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How to make your own garlic powder?
I’ve been growing garlic in my garden for the past 3 years. Each year I plant the largest bulbs from my harvest for the next year’s crop. I’ve just harvested my garlic but I had a small bowl leftover from last year. They’re starting to get dry and I’d rather use my fresh harvest for cooked garlic. So how do you use the older garlic? I want to show you how to make your own garlic powder.
Different varieties of garlic preserve better than others. You should do your research into the varieties of garlic to make sure your type is good for drying. It’s important to store the garlic in a cool and dark location with moderate humidity. Your garlic will last much longer under these conditions. After harvesting my latest crop, I brought the last bit of last years garlic harvest to the kitchen for use. Some of them had dried up into hard bulbs, others were starting to dry, with loose skin and a few with shoots.
First, you’ll need to remove all the skins:
The first step is to remove all the skins. This is probably my least favorite part. Lucky for me, my son loved to use the rubber tube thingy I got at one of those home parties that will remove the skins if you roll it between your hands. So he did the hard work. If the bulb has started to grow a green shoot, cut it in half and pull out the sprouting shoot. It isn’t harmful but could make your garlic bitter. Chop the garlic as small as possible, even the hard dry ones. I used my Ninja Blender/Food Processor 450 Watt. You can use a blender or food processor. If you do it by hand, try to get the pieces as small and consistent in size as possible. The smaller/similar the pieces are, the more evenly they will dry.
If you have a dehydrator you may need to use your fruit leather trays to prevent the minced garlic from falling through the grids. If you are using an oven, use parchment paper on a baking sheet. Spread the garlic pieces as thinly and as evenly as possible. This will reduce dry time and help to dry more evenly. I use the Excaliber Electric 9 Tray Food Dehydrator, you might like another article where I use my Dehydrator to make my own Citrus Powder.
Dehydrator – Set to the lower temperature for herbs approximately 105 to 115 degrees. I dried mine for about 4 hours. I suggest doing this outside to prevent the house from smelling like garlic.
Oven– Preheat the oven to the lowest temperature. 140 – 170 if possible. If you have a convection oven use the convection setting with the fan that helps circulate the air. Remember you’re not trying to cook the garlic. Stir every thirty minutes until it is dry and crumbles between your fingers. May take 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the volume of garlic.
Let the dry garlic cool completely before processing. Any trapped heat could create moisture and risk of rotting. Next, you’ll want to run the dried pieces through your food processor or a coffee grinder, whichever will grind the powder finer.
Store it in an airtight container to be sure no moisture collects inside the container.
Other options:
There are several options to prepare the garlic for different uses. You can follow the steps up to removing from the dehydrator. Then crumble by hand to leave it in larger pieces. You can then add pieces of garlic to soups and stews where they will re-hydrate.
You could also combine with salt for garlic salt. You can use this same method for onions to make onion powder or onion salt. I’ve even made celery powder using celery leftover from a party tray.
Let me know if you try this out! What did you dehydrate? How do you plan on using it?
Enjoy!
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