2 different ways to peel garlic and avoid the smell on your hands

Cooktop Cove: 2 different ways to peel garlic and avoid the smell on your hands

By Eva Polizzi

Craving a warm, garlicky meal, but dreading the sticky fingers and cloying smell on your hands that peeling garlic can leave behind? While garlic is a foundational ingredient for a myriad of delicious dishes, peeling the cloves can be a toilsome chore, and the smell the peel leaves can affect the taste of other ingredients.

But the prep work does not have to be such an imposition. Below are two foolproof ways to quickly peel garlic cloves without a mess, smell, or stickiness. Using simple kitchen supplies, a whole head of garlic can be quickly peeled, and you can be on the way to chopping, mincing, and sautéing the savory, spicy warmth.

Method one: Shake it up

Materials:

-1 head of garlic
-2 kitchen bowls of equal size

Instructions:

1. Peel off the outer layers of the garlic bulb, exposing the wrapped individual cloves.

2. Put the cloves in the first bowl.

3. Inverting the second bowl, place it over the first bowl, holding the bowl rims together with your fingers.

4. Shake the bowls vigorously for 20 seconds, causing the garlic cloves to jostle against each other and the insides of the bowls.

5. Separate the two bowls. The movement of the cloves should have peeled the cloves, so you can pick out the garlic from the papery peels.

Method two: Heat it up

Materials:

-1 head of garlic
-1 microwave-safe plate or bowl

Instructions:

1. Peel off the outer layers of the garlic bulb, exposing the wrapped individual cloves.

2. Place garlic cloves on the plate and microwave them for 20 seconds.

3. Once heated, pinch each clove at the base, and the garlic should squeeze right out of the peel.