How To Ferment Garlic And Why You Should!

Garlic adds flavor to so many things. And there are wonderful health benefits from eating it. So why should you ferment garlic? One word, probiotics!

The fermenting of the garlic mellows the cloves and removes some of the “heat.” You could take it “medicinally” by just eating the cloves strait from the jar, but let me tell you, the country kids were unimpressed with eating it this way. Though they did have fun running around the house breathing on each other afterward!

To reap all of the probiotic and nutritional goodness from your lacto-fermented garlic, add it to anything that is not cooked. You can use your garlic on and in things like cold salads and veggie dishes, dips, dressings, salsa, chutney, etc, While you can still use your fermented garlic in anything you would normally put garlic in, keep in mind that heating the garlic will kill the lactobacilli and destroy the probiotic benefit.

You can even use your fermented garlic in recipes that call for garlic powder! Simply use the same amount of your fresh garlic! You may need to add just a tad more, because dried garlic is more concentrated. Simply mince it up, measure it out and your done.

So how do you ferment garlic? 

Easy!!! Simply peel your garlic, do not cut it. Slightly smashed and cracked garlic can lead to your garlic turning a blue/green color during fermentation. It is still good! Don’t toss it!! The color change is caused by the amino acids reacting with the sulphur, but it is still edible and good for you. And you can always either, freak people out with it or tell them it is a “special” garlic. LOL

Now simply make up a a 3.5% brine based on the size of your jar you are using. Since it takes a lot of garlic to fill a jar, I make pint jar batches. I mix 1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of ancient Himalayan salt into a pint of water. I place my garlic in the jar, poure the brine in (leaving an inch at the top of the jar), and place my glass weight in the jar. Next I place my lid and airlock on and set it on the counter to start the fermentation project. I leave the garlic on the counter around two week before moving it to the fridge. Once you move a ferment to the fridge, it will continue to ferment, but more slowly.

So when will your garlic be “ready?” Well that all depends on you. The longer a ferment sits, the better it becomes. In the case of garlic, the flavor continues to mellow over time. Do a few taste tests along the way and observe the changes. I personally thing garlic hits it’s “perfection” at around 4 months.

Were can I get fermenting supplies?

I was lucky enough to cross paths with Matt over at Fermentools. He sent me a few of his kits and asked me to give them a try. You know what? I am so totally hooked on fermenting! I might need an intervention because if it isn’t nailed down, I am stuffing it in a jar and fermenting it!!! I can say 100% his Fermentools rock! He caries all the supplies you need, even the beautiful pink ancient Himalayan salt. I receive no compensation form Fermentools, other then the initial kits he sent me to try. I do however, totally blame him for my fermenting addiction and my ongoing Fermentation Friday series!

“Pickling” food uses vinegar as the preserving agent, where as fermenting uses SALT. The salt is the kick in the butt, so to speak, to start the chemical process of breaking down the sugars in the food. Fermenting and Pickling are two different food preservation methods.

48 thoughts on “How To Ferment Garlic And Why You Should!

  1. We eat garlic a lot every day. I like the idea of fermenting it. Thanks for the instructions!

  2. I've just been thinking of fermenting garlic. I've been on a martini kick lately (mostly dessert/sweet martinis) but I wanted to try more savory martinis and don't care for olives. I thought pickled garlic would be fun to try. Do you know if alcohol kills lacto bacteria? It would be great if I still got the probiotics but I bet just the flavor would be great. I could also use it in salad dressings/vinaigrettes. Thanks for sharing. Pinned.

    1. Alcohol has been shown to damage good bacteria 🙁 Sorry. But hey, there is always the taste!

  3. The interest and excitement is building when I read your posts. When I get time it is definitely a goer. Thanks for sharing again at Good Morning Mondays, I always enjoy your posts. Blessings

  4. Fermented garlic is something I haven't tried yet. I don't have an airlock yet. Is there a way to ferment the garlic without the airlock?

    1. You can ferment anything without an airlock… you just have to "burp" your jar aka let the gases out so it doesn't blow! LOL I love the airlocks because you set it and forget it!

  5. This is something I haven't heard of yet, but those probiotics are wonderfully beneficial and I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. 😉

    1. Wait, you haven't heard about fermenting garlic or just fermenting? Fermenting is totally addictive LOL

  6. Well, this is a new one on me. Who knew simple garlic salt and water could be so good for you.

    saw this on Wonderful Wednesdays

  7. Love this! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!

  8. I prefer anything homemade, but those darn seasonings are hard to replicate. Thanks for making this easy to do! I love garlic on almost everything i cook!

    Thanks for sharing at #InspireMeMondays !

    1. I love easy things LOL With two little boys always bugging me, I have to do things easy or they don't get done.

  9. This is a great addition to my ideas for storing garlic over the winter! I will have to put my fermentools to work on some garlic asap! Thanks for linking up to the Homestead Blog Hop!

    1. If it isn't nailed down, it is getting fermented LOL It's a great way to add a little more healthy kick to you cold recipes that call for garlic.

  10. Great idea! Thank you very much for joining in the celebration of #purebloglove, we enjoy having you each week. I hope to see you on Thursday at 8PM, EST through Sunday night. ~Cydnee

  11. I love fermented garlic so much – I have got to try this, and soon! Thanks so much for linking up to Awesome Life Friday – I hope we'll see you again this week! http://rchreviews.blogspot.com

  12. Loving your fermentation series! Thanks for stopping by and sharing this recipe with us – you're featured this week on Five Friday Finds as most popular! I'm looking forward to what you share this week. 🙂

  13. This is really interesting, thanks for sharing. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!! [email protected] in Pyjamas

  14. This is great. We've been looking for fermented garlic with no success! Would love to have you share on the "Whats for Dinner" Sunday linkup!

    http://www.lazygastronome.com/whats-for-dinner-sunday-linky-26/

  15. Such an interesting post! I do raw garlic cloves for the health benefits, especially when I'm sick but never heard of fermented garlic!

  16. Mindie this is awesome! I haven't done any fermenting outside of kombucha and sauerkraut and have been wanting to try other veggies. Haha! I love your motto: "if it isn't nailed down, I'll ferment it!". It's like the new "there's a [insert whatever word here] for that!" Lol!

  17. I have never fermented anything before. . . that I know of. I have a friend who does the cabbage/sauerkraut. I'll have to ask her if she's ever fermented garlic. Stopping by from Wake up Wednesday! Hope you have a great weekend!

    1. Here ya go 101sweetmom! http://bornagainfarmgirl.blogspot.com/2014/12/fermentation-friday-spicy-red-pepper.html

  18. I've been hearing a lot about fermenting in my Young Living Essential Oils group. Thank you for sharing your recipe at the Over the Moon Link Party.

  19. This is great! I've never fermented garlic before. Saw this posted over at Simply Natural Saturdays.

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