The Easiest Way to Keep Garlic From Sprouting
It seems that wherever I buy garlic, at least half of my catch is always on the verge of sprouting. As the bud (the little sprout in the middle) ages and turns green, it becomes bitter, and although I can remove it , this is an extra step that I try to avoid. Fortunately, freezing the garlic stops the buds from growing on their annoying little tracks.
You can put the entire onion in the freezer, or divide it into individual peeled cloves and store them in a small plastic bag. (You can also leave them unpeeled, as frozen garlic is easier to peel than fresh garlic.) Freezing garlic will soften it, but that’s only a problem if you want to eat garlic raw, crunchy (and most people don’t.) … The taste will remain strong and this is the most important part.
If you want to do even more, you can puree in a food processor with just enough oil to form a paste, then quickly freeze small mounds of that paste on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once the garlic mounds are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and then take them when you need them. (Storing garlic in oil at this temperature also prevents botulism from developing – just don’t let it stay at room temperature after it’s thawed.)
If you don’t want to use oil, you can chop the garlic into small pieces, then place it in a small freezer bag and freeze in one layer. Once it is frozen, you can break it down as needed. You can also slice it up and freeze the slices quickly, then store them in a small freezer bag. I mean, you can freeze almost any form of garlic, so pick your favorite and go crazy.