Elephant garlic
Is elephant garlic eatable?
Last edited by Woo on Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
I've never had a problem with bitterness when I've used Elephant Garlic. I do use garlic in just about all the evening meals I cook but it is not always Elephant garlic. I probably use it about 1/4 of the time. I love the large cloves for ease of peeling and the amount.Woo wrote:How about taste your elephant garlic?gumbo2176 wrote:Yes, it is. I have about 100 elephant garlic plants in my garden as of a couple months ago along with some regular Red Chesnok planted about the same time.
Mine is bitter with cook---steam,fry,raw any way.
Maybe mine is different kind of elephant garlic.Marlingardener wrote:We have grown elephant garlic, and found it to be milder than the regular garlic we grow. I've never encountered bitterness.
Are you using it straight out of the garden? I find that most garlics have a better taste after they cure--we hang ours in the barn for a month or more (depending on the humidity) before we start to use the garlic. Perhaps yours is just too fresh?
I tried to cook October and November, but still bitter.
My elephant garlic(from California) is not hot and mild but bitter taste. I can't reduce the bitter anyway.
And another 3(from Oregon(hard cover soft cover),Ontario)is just planted. I hope these are not bitter.
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I would suspect it is the variety. The Elephant Garlic I have has always been very mild and never bitter.Maybe mine is different kind of elephant garlic.
I am going to stop growing it except a few for the flowers, and grow real garlic for flavoring. The elephant does have some nice flowers on tall stems.
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I've been wanting to try it. My son grew some just for his bar-b-qued steak. He said he slices it thick, places it in a couple of layers of foil with butter, seals it tight and puts it on the upper rack of his grill. Gets his steak ready and throws it on. When the steaks are done he pokes a hole in the foil and drizzles the butter on the steak and serves the garlic on the side. Sound good to me!
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Is it possible that what the OP has is not the culinary Elephant Garlic but one of the ornamental Giant Alliums?
It really sounds like the difference in flavor is not just subtle or discerning flavor but inedibility.
We just had some elephant garlic broiled *under* the steak (keeps them from burning while imparting flavor) -- DH ate all the garlic pieces even before he started on the steak. I, of course, took the time to mash them all over the steak....
It really sounds like the difference in flavor is not just subtle or discerning flavor but inedibility.
We just had some elephant garlic broiled *under* the steak (keeps them from burning while imparting flavor) -- DH ate all the garlic pieces even before he started on the steak. I, of course, took the time to mash them all over the steak....