When it comes to food I'm a hands-on kind of girl. I bake my own bread, dry my own tomatoes, and make my own cheese from time to time. We brew our own beer and ferment our own sauerkraut so I find it odd then that I never once thought about making kitchen staples like garlic powder.
I was running low on garlic powder and as I was writing it on my grocery list I suddenly wondered if I could make my own. The answer was yes, and the process was really simple, to boot.
I picked up a few heads of good garlic at the store, peeled and sliced them, and put them in the deydrator on low until they were dried to a crisp. (a full day and a half)
I ground them up with my mortar and pestle until I had powder and that was it. Now, it did take some time to process all of that garlic, and 5 heads only gave me about 2/3 cup so the question for me naturally, is "is it worth the effort?" I stuck my finger in a bit of the store bought garlic powder and tasted it. It was vaguely garlicky. I stuck my finger in the homemade and tasted it. Whooo! It definitely had some kick.
A little will go a long way with this, and it comes with no extra packaging, which I appreciate. The overall cost was about the same as store bought too. I can couple it with some finely ground salt when a recipe calls for garlic salt. I'm glad I tried it.
Do you have any pantry staples that you make? Have any good tips for me?
