I don’t know that I’ve ever been more antsy to taste test a newly pickled item. I love garlic and cook with it aggressively; by pickling it my hope is I can eat it straight as well. The recommendation for this pickled garlic recipe is to wait at least a week for the raw garlic flavor to temper a bit but I might cheat and try them out sooner. I didn’t really follow a recipe for this; as usual, there’s a little inspiration from my tried and true Joy of Pickling book plus some random Googling and Pinterest searches so we’ll see how this pickled garlic recipe turns out.
Quick note: don’t be confused by the spice measurements below. I have a completely random assortment of jars so I usually have to adjust measurements – especially if they feature whole spices measured out rather than dissolved in the brine (peppercorns, dried spices, etc.) – based on multiple jar sizes.
A further pickling lesson: 1 quart is the largest jar I’ll use. The standard mason jar everyone has is 1 pint; and 2 pints make a quart. The cute little jars I use a lot as well equal 1/2 pint. So based on the recipe below, if you use a pint jar, double the peppercorn, red pepper and oregano measurements, because math.
And finally, a suggestion: I used SO MUCH garlic for this recipe to yield just a few small jars of pickled garlic. I highly recommend finding a pickling partner for this endeavor; more specifically, find a generous S.O., roommate or fellow preserving enthusiastic willing to help you peel a significant amount of garlic cloves.
Pickled Garlic Recipe
Makes 2 pints
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups water (plus extra water to briefly boil raw garlic)
- 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp peppercorns per 1/2 pint (see above math lesson)
- 1/4 tsp red pepper per 1/2 pint
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano per 1/2 pint
- ~15 heads garlic…this is an extensive amount of cloves to peel. Thus the warning above.
Instructions:
- Bring the water (1 1/2 cups), vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil until salt and sugar are fully dissolved.
- Peel the garlic…so much garlic…
- Keep peeling garlic…
- Measure out peppercorns, red pepper and oregano. Add correct amount to each jar.
- Bring additional water to a boil. Add raw peeled garlic and boil for 1 minute. Drain.
- Fill each jar with blanched garlic cloves.
- Pour brine over filled jars. Give them a good shake to disperse spices.
- Recommended use: as mentioned above; give these a week or so before eating. Refrigerate jars once cooled, or after opening.