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Garlic completes many of the dishes that we eat daily. Learning how to easily mince garlic without wasting any time is an absolutely vital skill for any home chef or aspiring cook.
Preparing garlic for dishes can often be a chore. From peeling to chopping, garlic can be so much work. However, it doesn’t have to be! In this article, we will go through different ways to become an expert at garlic mincing. Soon, you will be teaching others your new skill.
Let’s get started!
Removing the Peel Comes First
Before you start mincing garlic, the skin or peel needs to be removed from the cloves first. If you try to do this with your fingers, it can take and waste many precious minutes.
An easy way to do this quickly is to crush the individual garlic clove between the side of a chef’s knife and a cutting board. Alternatively, you can also crush it with your hands. After this, the peel should slip off easily.
Mincing Garlic With a Knife
Mincing garlic with a knife is one of the most popular ways to prepare garlic because you have complete control over the end result. You can mince it as fine or as rough as you’d like. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to mince garlic with a knife.
- Take your peeled garlic clove and slice it lengthwise. Start from one end and keep slicing until you get to the other end. The thinner you slice the garlic, it usually the better. Think of it as slicing an onion. Try to use a sharp knife, but please watch out for your fingers! Many chefs recommend rocking the knife back and forth to slice the garlic rather than bringing the knife up and down. This leaves less risk of injuring yourself.
- Next, try and keep the clove as much together as possible and turn it 90 degrees. Once it’s crosswise, do the exact same thing. You can use the same slicing technique as you did for the first cut, and now your garlic will be roughly mined. The thinner your slices, the finer your mince will be. You can stop at this step, or you can take it one step further!
- If you want finer pieces of garlic, keep mincing. To continue mincing, simply keep moving your knife back and forth over the pile of garlic. The more you run the knife back and forth, the finer the mince you will get.
Mincing Garlic With a Fork
Mincing garlic with a fork is a trick that not everyone is aware of. It’s an easy and different way to mince garlic, especially if you don’t want to use a knife. This method would also be great for kids helping in the kitchen! Here are the steps you need to take if you’d like to try this method.
- Peel the garlic clove as you normally would.
- Place the garlic clove flat on a cutting board. Try to find a sturdy metal fork that won’t bend if you press hard on it. Next, press the bottom of the fork into the garlic. This might take a little arm strength!
- The harder you press, the easier the garlic will go through the lines/gaps in the fork. Continue to press the fork down and move it around to mince the garlic fully. Simple as that!
Alternatively, you can hold the fork down and scrape the garlic clove against the end of the fork until the clove gets smaller and smaller, eventually, you will be left with no clove and finely minced garlic!
Mincing Garlic With a Garlic Press
If you’re honestly not a fan of mincing garlic or even touching it with your fingers, a garlic press might be the best option for you. It’s a small handy tool that was made specifically for mincing garlic.
A garlic press actually does a little bit more than mincing, because it releases more of the garlic juices than would normally be released if you minced it by hand. Here are instructions on how to use a garlic press.
- Peel a garlic clove as you normally would. Next, place that clove inside the metal hole that was created specifically for it. Some garlic presses can handle cloves with the peel on, which means less work for you!
- Squeeze the handles of the press so that the garlic becomes crushed. The press has many little holes that the garlic will go through. Have a little bowl or something ready to collect this!
- Scrape any remaining garlic bits off the press, then wash it to use next time.
Mincing Garlic With a Mortar and Pestle
If you want to do it the old fashioned way, a mortar and pestle is an amazing way to mince garlic, especially if you already have one. To do this, peel the cloves as you normally would. Then place them in the bowl and crush it with the pestle until you reach your desired consistency.
A Tip When Mincing Garlic
If you’re mincing garlic for a dish that also contains herbs, you can actually do both at the same time. There’s nothing wrong with mincing garlic on its own, but if you’re already doing it with a knife, it’s the perfect opportunity to chop some herbs as well.
If you are someone who doesn’t like the feeling of sticky garlic on your fingers and on the knife, herbs are the perfect way to prevent this. When you chop the two together, the garlic will stick to the herbs and not the knife. It doesn’t matter if it’s fresh basil, parsley, or mint – you can do this with any herb!
Guidance Videos
Here are a couple of guidance videos to give you a visual representation of what the different methods of mincing garlic can look like! We will include a video on the knife method, fork method, garlic press, and more.
