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Sep 26, 2011
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VIDEO: How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds

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Executive Food Editor Todd Coleman shows us an amazing trick for peeling an entire head of garlic in less than 10 seconds — no acrid fingernails, no knife required. 

What you'll need: 
2 deep bowls of equal size   

How it works: 
Smash the head of garlic with the heel of your hand. 
Sweep the cloves into one bowl. 
Invert the second bowl over the top of the first bowl. 
Hold the bowls together where the rims meet and shake the dickens out of them. 




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Comments (25)

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Brooklyn Taco Loves this video. He seems so genuinely funny and it was classically crafted.

Keep them coming!

www.brooklyntaco.com
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I just tried this one out and got 2 heads done in less than half a minute!! TOO GOOD to be true (had a couple of unpeeled ones, but I am too excited to care). Thanks Todd! now off to make more of my chili garlic paste.
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Don't remember where, but I learned this trick years ago. It does work great. I'll retweet.
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I tried this last night and got about half of the cloves to peel. Still, when doing a couple heads of garlic is certainly is quicker, and even if all the cloves don't get peeled, they are easier to deal with after first shaking in the bowls.

Perhaps my garlic had stubborn husks. I will definitely try this again.

Hey, ECURRY, want to share your chili garlic paste recipe?
Is there a section of this site with more of these time saving videos?
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Love it. More, please!
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why: "let's face it, peeling garlic is a pain in the ass! it gets under your fingernails, takes forever to pull cloves apart." great tip, really, but such a pretension of emotional disgust is just not cool - someone so dainty should not be handling food.
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Such a pretension of emotional disgust is not cool, to be sure. Douchebag, follow thine advice and don't project so much. This was delightful tip!
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Everything I want to say is
in that name
for these cloves of garlic - they shine
like pearls still warm from a woman's neck.

Sujata Bhatt

Great job, Todd. Can't wait to try it out!
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Todd's approach was a teriffic one! Tried it and it really does work. Thanks much and keep giving more of these.
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Thank you! Great video and funny :) Bravo
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This is great. I've bruised the palm of my hand smashing individual cloves with the blade of a chef's knife. I've found that if you shake hard enough you don't have to smash the head first. Just place the the head intact and shake away!
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Does this trick also work for peeling coconuts?
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Totally works. Fantastic tip. Why isn't this more well known?!
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This was awesome! My Sisters and I get together every year to make tamales and I had to peel 10 heads of garlic. It was my turn to do it this year!!! I might share this tip with them...LOL!
I was a waitress in an Italian restaurant when I was in college in 1973. They used a BIG Tupperware container - it definitely works!
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This is amazing :D Wish I knew this last year when we had to peel and mince over 5 pounds of garlic.

What's the name of the song and artist in the background? Can someone e-mail it to me? (Rowinstonie@gmail.com)
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But smashing garlic cloves and waiting for 15 minute before using them increases their anti carcinogenic properties ...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/unlocking-the-benefits-of-garlic/

saving time versus cancer saving chemicals?
great tip but what a completely unnecessary use of foul language. Working for such a prestigious publication and acting like he is in his HS locker room. Very sad.
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This is very good, but you still have to smash the garlic with something else. If you use the Amazing Kitchen Rock, you can accomplish both tasks at once, using the same principal. Also, no bruising of the hand at all! If you want to see how it's used, go to www.amazingkitchenrock.com
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Now, if only there were something to be done about shallots. Garlic not so much a fuss, but shallots, a PITA. Usually, I buy two or three big ones, peel them, mince them in one of those chopper thingys, and stick them in a jar with oil. Then I have nicely minced shallots with shallot flavored oil. At least that way I only have to do this every three or four months, but it still takes a bit of time.
Todd Coleman is my hero. That is all.
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A metal cocktail shaker with lid works just as well.
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A metal cocktail shaker works just as well. Less messy too.
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This is for SCOOP.

Sorry I did not see your comment earlier. Here is the link for the Chili Garlic Paste in my blog: http://www.ecurry.com/blog/basics/chili-garlic-paste-2/

regarding the garlic cloves peeling only partly, try a metal bowl and do not over crowd the bowl. I peel 3 heads of garlic at a time, in a bowl 8-9 inch wide, with an equal sized bowl to cover it. It might take more than 10 seconds to do that much and you might want to toss them around after one shake. But def. better way than peeling them with hand one by one.

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