Friday, December 31, 2021

Black Garlic - Join the Dark Side

The process for black garlic originated in Korea. It is the same garlic that we offer as fresh garlic (typically the variety Music) but fermented at elevated temperature and humidity.

It is very probiotic and has 2x the health benefits of fresh garlic.

It has a wonderful mild garlic flavor with overtones of molasses.

I am making commercial quantities of black garlic this year.

Let's look at how this works.


The key to black garlic is time, temperature and humidity control.

The temperature needs to be 130-140 F and the garlic heads need to be in a container so they don't dry out. 100% humidity is the goal.

So how do you do this. Lots of ways I suppose.

I think the Korean's originally put in a pottery vessel and buried it in their compost pile. The temps would be about right.

If you look on the internet some people are using rice cookers on the "keep warm" setting.

I have been using 1/2 gallon glass canning jars filled with garlic bulbs then sealed with canning lids. These are then put in a dehydrator with good temperature control. It takes 4-6 weeks.

The results are amazing. I've made about 10 pounds so far and hope to make much more.

It is something relatively new to our market, so I have been offering some small heads in a 1/2 pint box to let people try it. Feedback has been good so far.

You don't need to add anything to the garlic. The bulbs have all the enzymes and nutrients for the process to proceed without interruption. Just temperature and humidity.









No comments:

Post a Comment