Should I peel the garlic skin before roasting the garlic?

January 25, 2009 8:50 AM

How do you cook whole garlic? Do you need to peel it? If so, how?

I am trying to follow a recipe with these directions (it's from a recipe for roasted chicken with garlic):

Slice the tops from the garlic heads, reserving the bottoms; arrange the tops, cut sides down, in the center of the pan. . . . Place the reserved garlic bottoms, cut sides up, next to the chicken in the pan.

Do I need to peel the garlic before I do this? At least the outer skin? The recipe doesn't say to do this, but it might be assuming cooking knowledge that I don't have. I've never cooked with garlic larger than a clove which I always peel completely. Thanks.

posted by bluefly to food & drink (17 comments total)

Nope. Take the loosest paper off, but the whole things gets baked. When it's done, you squeeze out the cooked garlic, which will be like a paste. Tasty on crackers.
posted by crickets at 9:04 AM on January 25

I usually peel the papery part, but leave whatever is necessary to keep the cloves together-ish.
posted by unknowncommand at 9:04 AM on January 25

Yeah, just slice the top off. No taking off of the peel necessary.
posted by Stewriffic at 9:05 AM on January 25

Nthing not peeling. I find you get better results if you dip the entire head (skin and all) in olive oil prior to baking, then drizzle a little bit on top. The idea is that the cloves will cook inside the skin and be all soft and gooey and delightful. Especially good spread on bread.
posted by anastasiav at 9:10 AM on January 25 [1 favorite]

I keep the peel on, and slice the top off. Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper over the exposed part and wrap it all in foil.
posted by nitsuj at 9:17 AM on January 25

I think in this recipe you are supposed to basically peel the extra paper off the garlic, leave the rest on and cut a big slice across the middle which will expose a lot of the individual cloves. Then you have two parts the "tops" which is the paper part that extends off the top and some of the garlic clove tops and the "bottoms" which is the bulk of the garlic which will have the cloves exposed but still wrapped together with the garlic paper.

When I make garlic on my own, I cut the top part off and discard, wrap it in tinfoil into which I pour olive oil and maybe some herbs and then bake the whole thing. When you squeeze the cloves the cooked and somewhat carmelized garlic pops right out of the garlic skin, it's amazing and easiest, in my opinion to cook and eat that way.
posted by jessamyn at 9:57 AM on January 25

When it's done, you can just "pop" the cloves of garlic out of their shells. Mash and enjoy on bread or in mashed potatoes.
posted by 6:1 at 9:59 AM on January 25

Nth, with some links.

Roasted garlic is AWESOME. That sharp, pungent garlic flavour is mellowed through the cooking, and becomes just amazing. I make a soup with roasted garlic and caramelised leek that uses a whopping five heads of roasted garlic. Delicious.
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 10:11 AM on January 25

I make a soup with roasted garlic and caramelised leek that uses a whopping five heads of roasted garlic. Delicious.
posted by the luke parker fiasco

Would love to see that recipe!
posted by orme at 10:18 AM on January 25

Yum! This is one of my favorite dinner party ideas.

Step 1. Peel off a bit of the outside skin. Just the extra stuff that's loose and kind of ready to come off.

Step 2. Cut of the top. The top is the part with this round, root looking thing. Don't cut off the pointy end - that's the bottom. By cutting off the top, you should be exposing the separate cloves.

Step 3. Spread some olive oil on the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Step 4. Wrap the garlic in the aluminum foil.

Step 5. Bake at 350 for at least forty minutes. Don't bother trying to rush it and it's okay if a goes longer.

Step 6. Serve with a yummy, crusty bread. The garlic mush can now be extracted from the cloves with a smallish table knife by your dinner guests and used as a spread on the bread.

Yum Yum. I think I'm going to make roasted garlic for dinner tonight. Thanks for the idea.
posted by dchrssyr at 10:52 AM on January 25 [1 favorite]

...Step 2. Cut of the top. The top is the part with this round, root looking thing. Don't cut off the pointy end - that's the bottom. By cutting off the top, you should be exposing the separate cloves.

posted by dchrssyr at...



The top is the pointed end of the garlic bulb - the bottom is the side with the roots...

I always cut off the top third of the bulb, bath it in olive oil, and wrap in foil.

(As mentioned by others above)
posted by cinemafiend at 11:07 AM on January 25

Previously
posted by cinemafiend at 11:09 AM on January 25

I've heard of people doing just the garlic alone, but wrapping it in tin foil. Really, the paper isn't anything to worry about. You squeeze the garlic out of the peel, which will be easy as it'll be super soft. It's delicious. I mention the tin foil, as you'll likely want more. Good luck.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:36 AM on January 25

I like to roast garlic whole this way - I'll chuck it in the same tray as the meat to get some juice, and drizzle it with olive oil. When you get the garlic out as a whole bulb, you can pull the individual coves off and squeeze the delicious roast garlic paste out.
posted by rodgerd at 1:50 PM on January 25

Just put this in the oven; it smells wonderful. Thanks for all the advice.
posted by bluefly at 3:02 PM on January 25

And for more delicious fun, on a small dessert plate, pour some olive oil and drizzle in some balsamic vinegar. Spread a roasted clove on a slice or either fresh or toasted Italian bread or baguette and dip, dip, dip!
posted by plinth at 4:56 PM on January 25

Would love to see that recipe!
posted by orme at 10:18 AM on January 25 [+] [!]


Heh. Well, it's something of a Frankenstein recipe, that I don't have written proportions for. However, thinking back, I'd say ...

5 heads roasted garlic
3 leeks, sliced in half-moons and rinsed in ice water (white and green parts)
2L Vegetable broth
1c dry white whine
assorted spices (maybe sage, thyme, tarragon, bay leaves, saffron ... something complimentary to leeks)
salt to taste

Heat some olive oil in a pot (large enough to accommodate all the cooking liquid), and cook leeks until caramelised. Add roasted garlic, veg broth, wine, and spices and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Sorry it's not more specific, but most of my soup recipes have become "little of this, little of that" in nature, and they turn out a bit different every time. This is a good base to start from, and tweak as you prefer.
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 4:46 AM on January 27