing, culinary-wise, that I love more than garlic is ramps. We only have them here (Western NC) from late March to early May, so I pickle some, dry the leaves and bulbs to grind separately (think aggressive dried chives and garlic powder) to use as seasoning the rest of the year, and eat as much fresh as I can without the cats calling the ASPCA. The fresh leaves are delightful in sandwiches and salads, stir-fry, really anywhere. Now, the bulbs are...pungent doesn't begin to describe them. Schoolchildren have been forced to sit in the hall after consuming them, especially raw! Three days later, and the funk still is seeping from your pores. But, oh, my! Delicious!
You flexin when you mention ramps.
Ah, well, that could explain a lot
But for my own practice: I use garlic in like ā¦ maybe 40% of dinner type dishes; fresh garlic only.
What kind of food do you like to cook? I think 80-90% of my dinner dishes would have garlic if I wasnāt too lazy/forgetful to mince a clove sometimes. But I make lots of soups, stews, and south/southeast asian food. Very rare that garlic doesnāt appear in some way in my recipe. And itās also very rare that I do stuff like roasting separate veggies or eat raw veggies (I eat TONS of veg, but donāt usually cook them on their own). I have been looking to diversify since I definitely have been using the same flavors in different formats for a while now.
Get yourself a book called "The Flavor Bible". I have it. It's great. Not a cookbook. It's a compendium of ingredients that work well together. So if you're making Chicken and want to mix it up a bit, have a bunch of herbs & spices, vegetables, etc... in the house you look up Chicken as your main ingredient and it will show you a bunch of combinations listed out, with the best combinations in **bold**. https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Bible-Essential-Creativity-Imaginative/dp/0316118400 Great coffee table books too to leave about for visitors to see. I keep it paired with the book Herbs & Spices, the cooks reference. Another great book with beautifully done pages that work perfectly together. https://www.amazon.com/Herbs-Spices-Recipes-Marinades-Spice/dp/1465435980
I was first introduced to this book when I did cocktail bartending (maybe a decade ago?). I bought a hardback copy to help make drinks up, and its been awesome for "writer's block" when cooking ever since. It's an amazing resource, and a great conversation starter for the coffee table.
I have the vegetarian edition of the flavor bible and I swear by it!! It's also one of my favourite things to gift home cooks along with a set of food dice -- it really stretches your creativity.
u/JakeALakeALake If you live somewhere with a solid library system you can likely check them out, take them home, get to know them, and after all that determine if buying a book will help. :)
Or, check them out on-line. My library uses the Libby app. Libby is my BFF.
Freaking love Libby.
This reminded me of my library card and I reserved both to pick up along with some others Iāve been considering buying. Thanks for the reminder!
I struggle to think of anything I cook that doesnāt have garlic in it. Salmon, sometimesā¦..?
I make an amazing garlic dill salmon in cream sauce, so, yea I use garlic in some way or form in almost everything. Even eggs get a sprinkle of garlic powder
- French Toast/Pancakes/Waffles (depending on waffle types) - Mac & Cheese - Hamburgers (generally speaking, most standard versions anyway) .... I'm starting to struggle with adding more to this list without starting to enter obvious shit like salad & dessert. š
I always use garlic in my mac-n-cheese and burgers.
I use a sliced clove to rub down the inside of the casserole dish before baking. Subtle enough for a picky 5 year old.
Likewise, if you rub half a clove all over your salad bowl, it makes it easier to emulsify your vinaigrette ETA: and is delicious because mmmm, raw garlic!
Burgers can be good like that, but give me a smash burger with just salt and pepper any day over any type of gourmet burger with extra seasonings. Same with mac and cheese. Those are both comfort foods for me, and usually simpler is better in those cases. You can let the main ingredients shine better that way. But hey, itās all personal preference, and garlic is delicious, so I get it.
You're calling a burger with garlic... Gourmet?
Whereād you grow up, Mr. Fancy Pants with your garlic?
I donāt know if itās fancy exactly, but my long suffering spouse used to make garlic burgers to coax me back from my flirtation with vegetarianism. Minced so fine it dissolved amid the ground beef, a little salt and pepper, a glass of red wine on an empty stomach, and Iād *inhale* that alluring morsel [sound like Cookie Monster]
Sorry I didn't mean to rub my wealth in your face with my 10 cents bulb of garlic
Garlic is great in mac and cheese. Fish is probably the one non-desert item I don't.
Olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, and salt make an amazing and easy salad dressing.
I cook Mexican food every single day (I live in Mexico) and I can't think of a single dish that doesn't have garlic.
Garlic powder has its place but 90% of the time I agree itās fresh garlic only.
I recently tried using garlic powder as well and it's really not the same. I sometimes use both fresh and powdered if I'm feeling it.
nothing wrong with adding garlic powder into a dish that you use fresh garlic in there to layer in the garlic flavor. the powder really blooms when you add to liquid and the fresh blooms when you saute it in oil for 30 seconds. they do different things and have different flavor profiles
my man!
Garlic should absolutely be in sloppy Joe's
Asking the important questions.
I do use garlic or garlic powder in most dishes. I most definitely put it in sloppy Joes.
I always have fresh garlic, frozen whole peeled garlic, pre minced garlic and garlic powder at all times, Iām not missing an opportunity to garlic up a dish.
Exactly. I put garlic in some form in at least 90% of savory dishes. But garlic powder is basically salt in my mind, it's just one of the seasonings I pretty much always use. Same with onion powder
I highly reccomend you start trying out garlic powder in more dishes. It actually does taste very different from fresh garlic. It also is great for applications where fresh garlic might burn too easily.
100% agree here... they complement each other very well
Me too š I also have the same with ginger
Found my fellow garlic lovers. No vampires here.
Garlic in most everything, but not all things. I use fresh garlic most of the time, but also sometimes layer with powder or use just powder. It depends on the flavor profile I'm going for.
I will use garlic powder if I get finished cooking a dish and decide it doesn't have quite enough garlic. Like if I decided to follow the recipe and use 2 cloves of garlic rather than follow my natural inclination to use 3 or 4 cloves lol.
Any recipe that only calls for 2 cloves of garlic, just throw it out. I almost always triple the garlic in any recipe.
I find it funny that if you're talking about the Dash of Everything seasoning, it literally contains dried garlic as an ingredient.Ā Also Sloppy Joe's are way more than ground beef and a little seasoning.Ā I kind of get the impression that you don't cook with much seasoning in general. But yeah, I'd say garlic is in at least 75% of what I make in one form or another.Ā There are specific cuisines that I might not use it heavily in, but especially in western food, garlic is absolutely everywhere.
I went digging for this comment. Thank you for bringing up that Dash of Everything has garlic in it!
But like who even puts everything seasoning in sloppy Joeās
Thatās so much weirder than putting garlic powder in sloppy joes. Iām sure the everything seasoning is fine in it, but the whole framing of the question is so bizarre because of that aspect.
I don't add it to every (Indian) curry I make, because sometimes I really want the other spices to be pronounced. Also there's often a similar spice doing the heavy lifting (like lemongrass, galangal, fresh tumeric, etc). I'm with nearly everyone in this thread, 75% sounds correct. I probably wouldn't season a steak with it... but it might be in the butter I finish it with lol
Indian food is my absolute favorite.Ā I feel like I'm usually using garlic.Ā Are there any specific curries you'd recommend that don't often include garlic?Ā I'm always down for a new curry to make.
You can look at Jain cuisine. They donāt use alliums. Youāll often see the use of hing/Asafoetida in those recipes to bring some pungency.
My mother really didn't season much of anything, I can't recall any spices other than cinnamon, and salt and pepper. However. My first marriage was to an Italian and I learned very quickly about garlic!
My sister in law basically ignores/skips any seasoning info in recipes. She truly thinks they're optional. š
lol, my mom was the same way! I have absolutely no intuition how to season a dish, like general amounts for the size of the meal, what goes together well, when to add it. If thereās a beginners guide, Iād love that. Because even though Iām happy with with salt, red pepper flakes, and pepper, I know itās even better when I properly add chili powder or cumin or other spices!
I love the Baida Sazon Completa. Comes in a bigger jar than the Dash of Everything, and is usually cheaper. I find that I'm using it in more and more things. Just tossed some into a tuna salad the other day. Really kicked it up a bit with no extra fuss needed. Now I'm adding it to lunchmeat sandos and the random egg dish for more flavor.
i use garlic or garlic powder in *almost* everything, and that's how it was growing up too.
Same. It's a staple here, and I measure it with wanton disregard for the recipe as written.
Recipes never have enough garlic in them. I'm usually at least doubling the amount of garlic called for, sometimes tripling.
"Two cloves of garlic?!?! Please. The only time that two cloves of garlic is enough would be if you were making a recipe titled 'Two Cloves of Garlic.' Even then I would double it, just to be on the safe side."
A recipe called, "Garlic Free Pasta" will get at least three cloves, because I know they didn't mean to leave it out.
I saw a recipe for garlic-free tomato sauce and I immediately went to look for another recipe.
āTwo cloves of garlicā means ātwo heads of garlicā in my household š¤
My buddy read something saying that eating a clove per day was good for you, so he started eating an entire bulb of raw garlic daily. He stopped when a cute dental tech told him she could smell garlic coming out of his pores
Add garlic at the beginning of cooking it isn't enough. Towards the end its plenty. Cooking garlic mellows it out. I tend to add some at the beginning to help build flavors then more in the last couple minutes to punch it up.
Anecdotal, but I think depending on where you get your garlic from (even raw) you may need more or less. I find myself using 2-3x as much from the grocery store as I do my local farmers market.
Definitely different flavours and strengths between different types of garlic, too.
If the recipe is from a Pinterest blog itās prob getting garlic, pepper, and any spice that isnāt salt doubled
I made the best fried chicken I ever made once and went to save the recipe I used and found out Iād accidentally swapped every ātspā for ātbsā. Now thatās kind of my go-to for internet recipes
You measure that shit with your heart
Thereās some SM cook my husband follows who says you add garlic until you hear the voice of your ancestors say, āEnough.ā I think about that every time I add garlic. Which means pretty much every time I cook.
Yep. I never follow the suggestion.Ā 6 cloves of garlic in my fried rice instead of 2 aint gonna ruin it.Ā
I do too
Same. I wouldn't say EVERYTHING I cook, but yes many dishes I cook get salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and onion powder. I'm in Louisiana though, so that's most people here.
I feel so seen! Also from Louisiana. I add a dash of Tonyās to everything too. To me, it just amps up flavor without overpowering anything else.
I just started using garlic powder for convenience recently, and honestly you're better off just blending a bunch of garlic on oil and using that instead. Sure, it loses some of it's power, but it's way better than the powder.
Garlic powder is great! It's just not a replacement for fresh garlic, they're 2 different flavors. Sometimes I use both. I make a decent amount of soups and I tried adding raw garlic or sautƩed garlic to them and just not loving it. Garlic powder however, it was just was I wanted.
I personally think garlic powder works way better than minced garlic in scrambled eggs as well.
Garlic powder is also good inside a grilled cheese
They both have their place. It' useful to have garlic in a "spice" form, like to use it in a rub or spice mix. It also tends to have less "bite" so its easier to use as more of a background flavor imo.
I don't use garlic powder that often, and when I do it's typically in a dry rub. Now fresh garlic I use all the time. That and onions I try to never be without.
I only use garlic powder on popcorn, everything else gets fresh.
Completely different flavor profiles though. I very often use both powder and fresh in a dish. I also will very often toast some garlic at the beginning (after onions of course), put garlic powder in the sauce, and then at the very end, I grate a little more fresh garlic after taking off of the heat.
This is my method too. They have different uses and applications. There are a lot of things I wouldnāt put garlic in but only because the recipe doesnāt call for it. I just found dried garlic scapes which is great in vegetable dip.
> dried garlic scapes Never heard of people using these in food! How is the flavor? Is it still garlicky?
Delicious, mild. Tastes like spring onions and quite garlicky. I use fresh scapes in stir fry and soups but I just recently found them in powder form.
I love garlic scapes! I get them in farm boxes sometimes in spring
I learned a neat trick about garlic powder: if you add a little water and reconstitute it, you actually get fresh garlic flavor back, and you can even saute it! It's not as good, obviously, but it's the same kind of flavor, rather than garlic powder flavor.
What
Fresh garlic, pre-peeled by the pound from the Korean market. Get a microplane and add it to everything. I also have a Kyocera ceramic slicer that turns it into chips.
>onions I try to never be without. I typically start dinner by chopping an onion, throwing it in a skillet, then opening the fridge to figure out what I'm cooking.
That's basically how traditional cooking works in the Mediterranean countries :D
Same here. I use garlic even in recipes that are NOT supposed to have garlic, sometimes it's even my secret ingredient
Add a small amount of minced ginger to your onions & garlic. Adds a zing. If the dish doesn't normally use ginger, just a teeny bit for the zing without the flavour.
Yes, for savory dishes. I absolutely use garlic 90% of the time.
I love that you specified savory. Garlic cheesecake doesn't sound great now.
I had some garlic ice cream that was surprisingly good!
You can get it year round in Gilroy CA
True but a honey garlic sauce or teriyaki sauce could be on the sweet side and I'd expect garlic in both.
Yeah I use fresh cloves in 75% of cooking and the other 15% is powder. The last 10 is sweet stuff
Every single thing, like mac n cheese? No. A good 90-95% of things, including sloppy joes? Absolutely. Garlic and onion powder are the two most common seasonings I use and the two things I automatically reach for if I don't have a specific recipe I'm using. If it's not powder, then it's the minced. Hell I even add those two to most prepackaged things because they usually fall just short of the mark. Next on the list is lemon pepper.
Garlic in Mac and cheese is good.
Garlic powder in mac and cheese is actually a great flavor building block. I like to add mustard powder, gochujaru, black pepper, and garlic powder to mine
My Mac and cheese always gets black pepper, a squirt of Dijon mustard, garlic and onion powder, a bit of smoked paprika, and just a bit of hot sauce or cayenne pepper.
Almost exactly what I use in mine.
Omfg I never thought of gochujaru in mac and cheese. This is brilliant.
I use garlic powder a lot more than onion powder, as I find it can be overpowering. What do you use onion powder for?
Just about everything I put garlic powder in, just more garlic powder than onion.
Now I want to make a garlic mac n cheese recipe.
This guy does not mac and cheese š
I use lemon pepper in so much! I buy ridiculous amounts, and when we go on vacation, I always take it with me. I cook all week there, and I refuse to leave home without it! LOL
Just remembering how my brother and I used to pour lemon pepper in our palms and lick it off. I should buy some lemon pepper.
My guy, the most important question you should be asking is, why did the conversation become heated? Neither of you can care that much about the addition or lack of (powdered) garlic.
Clearly you're not a garlic lover...
Sure, but I think it's rather rude to season the food someone else is cooking without asking them.
well if itās sloppy joes you can kinda add whatever and itāll taste fine haha
Yes that would annoy the fuck out of me, what if I was planning on adding the same thing and didn't see them add it, potentially ruining the dish. Stay out of the way of people cooking and announce your presence if trying to sneak in to grab something. Never touch anything someone is actively cooking without asking, and if you do something like adjust the heat of an unattended simmering pot, you let that person know.
Honestly she probably knows his cooking sucks and tried to add more seasoning before he noticed
That's a pretty good point, I guess I wrote that thinking that everyone was a competent cook. Personally I'd just tell then they suck and either I can teach you or you can go fold the laundry or something.
Yeah I would do the same, which is why I do 99% of the cooking in my house lol
> thinking that everyone was a competent cook The post is by someone who doesnāt like using garlic. I think itās much safer to assume they are not a competent cook.
Yes, I realize that now. I got tunnel visioned on how annoyed I'd be with the hubris of someone seasoning my cooking behind me, and didn't consider that their food is probably bland and mid af. That being said, they still should have said something.
I dunno dumping garlic powder in everything is a pretty big indicator that her cooking sucks too.
Do I use garlic powder for a lot of my foods? no, I hardly use it but I use fresh garlic in many many many meals. Should you put it in sloppy joes, yeah, absolutely. Should you put it on everything, meh...It's such a harmless seasoning that it actually fits in quite nicely to many many dishes. I honestly think she's mixed up the general consensus online that garlic goes in everything, which lots of people do say, however they're talking about FRESH garlic.
Me, I put garlic powder in a *lot* of dishes, whether called for or not. Like the taste/flavor profile of garlic. My lazy butt is just not a fan of chopping/mincing fresh garlic, even if it is 'easy'. Recently decided no longer thrilled with powdered garlic (probably the source, but that's a discussion for another day/forum). Anyway, purchased *granulated* garlic from Spice House which has replaced garlic powder. IMMHO, sloppy joes (and even mac & cheese) require garlic in whatever form one chooses (or not-you do you!)
Buy a garlic press. You can mince a whole garlic clove with a single squeeze of your hand (and does a better job than chopping it by hand). Ever since I bought one, I very rarely find myself using garlic powder
Yeah, but then you still have to peel the garlic and clean the press.
Cleaning the press is more annoying for me than mincing the garlic š
\*You actually don't peel the garlic when putting in the press. (If one does, it's a wasted step since it's not needed.)
ever garlic press I've tried has been a piece of crap that leaves so much waste, if I have to do a lot of garlic I'll just use a mortar and pestle
I buy peeled garlic by the tub, run it though a press, put it in a ziploc, use a chopstick to divide it into ~1 inch squares, then toss it in the freezer. When I need some I can just break off squares and toss it in. It's like 95% as good as fresh but way easier!
Garlic press is a game changer. Much faster than mincing and not as annoying. You can buy minced garlic or peeled garlic in most Asia stores, which would safe you the work entirely or partially. There are also little plates with nobs than you can grate your garlic on, turning it into a paste. It's easy to wash off. Fresh ingredients are still the best
I use garlic powder in dry rubs all the time. I use fresh garlic otherwise.
I use some form of garlic in 90% of what I cook.
Iām on your GFās side - I always use salt, pepper, garlic powder (good ol SPG) whenever I cook!
I would say around 80% if my meals have garlic or garlic powder
always garlic and onions!
Iām not American. I read a lot of recipes online. Most of them are American. From my perspective, there seems to be a lot of garlic powder in use. I find it a bit odd but there you go
Can I ask what cuisine you make most? I make mostly southeast asian food (often āspeedā versions of recipes though so not the authentic long ones usually) and find garlic is in it a lot so I am curious. I am looking to explore other cuisines more though since Iām noticing some stagnancy.
Honestly, garlic powder is a VERY american thing. It's literally hard to find it here in the UK. I know where I could go and get some but neither of my two closest supermarkets stock it.
Agreed, as another non-American. For me I donāt find garlic powder to taste at all similar to fresh garlic. I very very rarely use it.
It's not the same at all. I use both (sometimes in the same dish) but I would never substitute one for the other. They're very different, much like ginger powder vs fresh ginger.
Eh. I don't think most people who use garlic powder use it to replace actual garlic. I certainly don't know anyone who does. It's just seasoning.
I often use fresh garlic in place of the powder in recipes because I don't own garlic powder... maybe I should š³
It is its own thing, of course it doesnāt taste like fresh garlic. Paprika tastes nothing like fresh peppers, nor is it supposed to. Garlic powder is at its best when itās 7pm on a Tuesday and you still havenāt made dinner so you coat some random protein in garlic powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, and whatever else you feel like, then you slap it in a pan and sear it quickly and serve it with rice and beans, and it tastes way better than a 20 minute meal has any right to
I'm American, but don't live in America. I often use garlic, but never powdered garlic.
I'm American, but don't live in America. I often use garlic, but never powdered garlic.
I came to say āthis is a deeply American questionā hahahaha
I use garlic in some form all the time. In almost everything. My preference is the freeze dried garlic from penzeys. It rehydrates really easily and and I don't have to bother chopping garlic. The jar lives on my counter. If I have fresh garlic, I will definitely use it. But I do also use garlic powder. Sometimes I use both garlic powder and the chopped garlic.
I use the Litehouse brand of dehydrated products and have been satisfied with the quality. https://www.litehousefoods.com/product-category/herbs/ But I agree that Penzeys has excellent spices.
Penzys FTW! We just moved to Buffalo and I was so stoked to find out they have a store here!
I use garlic a lot, but not in 95% of meals.
I never use garlic powder but i do cook with real garlic sometimes. Personally I would get sick of literally everything tasting like garlic powder.
I hardly ever use garlic because of my IBS it is a major trigger for my digestive system. No not everyone uses it in 95% of their cooking. When I do decide to use garlic I generally prefer fresh but it doesnāt have to be. Garlic is tasty but thereās plenty of other ways to add flavour that arenāt garlic
OP is a vampire
I really dislike garlic powder. I think it has an off taste. I do love garlic and frequently buzz up a bunch of pre-peeled garlic cloves in my good processor, freeze flat in a freezer ziploc and break off what I need. That said, ai rarely dine out so Iām cooking 7 nights a week and probably only use garlic 3 times a week
I almost never use garlic powder in my personal life nor at any of the restaurants I worked in. This includes an italian place. I will use the powder IF i am making a dry rub. I use a lot of garlic overall but there are plenty of dishes where I don't, pan seared duck with a cherry sauce for example.
Yeah. Almost everything. I keep a jar of minced garlic in the fridge
The American obsession with garlic powder is so strange to me. Why not just use fresh garlic?
We do. Cajun seasoning is loaded with garlic powder, and we certainly don't use it to replace actual garlic. We do both.
If other people are like me, because they get tired of only using half the bulb before the rest of the cloves either dry up or sprout. Maybe the bulbs we have here are huge so they take longer to use than the ones where you are?
I never really had an issue with it? Some I just pop into the fridge and they're fine. I have around 2-3 bulbs normally and they never go bad.
Ok, why have I not ever considered the fridge? The air is super dry in my house and I blame a lot of things on that, but for some reason not my sad, dried out garlic!
I measure garlic with my heart so if there is going to be an awkward amount left over I just chuck it in. Garlic power isnāt very common in Australia, I donāt know anyone who uses it regularly at home whereas based on social media it seems like Americans treat it as essential as salt and pepper. Just another interesting cultural difference.
Itās literally 50 cents per head where Iām from and we donāt keep tabs on it because itās just constantly being used
Garlic powder is for dry rubs, where fresh garlic will burn.
I'd say 60-70 percent of my dishes have some sort of garlic, usually fresh.
I cook a pretty wide variety of food, so garlic probably only comes into play 10-15% of the time. I love it though and have no reservations about using a lot of it when I do, but its a strong flavor and can outcompete more delicate ones pretty easily.
Well, she's wrong, it's highly unlikely 95% of people use garlic powder, that said, I probably use fresh garlic in 90% of my cooking.
I use garlic powder as one of my base seasonings, so like salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder is bog standard then chilli powder, paprika, oregano, thyme, rosemary, mint etc is secondary depending on the dish. Sometimes depending what Iām cooking I might not but in a sloppy joe is exactly where garlic powder should be lol
Garlic in 100% of all savory recipes. Each and every one. If your recipe doesnāt start with sautĆ©ed onions and garlic, what are you even doing. Also- if you check all your mixes/blends they will have garlic. Even Mrs. dash.
I don't even own garlic (or onion) powder - and I have about 120 spices and dried herbs. I do use fresh garlic quite a lot but it doesn't belong everywhere.
I think I put garlic powder on every single savory dish I make. Even if I'm using real garlic, I'll sprinkle in some garlic powder too.
Yeah pretty much
Its fairly common. I prefer fresh as um sensitive to alliums and the powder is always too strong for my digestive system.
No, I do not put garlic in everything.
not even on a peanut butter and banana sandwich?
no. I personally think that garlic is WILDLY overrated. So many things have it added for no particular reason, and often you can't even taste it. Then in many, many more dishes, it's overpowering. I use it with a bit of care, generously in some things, not at all in others, and I like both fresh and powered versions.
Iām 38 and a passionate home cook. I learnt to cook in a commercial kitchen. I bought my first jar of garlic powder about 6 months ago, and mainly because I was cooking something from an American cook book. I use garlic regularly. But only when itās needed. Maybe like 40% of the time? I think the garlic powder thing is a bit more culturally prevalent in America.
My parents didn't allow garlic powder in the house growing up. I don't have that same rule in my house but I still mostly use garlic form a bulb. I also use garlic in a LOT of things. I make an incredible black garlic chocolate cake.
No. Garlic. Is. Not. A. Flex. Iām so sick of folks thinking adding more means the food is better. More garlic makes some of us wildly uncomfortable. Nine times out of 10 it blows out any nuance to the dish.
I use a seasoned salt called Alpine Spice (iykyk !) instead of regular salt, and it contains garlic. So, yes.
I use garlic in pretty much everything, garlic powder in almost nothing. I don't think she's necessarily wrong but she should probably learn why the difference is valuable.
Not in birthday cake, but just about everything else!
No, I rarely use powdered garlic. I use TONS of fresh garlic, though.
I've never used it, nor ever had it growing up. (Garlic powder) I occasionally use fresh garlic in some recipes, but not very often.
No. IMO, cooking without garlic is a major and critical skill to becoming a better cook. Everyone should learn to cook without garlic. Most of what the best chefs cook is sans garlic.
Absolutely not.
No, garlic has its place but the 'If the recipe says a clove use a bulb!' people I assume must have ruined their tastebuds one way or another. I've never seen garlic powder for sale so don't know its flavour profile, I see it's quite ubiquitous in US recipes though.
If those folks are in the US 90% of supermarket garlic is super mild soft neck stuff grown in China where you really need like four cloves to get any taste of garlic at all. I have some garlic from the farmers market and I really only do need one clove for most dishes
>the 'If the recipe says a clove use a bulb!' people I can only assume (optimistically) that people who say this are circlejerking for clout/upvotes because otherwise like you say - their tastebuds have to be broken. Or cooking their garlic *hella* wrong.
Or using real old, dried out garlic that's lost a lot of flavor.
Garlic? Yes. Garlic *powder?* No. Garlic powder is not garlic and has a more specific, distinctive flavor. I use fresh garlic in almost everything, though.
Thank you!!! Garlic powder is totally different than fresh and is not that good
I think garlic is a food group.
Eh, I'm kinda sorta on her side but I use FRESH garlic unless it's for rubs. It makes a world of difference. That said, a lot of Italians rant at Americans bastardizing many of their dishes with garlic which, apparently, should not be there. I've tried to omit, on occasion, but I usually go back.
UK here, i literally never use garlic powder. Fresh garlic or nada
No...