IMG_8652Have you ever found peeling the skins off garlic cloves a pain in the “you know what”? Try peeling up to 100 cloves for a cooking class! Today’s tip is all about the “tool” and a “tip”. My first tip… the type of garlic you buy makes a huge difference! I found these bulbs of garlic imported from China the easiest to peel BY FAR. Funny thing…. I didn’t buy these at an asian market. I find these packs of garlic bulbs in my local carnaceria. Go figure! These are the only garlic bulbs I buy… to save my sanity and time! Look for garlic bulb packs like this from China in your area.

IMG_8636The must have tool for this job is a stainless steel meat pounder like this one. I got this one at Sur La Table and use it for a ton of different uses. 

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Come down fairly hard on the top of the bulb with the pounder and……

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Voila! The cloves will separate and some will automatically come out of their skins. For those that didn’t, just give them a light pound and the skins will fall right off effortlessly. And I mean effortlessly! 

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Look at those naked cloves…. lovely to all garlic lovers like me!

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Remember when I told you about the many uses for this tool? After you are done de-skinning (Yes I make up my own words and I like it) the cloves, rub your fingers on this stainless steel tool and  voila…. the garlic smell will disappear! Pretty cool, huh? Happy Tuesday everyone!