You know how sometimes you buy a ton of garlic and then it just sits there mocking you? I mean, how much fresh garlic can you really use? (Answer: A lot, but apparently not as much as I thought.) Last weekend we made our annual pilgrimage to the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival and my husband got a wild idea to make our own garlic powder. Yum!
We decided to experiment first with some garlic that had been sitting around the kitchen for a while (probably since the garlic festival last year), loosely following the instructions on WikiHow. Peel the cloves, chop off and discard the woody part where they attach to the bulbs, then roughly chop them. Spread the chopped garlic out in a single layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with a little salt if you want, then pop them in at 150° F for about an hour or until they’re dried out and slightly toasted.
Pop the dried garlic into a food processor and grind it up until it’s mostly powder. My husband insisted that pulsing worked better; I just let it run for a bit. (If its still moist at this point, pop it back in the oven for a bit.) There will probably still be some chunks left over; you can grind it up further with a mortar and pestle if you have one, or improvise if you don’t. We dumped the garlic into a double sandwich bag and squished it up with a meat tenderizer. Pour the powder into an airtight container, and enjoy!
As you can see, once you dehydrate and grind up the garlic you don’t get a whole lot. I probably wouldn’t buy garlic just to make this because it works out way more expensive than just buying garlic powder, but it’s great for using up leftovers. Next I want to try onion powder to see if the same general recipe works, and I have a ton of herbs I need to dry before they freeze. Have you ever made your own herbs and spices?
10 replies on “DIY Garlic Powder”
Basically anything that can be done with garlic is relevant to my interests. (Yes I mean anything, including yeast infection cures.) Also I’m jealous you went to the garlic festival. NOM.
Ooh, this is good to know! I was growing some garlic until the local critters decided to make off with it, so maybe it’d be a good side-use once the growing takes off (although it’s more likely that I’ll be all about the roasting).
I am a bit of a spice-mix fiend (thanks Pinterest). I make my own Taco, Creole, Season-All, and Ranch seasonings, and next up is a ‘fall spice’ blend. I am also thinking of getting more ‘real’ herbs until I grow my own and start freezing them; I saw that you can put them in ice cube trays in oil and freeze them that way, but I should experiment with drying them… I think I just chucked some cilantro in the freezer yesterday, oops!
Mmmm garlic. Can’t help you though, we just dry spices by hanging them outside in summer.
I was totally wishing I had garlic powder earlier today. This is totally an answer to my frantic culinary prayers! ;) I am very excited to try this out. :)
As I was reading this, I was wondering about onion powder. Please report back!!
Will do!
Handy to know!
It was much easier than I thought; I’m kicking myself for not trying it sooner.
What a cool idea, but you are right, at $1.00 each this would be way to costly to make just because.
It would be great if you grew your own, though. A few cloves were sprouting so I stuck them in my planters, but I dunno if they’ll make it through the winter. I should probably check that.