What's The Most Common Method For Storing Garlic?

You can learn a lot about a person by the way they organize and run their kitchen, notes Doist. If you've ever been invited to cook dinner at a friend's place, you've probably experienced something similar to a language barrier as you open a cabinet expecting to find one thing and instead finding something that is, in your eyes, nonsensically placed. Perhaps your friend keeps their kosher salt in its original container at the back of the pantry, whereas you prefer to decant it into a cellar that resides permanently on your kitchen table for easy access.

As you rifle around for a bottle of hot sauce, which your friend keeps under the sink beside the laundry detergent, you'll have reached the level of perplexity that introduces a topic our readers have a lot of opinions about: What should be kept on the counter, what should go in the fridge, and what should be preserved in some other capacity? Here's what an exclusive Daily Meal survey revealed about garlic storage.

We asked 588 Daily Meal readers to tell us where we'd find the garlic in their kitchens, and the answers ran the gamut. Starting from least to most popular, only 5.44% of respondents said they keep garlic in the freezer. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, garlic can unleash its bitter notes when frozen. For the record, cabbage, cream, custard fillings, and salad dressing are also among the foods that should stick to the fridge.

A slightly higher percentage of readers (6.97%) prefer to get garlic flavor from dehydrated powder stored in an airtight container. Garlic powder is great for a lot of dishes, but serious garlic lovers will certainly miss the flavor and texture benefits of the fresh stuff. 15.48% said they mince their garlic and store it in a jar. We're in no place to judge, but this method begs the question: What if a recipe calls for garlic in some other form, like sliced or roughly chopped?

In second place, 35.03% of respondents said they fetch garlic from the fridge. While this is better than the freezer, keep in mind that KCNET says cold temperatures can cause garlic to sprout. At the top of the list, 37.07% of garlic eaters prefer to store the pungent allium on the countertop. Masterclass suggests storing garlic in a cool, dark place, such as a pantry or cupboard.