How do I choose the best garlic?

Question

What should I look for when buying garlic bulbs? I buy the ones I think look OK to me, but it turns out to be very hit and miss; some nice cloves, some dodgy ones. Thanks.

Answer 1

When selecting whole heads of garlic I have always found that feeling for firmness, smell (if they ar bad you can smell it, the garlic will smell off), and looking at it to see there are no blemishes. You should stay away from garlic that has sprouted the green part can be very bitter. What I do when this happens is pull the green part out. You are right about it being hit and miss, but if you follow these guidelines it will help you get more hits than misses. I hope that thisa has been some help.

Answer 2

I'm not an expert but it seems to me that if the cloves are tightly packed together, the bulbs are young and the bitter sprouts inside the cloves haven't developed yet. When the cloves start "blossoming", sprouts have developed, sometimes even poking through the cloves' tips. Those I cut in half lengthwise and remove the sprout. My lazy way: I go to my local 99c store and buy either the whole cloves or ready-sliced, depending on my needs. They are water-packed in glass jars. Look Ma! no sprouts!

Answer 3

Put your nose under a clove of garlic and note how you feel about the aroma. If you feel exhilirated, it is of the best. If you feel average, then it is not the one for you. Different people have different tastes, and so in order to make things fair, note how you feel when you take a whif of the clove.

Here is a rating scale from 1 to 5:

1 - worst garlic I have ever known!
2 - fair enough for soup
3 - what I need for my meats
4 - this is garlic heaven
5 - got any vampires around?

I will not invite Dracula for dinner if I were you, even for one night.

Answer 4

Look for really fat ones (!!) with a thick stalk at the top.

Here's a brilliant tip thrown in for free-
When you slice a garlic clove in half, lengthways, look in the centre of each half. Remove the little green shoot that is there-
No more garlic breath...... Halleluiah!!

Answer 5

They say buy California garlic not foreign - if you are in California you get them from Gilroy. The good thing is they are most often fresh because they don't travel so much. I try to choose the most round, big, ones. If I press, they stay round and don't feel dry or look dry. I also smell to check the freshness.

Answer 6

i ahve found the more you can see the cloves bulging out the better, if the head is rather smooth on the surface and no cloves are visible you usually get small cloves with less flavor.

Answer 7

susan m was correct.The more purple the better.Handle garlic carefully,it bruises easily,and store it out of direct daylight in a cool place.

Answer 8

Look for ones that are a bit purple in colour. They are the best tastiest ones.

Answer 9

brazilian and look for the firm ones