The loose outer skin, which has a brittle papery appearance and texture, can be pulled off and discarded to get to the cloves. Take care not to discard small cloves of garlic that may be hidden within the peel. [1] X Research source Most recipes will indicate the number of cloves, or bulbs, required. If not, one medium-sized clove usually gives about one tablespoon of minced garlic. [2] X Research source
One way is to cut off the hard stem end of the clove (where it attached to the garlic bulb) and squeeze the clove out from its skin using gentle, but steady, pressure. Another is to place the side of the knife blade on top of the clove and press down firmly until you feel the skin release. Peel the skin off with your fingers. Take care not to smash the clove completely, which may cause the clove “meat” to mix with the waste.
One trick chefs use to prevent cutting accidents is to hold the thing they are cutting (in this case a clove of garlic) with their fingertips, putting a bend in their knuckles as they press it into the cutting board. This way, the side of the knife rests against the knuckle, leaving a gap between it and the tips of the fingers, making an accident less likely. To get better control over the knife, hold it against the board and use a rocking motion to slice the garlic, rather than moving it up and down. [3] X Research source
When finished, you should be left with dozens (or even hundreds) of tiny garlic cubes. Congratulations — you’ve just minced a clove of garlic.
As a reminder, finely minced garlic is garlic that’s been minced a lot into many tiny pieces. Coarsely minced garlic is garlic that’s been minced into just a few big pieces.
Separate the correct number of cloves from the bulb. Discard leftover bulb skin. Peel the garlic by squeezing each clove out of the skin or crushing it with a knife and peeling the skin off.
Lay the garlic flat on a cutting board and grab a sturdy metal fork. Press the bottoms of the tines of the fork into the garlic. Press down hard to push the garlic through the gaps in the tines. Turn the fork and repeat in the other direction. Continue repeating for a final mince. Wipe the scraps off of the fork and pick the stem nub out of the minced garlic. It’s now ready to use.
Place the clove inside the inner metal part of the press. Squeeze the handles. The garlic will be forced through the holes on the other side of the press. Scrape the scraps out and combine with the garlic material that was forced through the press. The garlic is now ready to use. Another device that works similarly is the mortar and pestle.
To use a microplane, just rub the garlic against the blades over a bowl. The thin, wet slices will fall through the microplane into the bowl. When the garlic gets too small to microplane without hurting your fingers, just chop it up or crush it and combine with the rest.
