Roasted garlic

J Appledog

Is there a "best" way to roast garlic on a BGE? Thanks! JCA

BBQfan1

J Appledog,
Hi Julie; I just slice across the whole bulb, about 1/4-1/3rd down to ensure all cloves are exposed, then drizzle with olive oil, a little salt and pepper and then wrap in foil and onto 350-375 Egg, direct or onto a firebrick for 50 minutes or so. Remove and unwrap, watch for steam, then squeeze the softened, carmelized garlic out. It's the carmelization of the natural sugars that turns the garlic sweeter (supposedly many times sweeter than sugar, as roasted garlic ice cream tasting will attest), but if you want the full garlic hit, softened but not carmelized so much, you can put the bulbs in a water bath while you roast. The cloves will soften and get creamy without the carmelization effect.
Qfan

jwitheld

J Appledog,
cut off the top 1/4 or third of the bulb.place into a shallow pan. drizzel with olive oil and season with salt. a 300 or so grill (300 to500 not critical) till the cloves have carmelized to a nutty brown.
these will be soft to the touch and pop out of the bulb when squeesed. excellent for stuffing a tenderloin!

J Appledog

Thanks guys! JCA

Banker John

J Appledog,
If you are roasting garlic, do a buch of it. Since I have been turned on to this, I make it a practice to roast 5 or 6 bulbs at a time. Once finished, I remove the cloves from the skin and place in a mason jar. I then cover them with the olive oil they were roasted in and add olive oil to cover the cloves in the mason jar.[p]I then vacuum seal the jar and place in the fridge. The oil makes for a great garlic infused oilve oil (thanks Qbabe)![p]Banker John

QBabe

banker john,[p]There's been some discussion recently that storing the roasted garlic in the oil in the fridge may not be safe. Apparently, there's a risk of botulism because of the low acidity in the garlic and the closed environment they are in when in the oil. Commercial producers of garlic-infused olive oil must use an additive ingredient that increases the pH so the acidity is at levels that prevent the growth of the botulin (sp?). The scientific reports we read pertained to uncooked garlic stored in oil in the pantry, so I'm not so sure if the risk exists for the way we've been treating the garlic (roasting then storing in the fridge), but I'd hate to see someone die because of it, so use your own judgement...[p]I've still been roasting the garlic, then freezing the individual cloves. They've thawed very quickly when I wanted to use them and I haven't noticed any perceptible difference in flavor. I'm considering keeping the flavored oil separately in the fridge.[p]Tonia
:~)

Banker John

QBabe,
Great advice. This is the first I have heard of the storage issue with roasted garlic.[p]Fortunately, 4 or 6 heads roasted don't last too long around here. We just made pizza last night with the remaining garlic. Tried a new crust based on Larry's dough recipe. I substitued whole wheat flour and vital wheat gluten for a portion of the white flour. I was pleasantly suprised. The pie crust was very light & airy. I've made some of the whole wheat crusts that have density ratings near lead, with about as much flavor too.[p]Banker John