Making black garlic yourself can be a delicious experiment in fermentation.
Black garlic is a traditionally Korean specialty that is also becoming common in North America. While it may be simple to purchase pre-packaged black garlic, it can be more rewarding to make your own at home. Once your garlic is ready, you can use it in all sorts of dishes such as pasta, hummus, pizza or stir-fries. Fermenting the garlic is a simple process but it does take a long stand-by time, so be prepared to wait a while for your black garlic to be ready.
Instructions
1. Put as many whole, unpeeled garlic bulbs as you would like in your container. The container can be any material that is safe for the oven, and should be big enough to hold the amount of garlic you want to make.
2. Wrap the container with the foil. You should wrap it as tightly as possible to prevent any contaminants from getting in and to prevent too much garlic aroma from wafting out.
3. Place the tightly wrapped container in an oven set to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Many ovens can't be set this low, but if it is a gas oven it may be warm enough with just the pilot light on. If you don't want to leave your oven on for an extended period, you can also use a rice cooker set to "warm," a food dehydrator with all but one of the trays taken out, a plate warmer or a slow cooker. Just be sure that the temperature remains at about 130 to 150 degrees and won't shut off automatically.
4. Leave the container to ferment for 40 days. It is edible at 10 days, but to get the full effect you should wait the full 40 days. In that time, the cloves will have become a deep, inky black color, and will be soft and spread-able and slightly sweet, similar to roasted garlic but much richer in texture.
Tags: about degrees, garlic ready
