Bottled Garlic

Bottled minced garlic can be very pricey if you buy it in small bottles, but it also comes in larger jars that are very economical at places like Costco. It will last practically forever opened in the fridge as it has oil and phosphoric acid in the jar to keep the Garlic from going off. It tastes every bit as good as the freshly-chopped Garlic in cooking, and is way cheaper — you can’t buy anywhere near that much Garlic for the same amount of money.

It makes cooking a lot more pleasurable — instead of having to stress over another item to chop, you just haul the bottle out of the fridge, grab out what you need with a teaspoon, and cram the bottle back in the fridge — easy, peasy, especially on week-nights. An added-bonus is the oil in the jar: you can use teaspoons of it here and there to add subtle Garlic flavour to dishes. But don’t use up so much that you expose the garlic: keep it covered under the oil and phosphoric acid mixture. Keep this refrigerated, as Garlic is a low-acidity vegetable and can spoil.

There will still be many times when you will want to buy whole, fresh Garlic — especially for items that have you pitching in the Garlic cloves whole and unchopped, which is a pleasure — but having bottled, minced Garlic on hand is convenient for many other uses.