How to Peel Garlic Quickly

Garlic skins can be rough on hands, and they are too small for a traditional peeler. Luckily there are several ways to peel garlic quickly. Cooks who need to peel garlic quickly and keep a fast pace in the kitchen use the shaking method or the silicone garlic peeler tool.

EditSteps

EditShaking Garlic

Find an entire bulb of garlic. Pick off several cloves from the exterior of the clove if you don’t need to use much.

Break up the entire bulb if you are big batch cooking. Set the clove of garlic on your counter with the tip of the shoot facing up. Strike the heel of your hand against the top of the bulb, and the cloves should separate easily.
- If your hands are sensitive or the clove is particularly dry, hit a hard bowl against the top of the clove instead.

Place your garlic cloves in a small to medium sized metal or ceramic bowl. Cover the bowl with a lid or another bowl. Alternatively, you can place your cloves inside an old Nalgene bottle and screw the top tightly.

Shake the bowls or the bottle vigorously for 15 seconds. Ensure you can hear the garlic slamming against the sides of the container.^[1]

Separate your bowls or open your bottle. Pour out the garlic cloves and the skins. They should be fully peeled.
- If some of your cloves are only partially peeled, shake them for a few more seconds as hard as you can.

EditUsing a Silicon Peeler

Purchase a silicone garlic peeler at a kitchen supply store or box store. They usually cost between $2 and $5. Most peelers look like a small silicone cylinder and others are a sheet of rubber that you roll up yourself.

Separate garlic cloves from the bulb, taking them from the exterior. You can also separate a whole bulb with force from the heel of your hand.

Set the silicone garlic peeler on your cutting board. Insert your cloves of garlic into the inside of the tube. If you are using a peeler that’s a sheet of silicone, roll the cloves up inside the rubber sheet and hold it so it doesn’t unravel.

Roll the heel of your hand against the top of the tube. Repeat until you have a rolled each section of the tube with garlic in it. Apply a good amount of pressure.
- Your hands will remain unharmed by the rough garlic because to the silicone barrier.

Turn the garlic peeler sideways and dump out your peeled garlic cloves. Unroll a flat garlic peeler. Discard the skins.^[2]

EditSmashing with a Flat Knife

Lay an unpeeled garlic clove on a flat surface and place the flat end of a chef’s knife over it. Make sure to face the sharp side of the knife’s blade away from you.

Carefully and quickly smash the top of the chef’s knife with the bottom of your outstretched palm. The goal here isn’t to completely pulverize the garlic clove, but rather to break apart the peel from the rest of the garlic. A quick, light blow will do just fine.