{"id":18049,"date":"2013-09-04T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2013-09-04T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/?p=18049"},"modified":"2013-08-31T20:13:07","modified_gmt":"2013-09-01T02:13:07","slug":"dehydrating-garlic-the-easy-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/dehydrating-garlic-the-easy-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Dehydrating Garlic the Easy Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I buried<\/strong> my wet face in the towel, I became shockingly aware that it had been hanging to dry in the same room where the garlic had been processing in the Excalibur Food Dehydrator<\/a><\/span>\"\". So, Rule #1 for dehydrating garlic: don’t hang your swimming pool towel in the same room.<\/span> Even the mild mix of chlorine water from my backyard pool combined with the warm smell of garlic was unsettling. I have dehydrated plenty of other foods in there without this phenomena, but garlic permeated nearly everything. On the bright side, I haven’t seen any mosquitoes for quite a while.<\/p>\n

\"Garlic<\/a>
Garlic with ends cut off and ready to have peels rolled off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

But it did<\/strong> remind me that I needed to check on the garlic. This first time around, I had chopped off the ends and peeled the cloves. The garlic had only been dug a couple of days prior and it was not easy to peel. The skins were still too moist even for very good results with the rubber tube garlic peeler<\/a>\"\"<\/span>. I had to use my finger nails quite a bit and they became raw preparing enough garlic for 4 trays in the dehydrator. Thus, Rule #2: Give the garlic skin a few days to dry if you want it to be easy to peel.<\/span> It will still be very potent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"the<\/a>
the blades of a Pampered Chef chopper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My husband<\/strong> had sat on the couch and painstakingly diced the cloves into pieces with a regular knife that fateful night. It took FOREVER. Rule #3: Use a Pampered Chef Chopper<\/span><\/a>\"\"<\/span><\/span>. It not only chops quickly, but it self-rotates while it does it. I find using both hands to apply the chopping force helps me to avoid stressing my wrists. Having the top of the chopper positioned no higher than your waist gives the best leverage, too. When I used the chopper for the next batch, I was done chopping inside of half an hour, as opposed to poor hubby’s 3 hours on the couch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A spatula helped get the juicy chopped garlic onto the dehydrator tray.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I hadn’t<\/strong> gotten this far into being hands on with garlic without realizing how sticky it can be. When I saw all those fun piles of chopped up garlic on my cutting board, I knew that using my hands to pick them up and spread them was going to be challenging. There had to be a better way. Rule #4: A cooking spatula is much faster and less messy way to transfer the juicy garlic to the dehydrator trays.<\/span> I chose to use a hard plastic one, because I wanted to use it for spreading, too. I figured the plastic would have less chance of tearing or puncturing my dehydrator sheets<\/a>\"\"<\/span>.<\/p>\n

All this<\/strong> stickiness also leads to Rule #5: Take the time to rinse the garlic off of everything right away, especially the chopper.<\/span> You will thank yourself later.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The spatula was useful for spreading, too, although I did use my fingers some.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I followed<\/strong> all of the above rules when I worked on my second batch of garlic for the dehydrator. I did it all by myself in less time than it took 2 of us previously. Other things that I did that might be useful:<\/p>\n