For this one, I only looked at hand-minced and microplaned garlic, since they had proven themselves to be the extremes that define the spectrum. I had a bunch of beef shanks in my fridge, so I decided to do a braise with plenty of onion, carrot, garlic, and red wine, making two batches simultaneously, the only difference being the method of garlic prep. Side-by-side, I could smell the difference: the microplaned garlic was once again producing an acrid, stronger smell, even after 20 minutes of cooking, by which time the carrots were very tender and the onions golden.
I added red wine to the two pots and continued to taste while it simmered. The batch with minced garlic had a sweeter flavor, with a more subtle, rounded presence of garlic, while the other pot had an edge of bitterness to it.
By the time the beef was back in the pots and I was ready to move them to the oven, I could still smell and taste the difference. But three hours later, when I took the tender shanks out and blended the braising liquid and aromatics into a sauce, I found that they tasted exactly the same; if there was a difference, I wasn't detecting it.
With a long enough cooking time, that broad range of garlic flavors had finally been reduced to a single mellow garlic base note, regardless of preparation method. Reading this, it may sound like I think microplaning garlic is a terrible thing.
But that's not the case. I can imagine plenty of scenarios where we might want a garlic flavor that's strong enough to kick us in the cloves. Mayonnaise, for example, with all its rich egg-and-oil creaminess, could benefit from that assertiveness.
Other times, we may want to take a more gentle approach. The key, I think, is to proceed deliberately, with the realization that the various options for mincing or pureeing garlic are not as interchangeable as they might seem.
If a recipe calls for minced garlic, it's not just a matter of deciding which method is most convenient, or which method we happen to personally find easiest. There's an important decision to be made, since each approach will produce a different set of textures and flavors that, when raw or quick-cooked, will have a significant impact on the final dish.
The next time you cook something, don't stop considering your options after choosing whether to leave the garlic whole, crushed, sliced, or minced: think about the exact mincing method, if that's the direction you end up taking.
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Read More. Asked 7 years, 11 months ago. Active 3 years, 10 months ago. Viewed 27k times. Improve this question. Divi 4, 22 22 gold badges 62 62 silver badges 93 93 bronze badges. Evan Carroll Evan Carroll 2 2 gold badges 6 6 silver badges 13 13 bronze badges. I'd say for home cooking, nobody you'll ever serve the food to including yourself will tell the difference between crushed and "finely minced", you'll just save yourself a significant amount of time if your knife skills aren't at a pro chef level.
Who enjoys cleaning a garlic press? I say skip the press. You can make garlic any texture you like with a knife. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. I'm not aware of anything else for which a press of the garlic press type could be of any use. Improve this answer. I do press ginger sometimes for convenience, but due to the fibrous texture what you get is more like ginger juice. It's pretty nifty.
While answering a related question this popped up as related. Trying to press even coarsely pre-chopped ginger was how I broke my metal garlic press. I normally dice ginger by slicing finely across the grain first, then if the other cuts are less fine it doesn't matter too much — Chris H. There are three factors to consider in deciding whether to chop or mince garlic versus using a garlic press: Texture.
If you want a sauce or dressing to be completely smooth, the texture of pressed garlic is suitable as it is essentially pureed. As a general rule of thumb, within limits, the more finely you chop garlic, the more strongly its flavor will permeate a dish. Crushing or using a press maximizes this. For a small number of cloves, a garlic press can be used without peeling the gloves. Of course, the press must then be cleaned, but some people find that easier than manually peeling.
In practice, professionals almost never use an actual garlic press because: They know the tricks to efficiently peel small or large quantities of garlic. For small quantities, with good knife skills, a press isn't necessary to get pureed garlic. It is fast and simple to get pureed garlic with nothing but a knife by smashing a clove or two with the flat of the blade, then mincing with salt, and smearing with the flat of the blade.
This method does not require stopping occasionally to clean out the press. If larger quantities are required, a food processor will chop the garlic as finely as desired. Garlic in various forms can be purchased ready to use, from whole peeled cloves, to chopped, to pureed. Depending on the type of professional kitchen, and the results desired, one of these convenience products may be used to make things easier. Slight niggle on flavour. If you chop garlic, you will cut through cells, releasing more flavour.
If you crush, you will leave more cells intact, resulting in a milder flavour. Crushing produces a soggy mass and all the cells are ruptured, whereas cutting leaves more cells intact. Hoping to taste the difference for myself, I made some garlic bread by splitting a clove in half, then pressing one half and mincing the other by hand.
I mixed the garlic with equal amounts of butter and salt, spread it on some crusty bread, and baked it until toasty. Of the four people who tasted, two thought the pressed garlic bread was stronger and more pungent than the minced. The other two had exactly the opposite reaction. Who knows. My takeaway from this experiment is that the difference is miniscule.
So will I use my garlic press more? Probably, but then, old habits die hard. I love my press, but I have found that the pressed garlic will turn bitter if cooked on high heat for longer than a minute. Best to slice when flash-cooking. For so long, I didn't use a press. But I recently got a Pampered Chef garlic press and I love it. It has a small tool attached that pushes out anything that is in the holes. Rinse it and put it in the dish washer. There are recipes that you would want to press the garlic; it releases the oils, gives a stronger flavor.
I just put on some soup and I chopped the garlic, feeling that it will be cooking in the soup and might be better in small pieces and perhaps not as pungent. I used the Pampered Chef manual chopper to do this. It made all the difference. Otherwise, I hate chopping garlic or onion, the chopper makes it quick and simple. Great tools if you like to cook a lot, or not. I've used both, but I hate the cleanup on the press. I haven't bought another one since the last one broke.
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