How To Dehydrate Garlic + Make Garlic Powder
Make dehydrated garlic slices, minced garlic, garlic salt, and garlic powder from scratch. Dehydrating garlic is a simple way to preserve your harvest, extend its shelf life, and stock your pantry with flavorful, long-lasting garlic you can use year-round.
Ingredients
- Garlic lots of garlic.
Instructions
Prepare Garlic Cloves:
- Start by peeling the papery skins off the garlic. Discard all of the papery peels. Then break apart the cloves of garlic from the bulb.
- Chop both ends off of the garlic cloves. Most people only recommend to chop the bulb end off, but we’ve learned that chopping both ends off makes for a much easier peel. Peel each clove of garlic.
- Garlic Slices: Slice the garlic cloves in a uniform width. If you are doing dehydrated sliced garlic stop here and skip ahead.Minced Garlic: Mince the sliced cloves. I love to use my little chopper for this, it makes quick work of a mundane job.
Dehydrate Garlic:
- Spread the prepared garlic on the trays of your dehydrator, aiming for as close to a single layer as possible. The less the garlic touches, the better.
- Dehydrate the sliced or minced garlic at 105f until it’s completely dry. The garlic is ready when it snaps when folded. This can be up to or more than 12 hours, depending on the thickness of your garlic pieces and the humidity in your space.
- Once the garlic is completely dry, allow the dehydrator trays to cool in the dehydrator for 30-45 minutes before transferring to long term storage containers. This allows the heat to dissipate and reduces the chances of condensation forming in your storage container.
Store + Condition:
- Transfer the dried and cooled garlic to airtight storage container(s). While the dried garlic pieces are in their airtight storage containers, shake the jar each day or so for the first week and observe the container for signs of moisture.If there are no signs of moisture, you’re good to go, place them in a cool dark place for long-term storage!If there is evidence of excess moisture in the container, you must add the garlic back to the dehydrator and dry it longer. After they’ve been dried the second time, you’ll need to go through the conditioning process again.
Make Garlic Powder:
- To make your dehydrated garlic into garlic powder, simply add the dehydrated garlic to the jug of your blender, I use my Vitamix, and blend until it's a fine powder.
Make Garlic Salt:
- Combine 1 part garlic powder and 3 parts coarse salt in a blender. Pulse until well combined.
Notes
Batch:
There is no limit to how much garlic you can dehydrate using this method, aside from your available dehydrator space, and your desire to peel pounds and pounds of garlic!Storage:
Dehydrated garlic, when properly stored in an airtight container, preferably glass jar, in a climate-controlled location will maintain its quality for at least 12 months. Aim to keep yours in a cool, dark location, away from light that can degrade the quality during long term storage. If you make your own garlic powder or garlic salt, store it the same way you’d store bought garlic powder – in a cool, dark cupboard!Long Term Storage:
- Room Temperature:
You can store your sliced or minced dehydrated garlic in a clean glass mason jar with the lid tightly screwed in a cool, dark cupboard for a number of years. It works great, and this is how I store my garlic.
If you want to go the extra step when making a large batch, you can use your Food Saver Jar vacuum seal attachment to suck out any excess air. This will keep your food fresher even longer! - Freezer:
You can put your dried garlic into a mason jar or other freezer-safe, airtight container, and place it in the freezer indefinitely.
