Originally published on August 30, 2014
The other day I wanted to try a new chicken wing recipe my mother had sent me. Reading through it while checking all my cupboards to make sure I had all the ingredients, I was disheartened by the fact that I had no garlic powder, an important ingredient I needed for the rub they’d soak up for a few hours before being tossed on the grill. Not wanting to give up on the entire idea altogether, I did remember that I had about five bulbs of garlic sitting in another cupboard. And then the idea struck! Make your own garlic powder! I don’t have a dehydrator, but I am not to be stopped when I get an idea in my head (especially if I’m in the kitchen when it strikes) and so onward I went – on a mission to make my very own garlic powder using fresh garlic. I only used one head of garlic (after all, I didn’t reallyknow how this little experiment was going to turn out,) and that, I was hoping, would give me the amount of garlic powder I would need for my recipe. It did; it yields about 3 – 4 tablespoons. If you want more though, just use more garlic. I promise you, this really works!
Ingredients:
1 head of garlic $0.33
Directions:
1.) Preheat your oven to its lowest setting (mine was 170 degrees Fahrenheit.) Peel and slice the garlic very thinly. Make sure that you get them all to about even thickness so that they can all dry evenly and you won’t have some very dry pieces and others that are still moist and soft in the middle when they’re done cooking.
2.) Place all the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. (My one head fit onto one baking sheet, but of course use more than one if you need to. The single layer is VERY important here, as the garlic will not dry out if it’s covered by other pieces of garlic.)
3.) Place the baking sheet in the oven and slowly cook and dry them out for about 2 hours (for one head,) checking on them every 30 minutes or so. You will know when they’re ready to be taken out of the oven when they are extremely dry and brittle. It’s okay if the edges turn slightly brown during this process but for the most part, they should remain white.
4.) When garlic is finished drying, remove from the oven and place into a blender or food processor. While my processor usually wins out, I chose the blender this time as the bowl of the processor is simply too big and I wondered if it would be able to get at all the garlic inside. If I do it again using more heads of garlic, I’ll likely use the processor. Process or blend until the garlic is completely broken down into a powder – and watch your face when you take that lid off; there’s a lot of dust! Remove any large bits that did not break down and/or are still moist.
5.) Use and enjoy!