How to Peel Garlic in 3 Ways with Tips from Professional Chefs

Peeling garlic can be a tedious task. The garlic cloves are only so big and your hands are never the right size for the job. Trying to remove the thin layer of skin from clove after clove is not only daunting, but it leaves your hands wreaking of garlic. If your recipes calls for several cloves, this is usually the part where you pawn off some of the kitchen duties. If only there were a better way! Oh wait, there is. Here's how to peel garlic like a professional so you can mince garlic with ease or create a fantastic garlic paste.

In times like these, it's best to let the pros over at ChefSteps show you how a real master gets the job done in this mini cooking school video. Offering up three tips, ChefSteps show you how to to take some of the hassle - and smelly hands - out of the peeling process with their easy method. That way, you can get on with the cooking.

There's the Hulk smash method over the entire head of garlic, which works in a flash, but it gets pretty messy. It's decidedly not the easiest way when you consider clean-up.

You could opt for soaking it in cold water. In this method the cloves pop out in a flash and leave your hands to smell less like garlic all day. This is an easy way to handle garlic needs for recipes that require prep work prior to using the garlic. Simply pop in as you're cooking, and you should be able to place the peeled garlic in the garlic press as soon as you pull them out.

Or you could shake the garlic like a bartender with a Boston shaker. You could even cover a stainless steel bowl with the garlic inside and shake it just the same. This also offers up a nice little work out.

Whichever method you choose, you'll look like a pro at your next dinner party. Speaking of dinner party, here's 10 garlic bread recipes to inspire you to get peeling. It's garlic time!

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