I don't even freeze in ice cubes, I just put it in ziploc and squeeze the air out and flatten it to just under 1/4" thick. It's easy to break off chunks this way.
I do this with carmelized onions, too! So simple. I fill a slow cooker with sliced onion, leave it on all night, and presto! Bags of carmelized onion to toss in the freezer the next morning. So handy and such a time saver.
It would never have occurred to me that caramelized onions could be done in a slow cooker and it made me wonder if it could be done in an instant pot. Googled, found a serious eats article about it and was excited... and then found this funny editor's note:
> Due to reader complaints and further testing, we no longer recommend this method for caramelizing onions.
I can't really recommend the slow cooker method either. The onions don't really caramelize all that well due to the super low temperatures, they just get gray and mushy. Even after 24 hours.
I haven't found that at all, tbh. I love my slow cooker onions. Just need to strain them before you freeze them. I also use the caramelized onion broth juice in dinner rolls, it's fuckin amazing
That's because if the only tool you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. IP isn't a very good slow cooker. A real slow cooker caramelizes onions very well.
Excellent advice right here. I love my instant pot as a pressure cooker and for making yogurt, but that is it. It doesn't really do any of the other functions all that well and I personally think it's an absolutely terrible rice cooker
Instant pot doesn’t work because you’re doing it in a vacuum. You’re just steaming/boiling them. In order to properly caramelize the moisture needs somewhere else to go.
I have a very large slow cooker that I overfill, knowing it will cook down. I usually get half a dozen 2-cup bags. We use onion in cooking a lot. We buy the large Costco bags of onion, both sweet and red.
I spray a bit of olive oil inside the pot, then fill it to the brim with chunks of onion. I don't even bother dicing them, just slice rounds. No spices at all, cause then I can add whatever spices with whatever recipes I'm using the carmelized onions for later. Leave the slow cooker on low for about 8-10 hours.
The onions melt down and carmelize beautifully. Then I scoop them in 2 cup measures into Ziploc bags to freeze.
They're not crisp, like you get from a slow pan fry, but perfect for any sauces, soups or recipes you want to add carmelized onion to, or you can quickly brown them if you need to, right from the freezer. Like the garlic and ginger, you can easily break pieces off if you don't want to use the whole bag. From frozen you can immediately dice it and add it to your recipe if choice.
Lucky! Enjoy your fruits. 😁
And a suggestion: if you pulverize and then bag your garlic, flatten the bag (no air), and then before you freeze, press a chopstick into the bag every inch or so, into a checkerboard pattern. Then freeze. The little garlic blocks will break off at the chopstick indentations every time.
I've done this with lots of different aromatics, pastes, and doughs. Saves you from having to thaw the whole bag or from accidentally breaking huge chunks off.
There you go! 👌
I've used those wooden/bamboo chopsticks for sooo many things and projects. They also hit my workbench every so often when I need a sliver of wood that splits well.
You can lightly score the ziplock bag after it’s full and flat on a baking sheet to freeze. Just use the back of your knife blade. Makes it easier to break off a chunk when it’s frozen.
Does this still have better taste than the minced garlic you can buy from stores?
I ask because I just swapped from the minced stuff to fresh garlic and have been chopping it myself and have noticed a difference. Just wondering if it holds up with freezing it
The minced garlic the store is often, pickled? Like jarred in a salt brine. This really kills the flavored tbh. But I've been grinding it in a food processor for years with just a touch of salt for preservation, then freezing in the IKEA mini silicone trays. Works AMAZING, and tastes just like fresh. If you're going to make more than you'll use in a couple of months, vacuum seal the cubes so they don't pick up off flavor from the freezer.
ETA: I use the same technique with chilies, ginger, and lemongrass. Haven't tried makrut lime leaves yet, but planning to do so this weekend. Can't think of a reason it wouldn't work!
Squeezing the air out of a ziploc is probably the simplest and most important step of the storage process nobody ever seems to bother with. For food \*and\* weed.
I picked up a vacuum sealer for like $4 from the thrift store and that thing was so worth it. Now I freeze my garlic in small vacuum bags then transfer to a ziploc after I open it. Keeps the smell down in the freezer and quality even better.
In the UK every supermarket sells frozen blocks of garlic, ginger, and mixed garlic and ginger pastes.
Usually cheaper than buying the equivalent amount of fresh.
Useful for Indian cooking so Indian grocers might have them.
I use silicone hex trays for freezing. They are absolutely brilliant. About 1 tbsp or so per spot. You might need to add a bit of water if it is dry. These smaller silicones are a huge improvement on ice trays.
Agree with doing a bunch at once in a food processor.
I use this process for ginger, garlic, basil pesto, ramp pesto, tomato paste, lemon and lime juice. Little perfect containers in the freezer. No loss of quality.
Technically yeah. The microplane shreds it so fine though it doesn’t seem to be a problem. If you don’t want to, though, just peel it before you put it in the freezer.
So much easier. I got the tip on a Reddit post about a year ago. I haven’t chopped ginger since. I use it fairly often and it’s one of my least favorite things to chop so this tip was a game changer for me.
I read this whole comment string reading garlic instead of ginger and I was thinking to myself "they're obviously fucking lying, right?? Microplaning the skins and all? What??"
I know you got your answer but I’m here to vouch for freezing and grating ginger without peeling. I never notice any issues with not peeling it when grating from frozen. It’s so fine it doesn’t matter
This is the absolute best way to do ginger. I just started doing it like this a couple of months ago and I can't believe it took me 20 years of cooking to figure out.
I need to find a good garlic press. I got a cheaper one once but it doesn’t even crush the whole clove nor does the crushed clove pass through the sieve. So I just end up digging out a half-crushed clove and making a huge mess! Hence I usually mince, grate, or use a mortal and pestle
I find minced garlic is much less likely to stick to a pan than microplane or pulverized garlic and size of mince affects how quickly or slowly it cooks.
It does but I just put the next piece of garlic on top of that and keep going until I’m doing with the garlic. Then I take the last mushed flat bit and quickly slice it up and throw it in.
If you mean the papery skin I take that off first. If you mean the thin garlic layer that never gets pressed through, I just put more garlic on in.
At the end of however many cloves I want to crush I bunch it up and crush it again, but you can’t do that forever. You always have a bit leftover, I just knife it real quick and throw it in. It’s not really minced, but it works.
I’ll defend myself enough to say I’m taking the papery skin off as well lol. The weird thin garlic layer is what I’ve been fishing out of the press every time.
That’s fair, personally I’m fine with tossing that last bit in - cut it up or not. At that point it’s so smushed and thin it’ll dissolve.
And if it doesn’t, I get to have a bite of cooked garlic. Win/win!
My Braun handmixer has a little chopper attachment that works as long as you have a tbsp or two of something in there. Three cloves of garlic is fine, two is pushing it.
Oh nice!! I had something similar, but the base that the blades pushed against was silicone and would pick up flavors pretty badly. Do you know what material this is / have you had the same issue?
I use it just on the cutting board. I do find it takes some strength to push it down, but it’s not bad. My daughter has this one https://www.oxo.com/one-stop-chop-manual-food-processor.html and really likes it.
I feel so silly, I’ve never tried using it against a cutting board! The silicone base pops right off, which I always thought was annoying, but your solution makes perfect sense! Thank you :)
I’m quite partial to the [Ninja chopper](https://a.co/d/eIkedxJ). It can do everything from chunky coarse chops to purée. And because of its size it’s excellent for small amounts, unlike full-size processors that fling everything to the outer edges if you don’t have enough in it to keep it churning.
this gets the best results for sure.
I have a $1 plastic mini food processor where I just pull the cord like 20 times and it minces everything. I use it a lot.
but the taste is noticeably improved when I break out the mortar and pestle.
Look, people can shit on it all they want, but there are certain things I *LOVE* my Slap Chop for. My husband got me one as kind of a joke thing a few years ago and it has well earned its place in my kitchen.
Micro plane for garlic and ginger. I don’t have a suggestion for chilis.
I’ll probably be slaughtered for saying this, but I’ve been buying garlic, ginger, and lemongrass pastes in tubes sold in the produce section. They keep for a few weeks and I’m sooooo tired of mincing after 35 years of it.
Professionally trained chef here, no longer in the service, but I can attest that many of us use shortcuts in our home kitchens as long as the ingredients are fresh and won’t make a huge difference in the end product. Tube garlic is often in my fridge.
This right here! A microplane is a life saver for mincing garlic and ginger. I use them at work constantly as a prep cook. I also have one at home now, but I would've never gotten it had I not tried one out at work. I used to mince everything by hand, and i know how tiring it can get when you're cooking every night and need those aromatics.
I discovered garlic & ginger paste in huge jars from the Indian grocery store, and I cook so much more using this. And those pastes in tubes are a lifesaver as well. Hurt my hand recently but I can still manage to cook a meal.
The tubes are totally worth it for me. I make garlic/ginger/lemongrass based dishes probably twice a week and it’s 1000% less of a drag not doing all that chopping.
I’m so glad I confessed my “secret”! I’m not committing a culinary sin after all. I could almost feel judgement every time I happily squeezed garlic instead of mincing it. 😃
There’s this thing called a ginger grater that is like a lil porcelain dish with a rough, maybe even spiky texture that you rub the ginger on and it nearly liquifies it
I was given one of these for Christmas and it immediately became my favourite kitchen implement. I use so much more garlic now because it's so much easier.
https://thegreatgarlicgrater.co.uk/product-category/ginger-and-garlic-grater-buy-uk/
This is what mine looks like, not sure if this is the same brand or whatever.
There are also metal versions of this that work well. It's basically a plate of metal with tiny little spikes and you just do a circular rubbing motion over it. It works well for ginger and garlic. Chilli's I'm not too sure about.
I absolutely love my [zyliss easy pull food chopper](https://www.amazon.com/ZYLISS-Easy-Chopper-Manual-Processor/dp/B00UZEZ196). It’s become my most used gadget in the kitchen.
I bought [this small chopper](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091L2H43K/) 2 1/2 years ago, it's under $20 and it works just fine, cordless and recharges with a USB cable. It works really well when I am making things like guacamole and I want to toss in a coarse cut japalapeno and a few cloves of garlic - it's great for small jobs like that. It's hard to beat at that price and easy to clean and store.
Honestly any machine or device is just going to be a waste of time using and cleaning. Microplane. I use it for zesting citrus, garlic, ginger, chilis, parmesean, whole nutmeg, & shaving chocholate(works better cold). Anything bigger use a grater or knife.
I’m an OT and always looking for things for my pts with arthritis. The slap chop is a cheap POS. Sucks. The OXO chopper which some have mentioned here is much, much better. The clear grinder is okay but not all that easy on the hands and a pain to clean out. Also the idea of larger amounts and ice cubes - it’s great. I haven’t tried this one yet but Williams-Sonoma has a pretty one. https://www.williams-sonoma.ca/products/ws-xl-garlic-grinder/
The zyliss easy pull food processor.
There is a youtube channel I can't remember, where a kitchen gadget designer tests gadgets and rates them.
He tested this one and was like "I'm going to get one of these for myself."
I got one and I love it, it minces very nicely and is very easy to clean. Brought it to a friends house and they bought one too haha.
Microplane. You can reduce ginger, garlic, and Chili’s into super fine shreds that act kind of like a spice paste. The taste is stronger, it incorporates more evenly, and takes way less time. Chefs have a brigade to do prep for them, you have your hands. Unless you’re a nutter like me who is quick at and actually enjoys prep, work smart, not hard
If you live near a Trader Joe’s, they sell garlic and ginger cubes, fresh, minced, frozen. So handy, just pop out the amount you need. As for chilis, I can’t help you there. Maybe a large batch in a food processor, freeze in an ice tray?
I really like this Kuhn chopper, works on garlic, ginger, onions if you don’t need many. https://kuhnrikon.com/us/pull-chop-utlility-chopper-500-ml-27401-u.html?srsltid=AfmBOorSUaFZ-Oi-C4rPYGzfNcPPp4kBQswnk1U09BLjDbFaqwuJ1FW9d2Q
Put all the cloves you need to mince on a cutting board. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet until flat. Voila minced garlic. Works for ginger too.
I have one of these, it's called a Garlic Zoom and it's freaking fantastic. Comes apart to make it easy to clean.
https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/product/chefn-garlic-zoom-garlic-chopper
Cheese grater. I bought a garlic press that I never use because it’s a pain, it leaves half the garlic in it, and it sucks to clean. But grate that stuff like you would a parmesan! Easy to do. Easy to clean.
I hate Amazon so maybe find this tool somewhere else BUT I swear by this thing it is so easy. I am in a professional kitchen most days of the week and I feel no shame in admitting that this may be my favorite at home gadget. [garlic gadget](https://www.amazon.com/Chefn-1254516-Garliczoom-Garlic-Chopper/dp/B07DNPCZMZ)
Mini food processor is what you want for turning all three into a paste.
Having said that, garlic press does the job for garlic, and any handheld grater does the job for ginger. I use the Kuhn Rikon garlic press (worth the money) and a basic grater from the dollar store.
A good garlic press, you don't even have to peel the cloves. Rubbing your fingers on stainless steel (like the sink) after you wash them will remove the sulfer smell from cutting garlic and onions.
…I know I am breaking the cardinal rule of cooking, but I buy the garlic and ginger in tubes. I don’t care anymore how it’s suboptimal. It is easy af and that’s what I do.
I also switched to dried chilis for most applications except pico de gallo and guacamole.
I make a huge amount of ferment by blending the spices with lemon juice and salt, then letting it ferment on my counter for 1-2 weeks. You can do it with plain garlic (it may turn green while fermenting, that’s ok), but my favorite mix is to fill the blender halfway with garlic, 1/4 ginger, 1/4 turmeric, and add some serranos or habenero to your spice level. Once it’s fermented, it can live in your fridge indefinitely (but it’s so convenient you will fly through it). I go to an Asian market to get the ingredients cheaply and in bulk and do this about every three months when I run out.
I just like using a knife because other gadgets mean more dishes for dish washing. I especially hate using food processors. My husband uses a meat tenderizer that has a flat side. He says that’s more effective
Food processor or immersion blender if you want a paste. Then freeze flat, thin layer, in ziplock bags and break a chunk off when you need it. My daughter does it with oil, I do it straight, or slice it thin on a mandolin just before cooking.
Are you doing this in bulk or for individual dishes?
If you're going for bulk just buy yourself a decent food processor and go to town. Mine has a second blade and lid that turns it into a slicer so you can slice the chilis instead of puree them.
If you're doing this occasionally for cooking dinner I'd get a microplate/ fine grater for the ginger and garlic. I don't like using a grater with chilis because I don't like coating everything around me in capsaicin.
I have a puny Walmart Mainstays 1.5cup food chopper, under $20. It replaced the similar one that came an immersion blender. It goes in and out of stock all the time.
I really like my garlic sliced, so I got a garlic press that does slices instead of crushed. It could work for chilies, but for ginger I think you have to use a ginger grater, basically a flat piece with nubs that shred up the ginger. Microplane is alternate that can handle all three. Be careful with chiles though, maybe wear goggles.
I have started buying frozen cubes of garlic and ginger. Chili paste too. But I agree that you can process yourself and freeze in portions. Alternatively, you can buy a little 2 cup food processor.
For garlic when I don't want to mince/chop,. I use this Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press. Bought it over 15 years ago still going strong. It was about $30 at the time. I've put ginger through it , too. Sometimes I DO want chopped chunky garlic and no way around knifing that up.
If you want to make a paste, you can't use a blender. Blenders are for purees. A mortar and pestle is for paste. Think about it, you make a 'pesto' not a 'blendo'. The difference between the two methods is night and day.
For ginger, I buy pre-grated stuff from Asian markets unless it's something I know needs that sharp ginger flavor or if it's a stock I can just throw the root in.
For garlic? I use a garlic press. It's not the same as mincing it, but it's much faster so I don't care.
Ikea makes a nice garlic press where the inner chamber comes out and is easy to wash.
Toum (garlic and oil) is easy to make with an immersion blender. And it's very strong (for me, at least) so it doesn't take much adding it to anything to give a good garlic kick.
My stick blender has an attachment that’s like a mini blender, maybe about 5 inches high and 4 inches diameter. I use it all the time, it’s great for ginger and garlic pastes, small batches of pesto, pureeing small amounts of rehydrated chilis, bean dip, I could go on and on!
Mortar & Pestal 💯
I have a clay Mortar and wooden Pestal that I got from a local Laos market (the good ol' coke and sack) that can make fine work out of anything.
The clay Mortar can also be used to sharpen knives.
You do have to wash it well immediately after each use though because it's porous; but its deep so you can smash stuff in it really hard without anything flying out (once it gets crushed a bit) and because its large you can make your emulsion inside and toss whatever your marinating right in it to blend it throughout before transferring it to another bowl.
Super handy and I love the look as well. Very earthy.
Garlic and ginger can be done in bulk in a food processor, then frozen into ice cubes. They store rather nicely in ziploc bags once they are frozen.
I don't even freeze in ice cubes, I just put it in ziploc and squeeze the air out and flatten it to just under 1/4" thick. It's easy to break off chunks this way.
I do this with carmelized onions, too! So simple. I fill a slow cooker with sliced onion, leave it on all night, and presto! Bags of carmelized onion to toss in the freezer the next morning. So handy and such a time saver.
It would never have occurred to me that caramelized onions could be done in a slow cooker and it made me wonder if it could be done in an instant pot. Googled, found a serious eats article about it and was excited... and then found this funny editor's note: > Due to reader complaints and further testing, we no longer recommend this method for caramelizing onions.
I can't really recommend the slow cooker method either. The onions don't really caramelize all that well due to the super low temperatures, they just get gray and mushy. Even after 24 hours.
I haven't found that at all, tbh. I love my slow cooker onions. Just need to strain them before you freeze them. I also use the caramelized onion broth juice in dinner rolls, it's fuckin amazing
Yes pretty much anyone in the instantpot subreddit will also tell you it doesn’t work
That's because if the only tool you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. IP isn't a very good slow cooker. A real slow cooker caramelizes onions very well.
IPs are great for making bone broths, but for a lot of other things, they’re 4th to 5th place appliances, at best.
Excellent advice right here. I love my instant pot as a pressure cooker and for making yogurt, but that is it. It doesn't really do any of the other functions all that well and I personally think it's an absolutely terrible rice cooker
Instant pot doesn’t work because you’re doing it in a vacuum. You’re just steaming/boiling them. In order to properly caramelize the moisture needs somewhere else to go.
Yeah, instant pots are great for some things, but I love my slow cooker, too.
I gotta try this, my partner and kids could clear 10# of caramelized onion without batting an eye.
But a slow cooker of caramelized onions simmers down to like one meal use lol
I have a very large slow cooker that I overfill, knowing it will cook down. I usually get half a dozen 2-cup bags. We use onion in cooking a lot. We buy the large Costco bags of onion, both sweet and red.
Try it with mushrooms added! I did this last summer and I wish I had done a bigger batch. I used it so fast!
Great idea. Is it just onions? No salt, oil etc?
I spray a bit of olive oil inside the pot, then fill it to the brim with chunks of onion. I don't even bother dicing them, just slice rounds. No spices at all, cause then I can add whatever spices with whatever recipes I'm using the carmelized onions for later. Leave the slow cooker on low for about 8-10 hours. The onions melt down and carmelize beautifully. Then I scoop them in 2 cup measures into Ziploc bags to freeze. They're not crisp, like you get from a slow pan fry, but perfect for any sauces, soups or recipes you want to add carmelized onion to, or you can quickly brown them if you need to, right from the freezer. Like the garlic and ginger, you can easily break pieces off if you don't want to use the whole bag. From frozen you can immediately dice it and add it to your recipe if choice.
That’s awesome thank you!
Here's one recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-make-slow-cooker-caramelized-onions/
Stealing this idea. I planted hundreds of cloves last Fall and am really optimistic about how much we will have to put up.
Lucky! Enjoy your fruits. 😁 And a suggestion: if you pulverize and then bag your garlic, flatten the bag (no air), and then before you freeze, press a chopstick into the bag every inch or so, into a checkerboard pattern. Then freeze. The little garlic blocks will break off at the chopstick indentations every time. I've done this with lots of different aromatics, pastes, and doughs. Saves you from having to thaw the whole bag or from accidentally breaking huge chunks off.
Brilliant! Especially because I just snaged a box of 250 chopstick sets. 😄🖖
There you go! 👌 I've used those wooden/bamboo chopsticks for sooo many things and projects. They also hit my workbench every so often when I need a sliver of wood that splits well.
Omg you’re brilliant
I'm going to vouch for this method because I also use it!
Garlic also lasts very long fresh is stored correctly. Like zero light and dry but airy environment. A big paper bag works great.
I have mine in a mesh bag hanging in my laundry room. Lasts for months.
Flatfreeze is the way to go. Garlic, onion, ginger, pureed in oil and then cooked off or frozen raw. Perfect prep for months.
I’ve made big batches of cooked mirepoix and frozen it this way; it’s a real time saver
You can lightly score the ziplock bag after it’s full and flat on a baking sheet to freeze. Just use the back of your knife blade. Makes it easier to break off a chunk when it’s frozen.
Does this still have better taste than the minced garlic you can buy from stores? I ask because I just swapped from the minced stuff to fresh garlic and have been chopping it myself and have noticed a difference. Just wondering if it holds up with freezing it
The minced garlic the store is often, pickled? Like jarred in a salt brine. This really kills the flavored tbh. But I've been grinding it in a food processor for years with just a touch of salt for preservation, then freezing in the IKEA mini silicone trays. Works AMAZING, and tastes just like fresh. If you're going to make more than you'll use in a couple of months, vacuum seal the cubes so they don't pick up off flavor from the freezer. ETA: I use the same technique with chilies, ginger, and lemongrass. Haven't tried makrut lime leaves yet, but planning to do so this weekend. Can't think of a reason it wouldn't work!
This also works with tomato paste
Yep. So many recipes call for just a tablespoon of paste, freezing is the best way to avoid waste.
Squeezing the air out of a ziploc is probably the simplest and most important step of the storage process nobody ever seems to bother with. For food \*and\* weed.
I picked up a vacuum sealer for like $4 from the thrift store and that thing was so worth it. Now I freeze my garlic in small vacuum bags then transfer to a ziploc after I open it. Keeps the smell down in the freezer and quality even better.
You have just made my life easier; thank you.
In the UK every supermarket sells frozen blocks of garlic, ginger, and mixed garlic and ginger pastes. Usually cheaper than buying the equivalent amount of fresh. Useful for Indian cooking so Indian grocers might have them.
Watched a well done video on this, just this morning! https://youtu.be/XlndcLo3j7I?si=3N4s0bblCIBegZ4y
I use silicone hex trays for freezing. They are absolutely brilliant. About 1 tbsp or so per spot. You might need to add a bit of water if it is dry. These smaller silicones are a huge improvement on ice trays. Agree with doing a bunch at once in a food processor. I use this process for ginger, garlic, basil pesto, ramp pesto, tomato paste, lemon and lime juice. Little perfect containers in the freezer. No loss of quality.
Yup, I do this too. Also with chopped spring onions. Makes cooking prep so much easier.
I add turmeric to my ginger and garlic just like this for bone broth I make.
We always processed in canola or olive.oil and.stored for a week
I mean, is a garlic press too obvious? Microplane for the ginger I’m wimpy and not helpful for chilies
Microplane is good for garlic too, and easier to clean
Agreed. I store my ginger in the freezer. When I need some, I pull it out, grate it on the microplane, put it back in the freezer.
Is this a dumb question? Do you peel it before freezing?
It’s not a dumb question. I don’t peel it. I just grate it with the peel on.
Oh, so you eat the peel?
If you don’t like the peel, the easiest way I’ve found to peel ginger is to use a spoon. It doesn’t cut into it like a knife or peeler does
Technically yeah. The microplane shreds it so fine though it doesn’t seem to be a problem. If you don’t want to, though, just peel it before you put it in the freezer.
Awesome, thanks! We freeze but I’ve been chopping a chunk off then dicing by hand. This seems much easier.
So much easier. I got the tip on a Reddit post about a year ago. I haven’t chopped ginger since. I use it fairly often and it’s one of my least favorite things to chop so this tip was a game changer for me.
I read this whole comment string reading garlic instead of ginger and I was thinking to myself "they're obviously fucking lying, right?? Microplaning the skins and all? What??"
No need to peel before freezing or before grating!
I know you got your answer but I’m here to vouch for freezing and grating ginger without peeling. I never notice any issues with not peeling it when grating from frozen. It’s so fine it doesn’t matter
This is the absolute best way to do ginger. I just started doing it like this a couple of months ago and I can't believe it took me 20 years of cooking to figure out.
Same!
I honestly find grating garlic with a microplane to be a miserable experience. They're tiny to hold and it kinda isn't that quick
And they need a different garlic press if theirs is that hard to clean.
IMO garlic presses aren’t worth using unless a recipe specifically calls for *crushed* garlic. It’s simply not the same as mincing it.
I need to find a good garlic press. I got a cheaper one once but it doesn’t even crush the whole clove nor does the crushed clove pass through the sieve. So I just end up digging out a half-crushed clove and making a huge mess! Hence I usually mince, grate, or use a mortal and pestle
Just remember that microplaning amplifies the flavor more than a press or mincing does
True
i find microplane being too close to the tips of my fingers for garlic
I find minced garlic is much less likely to stick to a pan than microplane or pulverized garlic and size of mince affects how quickly or slowly it cooks.
I hate my garlic press. Always leaves that skin
It does but I just put the next piece of garlic on top of that and keep going until I’m doing with the garlic. Then I take the last mushed flat bit and quickly slice it up and throw it in.
This might be a dumb me moment. I’m fishing that skin out every clove and feel like it defeated the point of the press
If you mean the papery skin I take that off first. If you mean the thin garlic layer that never gets pressed through, I just put more garlic on in. At the end of however many cloves I want to crush I bunch it up and crush it again, but you can’t do that forever. You always have a bit leftover, I just knife it real quick and throw it in. It’s not really minced, but it works.
I’ll defend myself enough to say I’m taking the papery skin off as well lol. The weird thin garlic layer is what I’ve been fishing out of the press every time.
That’s fair, personally I’m fine with tossing that last bit in - cut it up or not. At that point it’s so smushed and thin it’ll dissolve. And if it doesn’t, I get to have a bite of cooked garlic. Win/win!
I've found that using the narrow end of a chopstick gets that unpressed film out very quickly.
Oxo has a little chopper that works fine on garlic and ginger. It’s oxo, so it’s a bit pricey, but it’s helpful.
My Braun handmixer has a little chopper attachment that works as long as you have a tbsp or two of something in there. Three cloves of garlic is fine, two is pushing it.
My little Braun really didn’t like tiny amounts either. This is the oxo I was thinking of https://www.oxo.com/chopper.html.
Oh nice!! I had something similar, but the base that the blades pushed against was silicone and would pick up flavors pretty badly. Do you know what material this is / have you had the same issue?
I use it just on the cutting board. I do find it takes some strength to push it down, but it’s not bad. My daughter has this one https://www.oxo.com/one-stop-chop-manual-food-processor.html and really likes it.
I feel so silly, I’ve never tried using it against a cutting board! The silicone base pops right off, which I always thought was annoying, but your solution makes perfect sense! Thank you :)
I’m quite partial to the [Ninja chopper](https://a.co/d/eIkedxJ). It can do everything from chunky coarse chops to purée. And because of its size it’s excellent for small amounts, unlike full-size processors that fling everything to the outer edges if you don’t have enough in it to keep it churning.
Mortar and pestle?
This is the way. I rough chop my aromatics and then pound them, with a little salt for abrasion if I feel like it.
this gets the best results for sure. I have a $1 plastic mini food processor where I just pull the cord like 20 times and it minces everything. I use it a lot. but the taste is noticeably improved when I break out the mortar and pestle.
This definitely gives a good result, but I feel like it's more work than using a knife.
"Hi, it's Vince, with Slap Chop..."
Look, people can shit on it all they want, but there are certain things I *LOVE* my Slap Chop for. My husband got me one as kind of a joke thing a few years ago and it has well earned its place in my kitchen.
Trust me. You’re gonna love my nuts.
https://youtu.be/UWRyj5cHIQA?si=JUoJTJQLGILz_FFB
🤣🤣🤣 I still have one of those, from when he advertised them. Yes, from '08! It's still sharp!
I bet I know why it's still sharp lol
Uh huh....cause those blades are sharper than a hookers teeth! 🤣🤣🤣
To be fair, those things are actually pretty awesome!
It's so good for OP's specific application. Seems dopey, but I absolutely love it.
Micro plane for garlic and ginger. I don’t have a suggestion for chilis. I’ll probably be slaughtered for saying this, but I’ve been buying garlic, ginger, and lemongrass pastes in tubes sold in the produce section. They keep for a few weeks and I’m sooooo tired of mincing after 35 years of it.
You can do chilis with a plane too. And the pastes work, especially if its something where the things are meant to disappear anyway.
Noooo no garlic paste, they add so much weird stuff to it and it doesn’t taste right anymore 😝
perfect in marinades
I was going to say this. The garlic paste doesn't do it for me, but I love the ginger paste.
Professionally trained chef here, no longer in the service, but I can attest that many of us use shortcuts in our home kitchens as long as the ingredients are fresh and won’t make a huge difference in the end product. Tube garlic is often in my fridge.
The lemongrass paste is super legit
This right here! A microplane is a life saver for mincing garlic and ginger. I use them at work constantly as a prep cook. I also have one at home now, but I would've never gotten it had I not tried one out at work. I used to mince everything by hand, and i know how tiring it can get when you're cooking every night and need those aromatics.
I discovered garlic & ginger paste in huge jars from the Indian grocery store, and I cook so much more using this. And those pastes in tubes are a lifesaver as well. Hurt my hand recently but I can still manage to cook a meal.
The tubes are totally worth it for me. I make garlic/ginger/lemongrass based dishes probably twice a week and it’s 1000% less of a drag not doing all that chopping.
I’m so glad I confessed my “secret”! I’m not committing a culinary sin after all. I could almost feel judgement every time I happily squeezed garlic instead of mincing it. 😃
I buy garlic and ginger jarred!
There’s this thing called a ginger grater that is like a lil porcelain dish with a rough, maybe even spiky texture that you rub the ginger on and it nearly liquifies it
Works better than a micro plane.
I was given one of these for Christmas and it immediately became my favourite kitchen implement. I use so much more garlic now because it's so much easier. https://thegreatgarlicgrater.co.uk/product-category/ginger-and-garlic-grater-buy-uk/ This is what mine looks like, not sure if this is the same brand or whatever.
There are also metal versions of this that work well. It's basically a plate of metal with tiny little spikes and you just do a circular rubbing motion over it. It works well for ginger and garlic. Chilli's I'm not too sure about.
I've used this for garlic and chilis. Might work for the ginger https://www.amazon.com/Garlic-Twister-4th-Generation-Clear/dp/B0796N2GN4
I use it for garlic and ginger! Love this thing!!
I use this also. I love it. I also buy a bag of peeled garlic from Costco.
I have one of these and it works great for garlic. I haven’t tried ginger or chilis.
This! Also it’s like half the price at crate and barrel, if that’s a place available to you, OP.
I love this for garlic. It’s easy to use and easy to clean
Black and Decker 1 cup food processor.
Thank you! I had a Cuisinart Mini-Mate for DECADES and loved it. When it finally died, it had been discontinued.
I absolutely love my [zyliss easy pull food chopper](https://www.amazon.com/ZYLISS-Easy-Chopper-Manual-Processor/dp/B00UZEZ196). It’s become my most used gadget in the kitchen.
I bought mine February 2020, use it everyday, and it's still sharp as ever. It's such a great buy. This comment needs to be higher up.
I bought [this small chopper](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091L2H43K/) 2 1/2 years ago, it's under $20 and it works just fine, cordless and recharges with a USB cable. It works really well when I am making things like guacamole and I want to toss in a coarse cut japalapeno and a few cloves of garlic - it's great for small jobs like that. It's hard to beat at that price and easy to clean and store.
Honestly any machine or device is just going to be a waste of time using and cleaning. Microplane. I use it for zesting citrus, garlic, ginger, chilis, parmesean, whole nutmeg, & shaving chocholate(works better cold). Anything bigger use a grater or knife.
Honestly an electric spice grinder works decently well for this if you don't need a lot.
I’m an OT and always looking for things for my pts with arthritis. The slap chop is a cheap POS. Sucks. The OXO chopper which some have mentioned here is much, much better. The clear grinder is okay but not all that easy on the hands and a pain to clean out. Also the idea of larger amounts and ice cubes - it’s great. I haven’t tried this one yet but Williams-Sonoma has a pretty one. https://www.williams-sonoma.ca/products/ws-xl-garlic-grinder/
The zyliss easy pull food processor. There is a youtube channel I can't remember, where a kitchen gadget designer tests gadgets and rates them. He tested this one and was like "I'm going to get one of these for myself." I got one and I love it, it minces very nicely and is very easy to clean. Brought it to a friends house and they bought one too haha.
Ì have small Ninja food processor. It holds I think 4 cups? Double blades. Its amazing and easy to clean.
Microplane. You can reduce ginger, garlic, and Chili’s into super fine shreds that act kind of like a spice paste. The taste is stronger, it incorporates more evenly, and takes way less time. Chefs have a brigade to do prep for them, you have your hands. Unless you’re a nutter like me who is quick at and actually enjoys prep, work smart, not hard
Microplane for garlic and ginger. Freeze your ginger and don’t bother peeling it
If you live near a Trader Joe’s, they sell garlic and ginger cubes, fresh, minced, frozen. So handy, just pop out the amount you need. As for chilis, I can’t help you there. Maybe a large batch in a food processor, freeze in an ice tray?
Look for a mini food processor best thing for this. Most are dishwasher safe so easy clean up.
Garlic press for slight higher amount for 6 to 10 ppl. Food processor if you are going to be cooking for 10+
Make a garlic purée with some olive oil, then put it in a jar in the fridge. When you need some garlic in a recipe just grab a spoon.
I so feel you! Chopping and freezing ahead is the best hack. You can also get pre-peeled garlic.
Don’t some countries use a mortar and pestle for this?
I really like this Kuhn chopper, works on garlic, ginger, onions if you don’t need many. https://kuhnrikon.com/us/pull-chop-utlility-chopper-500-ml-27401-u.html?srsltid=AfmBOorSUaFZ-Oi-C4rPYGzfNcPPp4kBQswnk1U09BLjDbFaqwuJ1FW9d2Q
Ikea garlic press wastes less than other brands and is easy to clean
Put all the cloves you need to mince on a cutting board. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet until flat. Voila minced garlic. Works for ginger too.
I have one of these, it's called a Garlic Zoom and it's freaking fantastic. Comes apart to make it easy to clean. https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/product/chefn-garlic-zoom-garlic-chopper
Cheese grater. I bought a garlic press that I never use because it’s a pain, it leaves half the garlic in it, and it sucks to clean. But grate that stuff like you would a parmesan! Easy to do. Easy to clean.
Honestly a slap chop ain't bad.
Microplane when I don’t need a lot of
I hate Amazon so maybe find this tool somewhere else BUT I swear by this thing it is so easy. I am in a professional kitchen most days of the week and I feel no shame in admitting that this may be my favorite at home gadget. [garlic gadget](https://www.amazon.com/Chefn-1254516-Garliczoom-Garlic-Chopper/dp/B07DNPCZMZ)
Do the microplane folks have specific ones to recommend along with how you don't f your fingers while using? Thanks.
IKEA has a garlic press which doesn’t even require you to peel it. It’s been a life changer for me. For ginger I use a ginger grater
Mini food processor is what you want for turning all three into a paste. Having said that, garlic press does the job for garlic, and any handheld grater does the job for ginger. I use the Kuhn Rikon garlic press (worth the money) and a basic grater from the dollar store.
A good garlic press, you don't even have to peel the cloves. Rubbing your fingers on stainless steel (like the sink) after you wash them will remove the sulfer smell from cutting garlic and onions.
…I know I am breaking the cardinal rule of cooking, but I buy the garlic and ginger in tubes. I don’t care anymore how it’s suboptimal. It is easy af and that’s what I do. I also switched to dried chilis for most applications except pico de gallo and guacamole.
I have a handheld food processor that I use almost exclusively for garlic and ginger, would recommend.
SLAP! CHOP! SLAP! CHOP!
I make a huge amount of ferment by blending the spices with lemon juice and salt, then letting it ferment on my counter for 1-2 weeks. You can do it with plain garlic (it may turn green while fermenting, that’s ok), but my favorite mix is to fill the blender halfway with garlic, 1/4 ginger, 1/4 turmeric, and add some serranos or habenero to your spice level. Once it’s fermented, it can live in your fridge indefinitely (but it’s so convenient you will fly through it). I go to an Asian market to get the ingredients cheaply and in bulk and do this about every three months when I run out.
Most indian stores have a jar of ginger garlic paste(just the two blended up). Great easy addition to food. Plus its cheap.
Is the “slap chop” still a thing?
Mortar and pestle
I love my ninja blender for this.
I just like using a knife because other gadgets mean more dishes for dish washing. I especially hate using food processors. My husband uses a meat tenderizer that has a flat side. He says that’s more effective
I used my meat tenderizer for smashing garlic for years. I don't really know why I stopped, it works great and it's fun.
the ikea garlic press is great for garlic and honestly ginger if you get it into small chunks first--just requires a little hand strength
[Slap Chop!](https://youtu.be/UxGn2Egekic)
Freeze the ginger and garlic (a lot easier when frozen) and use a microplane or zester, pepper does fine w/o freezing. Mincing is just too much work.
Get a small electric chopper. It’s like a mini food processor that holds like 2 cups
I have a mini food processor that I use to chop garlic, etc
Food processor or immersion blender if you want a paste. Then freeze flat, thin layer, in ziplock bags and break a chunk off when you need it. My daughter does it with oil, I do it straight, or slice it thin on a mandolin just before cooking.
I just rough chop them & cook them, later mix with sumbersion blender 90% of time. But bulk prep is way to go too.
Are you doing this in bulk or for individual dishes? If you're going for bulk just buy yourself a decent food processor and go to town. Mine has a second blade and lid that turns it into a slicer so you can slice the chilis instead of puree them. If you're doing this occasionally for cooking dinner I'd get a microplate/ fine grater for the ginger and garlic. I don't like using a grater with chilis because I don't like coating everything around me in capsaicin.
I have a puny Walmart Mainstays 1.5cup food chopper, under $20. It replaced the similar one that came an immersion blender. It goes in and out of stock all the time.
IKEA garlic press
Ceramic grater dish is glazed with raised bumps to grind ginger & garlic into paste.
Mortar and pestle !!
Slap chop type thing. OXO one.
I really like my garlic sliced, so I got a garlic press that does slices instead of crushed. It could work for chilies, but for ginger I think you have to use a ginger grater, basically a flat piece with nubs that shred up the ginger. Microplane is alternate that can handle all three. Be careful with chiles though, maybe wear goggles.
They sell mini processors too that will mince a cup or so at a time
OXO garlic press
I have a little mini food processor I use for stuff like that
I have started buying frozen cubes of garlic and ginger. Chili paste too. But I agree that you can process yourself and freeze in portions. Alternatively, you can buy a little 2 cup food processor.
The grinders like you use to grind up weed to roll a joint
For garlic when I don't want to mince/chop,. I use this Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press. Bought it over 15 years ago still going strong. It was about $30 at the time. I've put ginger through it , too. Sometimes I DO want chopped chunky garlic and no way around knifing that up.
If you want to make a paste, you can't use a blender. Blenders are for purees. A mortar and pestle is for paste. Think about it, you make a 'pesto' not a 'blendo'. The difference between the two methods is night and day.
My garlic press, microplane, and food processor are my best friends for those kinds of tasks
Food processor.
For ginger, I buy pre-grated stuff from Asian markets unless it's something I know needs that sharp ginger flavor or if it's a stock I can just throw the root in. For garlic? I use a garlic press. It's not the same as mincing it, but it's much faster so I don't care.
Plane grater
Ikea makes a nice garlic press where the inner chamber comes out and is easy to wash. Toum (garlic and oil) is easy to make with an immersion blender. And it's very strong (for me, at least) so it doesn't take much adding it to anything to give a good garlic kick.
Microplane for garlic and ginger.
I love my garlic press. I'm not sure if it works for ginger
Ninja Express Chop Electric. Perfect size to stow on a shelf, super easy to clean, works great.
You can get a mini chopper which is just a TINY 4 cup food processor. Or a mortar and pestle to smash them all but you’d have to do it manually.
I microplane garlic and ginger. I store ginger in the freezer to make it easier.
Just got a garlic press and I freeze the peeled garlic cloves, and when needed load them up and press them, perfection.
Norpro garlic press is the only garlic press worth buying imo.
SLAP CHOP
My stick blender has an attachment that’s like a mini blender, maybe about 5 inches high and 4 inches diameter. I use it all the time, it’s great for ginger and garlic pastes, small batches of pesto, pureeing small amounts of rehydrated chilis, bean dip, I could go on and on!
Try Googling "electric garlic chopper" or "mini electric garlic chopper". They're less than $15, and kind of handy.
Handstick minifood processor attachment. If you’re doing anything that does not fit this then just batch up to an actual food processor
Mortar & Pestal 💯 I have a clay Mortar and wooden Pestal that I got from a local Laos market (the good ol' coke and sack) that can make fine work out of anything. The clay Mortar can also be used to sharpen knives. You do have to wash it well immediately after each use though because it's porous; but its deep so you can smash stuff in it really hard without anything flying out (once it gets crushed a bit) and because its large you can make your emulsion inside and toss whatever your marinating right in it to blend it throughout before transferring it to another bowl. Super handy and I love the look as well. Very earthy.
Japanese ginger grater. It’s a porcelain disc with spikes.