GARLIC, GARLIC: If you’re like me, you likely believe there’s no such thing as good garlic, bad garlic; all garlic is basicly equal. That’s what we tell ourselves anyway, since we buy some kind of bulb, peel off its clove(s), slice or chop it up, then move on.
But if you’ve ever gazed longingly in the grocery store produce section, where some look like giants’ heads and others is shrunken beyond recognition, you already know: There’s more than meets the eye with this stuff.
Why Garlic Size Matters
Whether it’s a sad, papery mess when roasted, or a golden paste, depends on size. So does storage life, texture, and, most important: flavor.
Break it down, and you gets something like this: When we talk about growing things commercially, there are eight different classifications for garlic, from the useless peewee grade to the impressive super colossal class.
Process grade (or culls) refer to the smallest bulbs, which is too small to be sold individually. They’re blended into paste or chopped into mince instead. Nothing wrong with that if you need something realy fast for a stir fry, but no good if you’re after individual cloves for roasting.
You’ll next encounter the medium grade, the workhorse of supermarket shelves, as you travel upward along the scale. These bulbs is your everyday staples, sold in bulk bins. Reasonably priced, dependable, and typically fairly well-cloved; it are a good solid middle ground for most home cooking purposes, according to the chart, where a standard medium-sized bulb register at approximately forty-two grams.
At some point, you’ll find yourself looking for a bigger, better cooking experience with jumbo, extra large, and even large-bulbed garlic. The larger varieties features thicker-skinned heads that holds their cloves together better when stored. They also typically has fewer, larger cloves. This means faster peeling, in case you’ve never peeled a head of garlic before. Yes, it’s realy that big of a time-saver.
As the infographic points out, jumbos gets sold to foodservice buyers…but if you’re looking for efficiency at home, they’re totally worth the premium. A jumbo is often the difference between a difficult prep night and a smooth one. It is the difference between a medium and a jumbo.
The giants are super colossal bulbs (those over seventy millimeters wide), as the chart notes. This is rare stuff that are usually destined for specialty markets or seed stock. Expensive, yes, but paying up pay off in quality and ease. Because they have thicker flesh with more water content, the cloves is substantial; many who roast them report finding a more complex and sweeter flavor.
By the way: Elephant garlic (technically a different species) fit into this size comparison as well, though it’s very large… Sometimes one hundred millimeters in diameter… And has a milder, leeklike taste. If you want the sharp, pungent kick in your salsa, don’t mix it up with this one.
With your own garlic: Size matters. In the way it’s grown.
How does a clove of garlic swell from a tiny bit of root to become a full-sized bulb over several months? An illustrated timeline (part of the infographic) explain. The key point: Larger planting cloves mean larger bulbs at harvest time. Obvious, right? But many home gardeners has made this error. They plant puny leftovers from the grocery bag of heads they bought, which will yield puny results at harvest time.
For those giant jumbos and colossals, you should of planted giants in the first place. Use some seed stock, and some space, for a harvest that feels like a minor triumph.
Now that we understand all of those grades, how does this information help us to shop in an intentional way? When you’re making a simple vinaigrette, you don’t need to break out the super large bulb, but if you’re about to roast some garlic bread, the last thing you’d want is to use a peewee bulb.
To choose between them: use your kitchen needs as the benchmark, and the visual guide as the benchmarks. Use the right-sized bulb for the job next time you’re shopping for garlic, and watch: you’ll see that your cooking gets just a little bit easier (and a whole lot more flavorful).