Vampires hate her!
November 9, 2020 12:29 AM Subscribe
I misread a soup recipe and used ~8 cloves of garlic and 3 onions instead of the other way around. While the soup came out okay, my kitchen and I are in garlic overload mode. I am pretty sure that the leftover soup is gonna have to go. How do I get rid of it without the garlic saturating everything (sink, disposal, trash, me, etc) for weeks?
I’d blend it and carefully flush it down the toilet, OR pour it into a container I’m willing to sacrifice and throw it away.
posted by pairofshades at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by pairofshades at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Greenish, the garlic is partially burnt so I'm worried that it would age poorly if frozen. :(
posted by Kitchen Witch at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2020
posted by Kitchen Witch at 12:38 AM on November 9, 2020
Wait just 8 cloves of cooked garlic? In my world that's amateur hour. Give it to a friend for whom that is a normal amount of garlic 😅
posted by athirstforsalt at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2020 [69 favorites]
posted by athirstforsalt at 12:39 AM on November 9, 2020 [69 favorites]
Was it a LOT of soup and 8 heads of (burnt) garlic and 3 onions (instead of the correct 3 heads of roasted garlic and 8 onions)?
I would sacrifice a container and throw it away, using a silicone spatula to scrape out as much as possible. I might wipe the pot with a dry paper towel to really reduce the amount that might get into the sink / air during washing. I would wash as usual, then have a stainless steel object nearby to de-garlic my hands after washing.
posted by batter_my_heart at 1:21 AM on November 9, 2020
I would sacrifice a container and throw it away, using a silicone spatula to scrape out as much as possible. I might wipe the pot with a dry paper towel to really reduce the amount that might get into the sink / air during washing. I would wash as usual, then have a stainless steel object nearby to de-garlic my hands after washing.
posted by batter_my_heart at 1:21 AM on November 9, 2020
Do you have a yard? Can you not take a sieve/strainer outside and pour the liquid onto the grass near the street and then chuck the solids straight in the outdoor trash?
Having said that I use garlic and onions almost every day, there are garlic trimmings and onion tops and tails in my bin at any given time, plus I just handwash cutting boards, pots, pans, serving bowls, and my own hands and the kitchen never smells of garlic or onions unless I'm actively chopping, cooking, or serving them. I would gently suggest that you might be over-sensitive and if you have to get rid of the leftovers, any standard disposal method will be fine.
posted by cilantro at 2:20 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Having said that I use garlic and onions almost every day, there are garlic trimmings and onion tops and tails in my bin at any given time, plus I just handwash cutting boards, pots, pans, serving bowls, and my own hands and the kitchen never smells of garlic or onions unless I'm actively chopping, cooking, or serving them. I would gently suggest that you might be over-sensitive and if you have to get rid of the leftovers, any standard disposal method will be fine.
posted by cilantro at 2:20 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Agree- is this like cloves as in teeth of garlic, or a whole head?
Freeze the left overs anyway- it will at least move the problem for future you to solve.
posted by freethefeet at 2:23 AM on November 9, 2020
Freeze the left overs anyway- it will at least move the problem for future you to solve.
posted by freethefeet at 2:23 AM on November 9, 2020
Response by poster: It was cloves (large ones) but all together a head probably. I am really new to cooking with garlic and while I know to some 8 cloves is nothing, the amount of soup I made really couldn't handle THAT much. I can't handle that much. My ears started ringing after I downed a big bowl.
However! I am interested in the freezing for later option. How would I store a covered cube tray so that the odor doesn't leech into my freezer and contaminate all my frozen fruit?
posted by Kitchen Witch at 2:32 AM on November 9, 2020
However! I am interested in the freezing for later option. How would I store a covered cube tray so that the odor doesn't leech into my freezer and contaminate all my frozen fruit?
posted by Kitchen Witch at 2:32 AM on November 9, 2020
The thing that is probably making you feel like 8 cloves of garlic is enough to eradicate all vampires in a city wide radius is a compound called allicin. It is produced when garlic cloves get smashed and has a strong sulfurous scent and spicy flavor. As a garlic lover I’m very into it and if you smash your cloves and leave them to hang out for a few minutes before chopping and applying heat you can get a ton more garlic flavor into a dish with way less garlic - this is great for me because I feel like I’m constantly running out.
On the other hand, you can stop or prevent allicin from developing in a few ways. Roasting whole garlic heads makes it taste amazing but different and lacking that sulfurous kick entirely; if you chop your garlic with a very sharp blade so the cell walls aren’t as crushed and heat it right away (like in a stir fry) you get some raw vegetal garlic taste but without the peppery kick and enduring garlic essence. Allicin is also soluble in oil, so you can halt it by coating your garlic pieces in oil.
From this garlic knowledge we can derive some ideas for how to combat it! Namely: heat and oil. For your hands I suggest a nice massage of oil into your skin followed by a little bit of detergent soap, which should lift away all the garlic-scented compounds trapped in the oil. For your kitchen equipment I suggest a sanitize high heat cycle in the dishwasher, or boiling water in your cooking vessels on the stove for a few minutes.
Baking soda is also pretty effective for garlic scent compounds. You can sprinkle it on your counters and scrub it in with a wet sponge, let it sit and then rinse off. You can leave an open container to absorb smells passively. And you can pour some down the garbage disposal.
In your shoes I would strain the liquid down the drain and dump the solids into the outdoor compost/yard waste bin, then run very hot water in the sink for a few minutes and be done with it. But if that’s not an option you could consider blending it and flushing it down the toilet, if maybe you have better ventilation in a bathroom (and robust pipes, do not do this if you have a septic tank). If you do decide to store it, consider using glass containers, which you can boil completely clean afterwards to really remove any lingering smells, unlike plastic.
posted by Mizu at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2020 [21 favorites]
On the other hand, you can stop or prevent allicin from developing in a few ways. Roasting whole garlic heads makes it taste amazing but different and lacking that sulfurous kick entirely; if you chop your garlic with a very sharp blade so the cell walls aren’t as crushed and heat it right away (like in a stir fry) you get some raw vegetal garlic taste but without the peppery kick and enduring garlic essence. Allicin is also soluble in oil, so you can halt it by coating your garlic pieces in oil.
From this garlic knowledge we can derive some ideas for how to combat it! Namely: heat and oil. For your hands I suggest a nice massage of oil into your skin followed by a little bit of detergent soap, which should lift away all the garlic-scented compounds trapped in the oil. For your kitchen equipment I suggest a sanitize high heat cycle in the dishwasher, or boiling water in your cooking vessels on the stove for a few minutes.
Baking soda is also pretty effective for garlic scent compounds. You can sprinkle it on your counters and scrub it in with a wet sponge, let it sit and then rinse off. You can leave an open container to absorb smells passively. And you can pour some down the garbage disposal.
In your shoes I would strain the liquid down the drain and dump the solids into the outdoor compost/yard waste bin, then run very hot water in the sink for a few minutes and be done with it. But if that’s not an option you could consider blending it and flushing it down the toilet, if maybe you have better ventilation in a bathroom (and robust pipes, do not do this if you have a septic tank). If you do decide to store it, consider using glass containers, which you can boil completely clean afterwards to really remove any lingering smells, unlike plastic.
posted by Mizu at 3:00 AM on November 9, 2020 [21 favorites]
This is why we save takeout food containers ... seal it up in some throwaway plastic containers and chuck it in the bin.
posted by mccxxiii at 5:48 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mccxxiii at 5:48 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
How would I store a covered cube tray so that the odor doesn't leech into my freezer and contaminate all my frozen fruit?
I don't think it'll leach smells once frozen, but if you're really worried:
Boil it down so there's less volume and it's more concentrated. Freeze the concentrate in the cube tray, then turn the cubes out of the tray and into a freezer bag, double bag if you feel the need and tie the bag closed.
posted by penguin pie at 9:46 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't think it'll leach smells once frozen, but if you're really worried:
Boil it down so there's less volume and it's more concentrated. Freeze the concentrate in the cube tray, then turn the cubes out of the tray and into a freezer bag, double bag if you feel the need and tie the bag closed.
posted by penguin pie at 9:46 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Fresh rosemary will help get the taste out of your mouth.
posted by aniola at 11:05 AM on November 9, 2020
posted by aniola at 11:05 AM on November 9, 2020
Can’t you throw the whole thing (container and all) in a trash bag, put that trash bag inside another trash bag, put that trash bag inside another trash bag, on and on ad infinitum, and then throw it away with the rest of the garbage? I guess if you wanted to be REALLY sure it wasn’t going to leak or get popped at the wrong time, you could use those really thick contractor bags.
posted by panama joe at 9:42 PM on November 11, 2020
posted by panama joe at 9:42 PM on November 11, 2020
Response by poster: I decided to just dump everything into my garbage disposal and then run two rounds of those garbage disposal cleaner packets. It worked super well. The only things that required extra effort were the plastic tops to the containers I had the soup in. For those I created a thick paste of baking soda and water and left them out to dry with it all slathered on for like a day. Now my kitchen is garlic free. :) Thanks for your help!
posted by Kitchen Witch at 6:38 PM on November 14, 2020
posted by Kitchen Witch at 6:38 PM on November 14, 2020
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posted by greenish at 12:31 AM on November 9, 2020 [9 favorites]