Black Garlic
Black Garlic, with its amazing sweet-fruity umami notes, is of the most exciting ingredients you can make very easily yourself, with just patience and a rice cooker. You can use it in a million recipes, just like the fresh version, but it has so much more flavour and depth due to the super slow Maillard reaction that happens when leaving it for weeks on very low heat. Much cheaper than in the supermarket too.
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Why You Will Love This
The first time I spotted Black Garlic in my local supermarket in Waterford, I was intrigued. I mean, of course the shiny black cloves looked slightly weird, but it was new, so of course I had to try it.
Versatile
What I wasn’t prepared for though, was the flavour explosion in my mouth. Sure, there was a hint of garlic, but so much more! None of the pungent sharpness of fresh garlic was left. Instead hints of fruit, going particularly well with cheese, umami and sweetness, making it an incredible pairing for any meat or mushrooms. Notes similar to good balsamic vinegar, but without the acidity. I could just eat them as they were like tiny snacks, similar to dried fruit with many of the same characteristics.
Essentially, everything you throw it at gets better. I mean it. Even cookies. I’m not kidding you.
Adds “Oomph” to Dishes
Similar to its fresh version, you can use it in salad dressing, sauces for meat, compound butter, bread and many more. I think I saw even an ice cream made with it once. It became a trend ingredient in high end restaurants for a reason, adding lots of flavour, lifting up other ingredients, but without overpowering them.
I think my all-time favourite use of it were Burgers with Black Garlic Aioli.
The Secret of Fine Dining Restaurants
Fine dining restaurants have long discovered Black Garlic to add its warm caramel flavor to many dishes. And if it’s good enough for Michelin starred restaurants, it’s sure good enough for us!
Super Easy to Make
All you need is a rice cooker*, several bulbs of garlic, unpeeled, clingfilm and tinfoil. And about 40 days of time. That’s not a typo. I said it’s easy, not that it’s quick. 😉
Tip
A note on the type of rice cooker* here: You need one that does NOT switch off automatically, unless you are keen on manually switching it back to “keep warm” every day, which can be rather annoying if you forget it. So for once, skip your fancy slow cooker or instant pot and go for a really cheap one like in the link, which has a manual flip switch.
The added advantage is, that you won’t have to be without your beloved slow cooker for 40 days.
Caramelized Through Maillard Reaction
Essentially, against all those posts that claim it would be “fermented”, what is happening here is the Maillard reaction (the caramelisation of sugars present on food caused by heat) in extremely slow motion. Which leads to the black colour without any burning, as the sugar in the garlic gets very slowly transformed into caramel. Fermentation however would be bacteria doing the work and generally leading to some sort of bubbly and funky outcome. Think Kombucha or Kimchi or sourdough. There is nothing bubbly or funky about black garlic though. Just little nuggets of concentrated sweetness and flavour.
The Ingredients
I gave it away above, but let me repeat:
- Garlic Bulbs – The best quality you can find. Please don’t use any old sprouted ones hanging out in your cupboard. About 6-8 max I found is best. I tried more but found that if I place more than one layer in the rice cooker, the top ones don’t get caramelized as well.
- Rice cooker or slow cooker – Ideally one you don’t use every day, because this will be tied up for the foreseeable future. I simply bought a cheap one on Amazon just for this. The important part is, that it has the “keep warm” function, as that’s what we will be using.
- Clingfilm and Aluminium foil. Both – I have seen and tried methods with just tinfoil or even oven roasting bags, and some using no wrapping at all, but none of them got me the consistent and perfect outcome I got by using clingfilm and tinfoil. And I’ve made many batches by now.
The Process
Cut off as many small pieces of clingfilm and tinfoil as you have garlic bulbs. Each big enough to wrap one bulb.
Wrap
Now wrap each bulb first in clingfilm, then tinfoil. I did it by placing the bulb in the middle of a square, then just pulling up the sides and twisting the top.
There. The hard part is done.
Put in a Rice Cooker
Please your neat little parcels in your rice cooker.
Ideally add a sticker to your rice cooker, telling you what day you started your black garlic.
Find a well-ventilated spot near a wall plug in your house. Your house will smell of garlic. Unless you have the luxury of a garage or shed with power plugs. I left mine in the utility room, with the window tipped open.
Now Wait
Leave for about 40 days. Start checking the garlic after 30. Check if the cloves are shiny, black, and still soft, which means they are done. While they are still light brown, they need more time. If they are hard and crunchy, you left them too long.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy your little black gems in a delicious Cashew Ranch dressing.
Or add them to compound butter to stuff under the skin of a chicken, for the most delicious roast chicken you will ever have.
Or…bake cookies with it and enjoy the freaked out but delighted look on your friends faces, when you tell them they are eating cookies with garlic.
FAQ
The Black Garlic keeps in a jar in the fridge for several months. Not that I think it’ll last that long. I have a feeling you’ll start a second batch soon.
While there is still some garlic flavor of course, it is a lot sweeter and fruitier than fresh garlic, reminding you of good blasamic vinegar. It has caramel notes and a slight liqorice flavor, which makes it fantastic in sweets.
The texture is a bit chewy, reminiscent of dried fruit.
Fermentation is done by allowing yeast bacteria, moisture and air to transform food, usually resulting in acidic funky flavors. Think Sourdough, Kimchi or Kombucha. Black Garlic however is wrapped in a protective layer of foil and left to very slowly caramelize in very low heat, which is the maillard reaction at work, not bacteria. That process, slowly transforming the natural sugars into caramel, is also responsible for the sweetness.
Here are some exciting Black Garlic Recipes:
For a vegan main try Sumac Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Black Garlic Mushroom Sauce
This Mushroom Spinach Pasta Bake with Black Garlic is a super easy comfort dish
Extra versatile Black Garlic Butter with Lemon
All your 5-a-day in one Black Garlic Mushroom Salad with Berries and Blue Cheese
A low calorie and healthy Black Garlic Cashew Ranch Dressing
Probably my most unusual bread: Black Garlic Sourdough Bread with Chocolate
Sourdough Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Black Garlic
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share and comment. It helps me a lot.
Black Garlic
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6-8 garlic bulbs
- Cling film
- Aluminium foil
Instructions
Wrap the Garlic:
- Cut off as many small pieces of cling film and aluminium foil as you have garlic bulbs. Each should be big enough to wrap one bulb.
- Take an unpeeled garlic bulb and wrap it first in cling film, ensuring it’s covered completely.
- Next, wrap the garlic bulb in aluminium foil. Place the bulb in the centre of a square of foil and pull up the sides, twisting the top to seal it. Repeat for each bulb.
Cooking:
- Place the wrapped garlic bulbs in your rice cooker. If you’re using a sticker, label the rice cooker with the start date to keep track of the slow Maillard reaction process.
- Find a well-ventilated spot in your home near a power outlet. Keep in mind that this will emit some garlic smell during the process. A garage or shed with power outlets can be great for this. Leaving them in a utility room with a partially open window is another option.
Slow Maillard Reaction:
- Leave the garlic bulbs in the rice cooker for about 40 days. Check the garlic after 30 days to monitor the progress.
- The cloves should transform into shiny, black, and soft bulbs when done. If they’re still light brown, they need more time. If they’re hard and crunchy, they’ve been left too long.
Storage and Enjoyment:
- Once the garlic bulbs have reached the desired consistency, remove them from the rice cooker.
- Store the black garlic in an airtight container in a cool, dry place until ready to use.
- Enjoy your homemade black garlic in various recipes, such as Cashew Ranch dressing or any dish that benefits from its unique flavour profile.
I didn’t realize black garlic was so easy to make. Love the flavor of this recipe. Everything about it was perfect!
I have tried this Black garlic looks delicious.
I had bought ground black garlic at a Farmer’s Market when traveling to TX a few years back, but run out of it, so I decided to look for a recipe.
I loved the simplicity of this recipe, and it turned out so good. Thank you!
Thank you, so happy it helped. 🙂
I have always been intrigued by black garlic. Now I can make it myself. What a great post. This is going to be a fun project, and tasty results.
We love garlic, but I’d never made black garlic before. It’s fantastic and so easy!! Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you 🙂