<p>Maybe there are a lot of Gilroy residents here.</p>
<p>OP - I’ve seen peeled cloves of garlic sold in jars. Have never priced them, though.</p>
<p>You already get extra credit for mixing your curry spices from scratch. We have chicken curry every week or two, and I’m lazy enough that I just use the canned Madras curry powder. It’s somewhat mild, and the kids like it best anyway.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you a secret: a lot of restaurants use pre-peeled garlic. Even the super high-end ones. As for whether it’s necessary in a dish with a lot of other spices, that’s entirely up to you. When it comes to Indian and other Asian cooking, there’s a lot of prep work, of chopping and gathering spices. There’s no getting around it, so all I can say is just try to enjoy the process! (The alternatives such as jarred sauces don’t cut it, and you seem to enjoy making and experimenting, so there’s no real problem here, is there?)</p>
<p>If I’m going for a fast easy dinner, the jar. If I’m going for a culinary achievement, I go fresh. My family would never notice the difference and I value less mess and fuss in the kitchen.</p>
<p>If you want stronger garlic flavor from the jar, add a little of the liquid in addition to the bits. </p>
<p>Fresh is better…I don’t have any more vampyre trouble since I made the switch.</p>
<p>I almost always use fresh garlic. I second the method in Post #6 for easy peeling. Someone mentioned power. . . . vile stuff–in a pinch, I use garlic in the jar. I like the pre-peeled garlic, too. A local farm market sells it that way.</p>
<p>I have never even thought about using the jar stuff. I have a very nice garlic crusher ( bought from the Pampered Chef) that even takes the peels off, so it’s really easy.</p>
<p>We’ve never used the jar either. I’ve seen it in the store but my wife has unlimited time for cooking and eschews the jar.</p>
<p>One more thing to feel guilty about…</p>
<p>I have to go to the big fancy expensive store to buy it jarred. My grocer across the street only has fresh. I don’t go to the big fancy place except maybe once a year so I use fresh.</p>
<p>I can’t add much to what has already been said. Fresh is the way to go. And the stuff in the jar is more costly than fresh. Really, chopping fresh isn’t terribly more time consuming unless you need to use several cloves at once. To me, the stuff in a jar is tasteless and doesn’t give you the same aroma and texture when you need to pan-fry garlic. And no, I’m not from Gilroy.</p>
<p>Fearless plug here; some fan-tab-bluous garlic is grown in Washington State (and sold in specialty markets elsewhere. The quality of the stuff from China? Hmmm, not so much.</p>
<p>I have won cooking competitions using (gasp) powdered garlic as has a good friend of mine who won $10K in an AT&T sponsored eggroll contest. Would the stuff have tasted even better with fresh garlic? Probably, but I don’t think it makes that much of a difference. I have eaten food prepared with fresh garlic and other fresh ingredients that just did not have the magic in preparation and therefore taste. In my book, if the difference is really there in a dish, use the fresh, but if you are tight on time and fresh is not available or you are just as happy with the jarred, frozen, peeled, or even powdered, go right on ahead. There are some dishes, I would not go with anything but fresh since that taste is integral to the dish, but most of the time, I find it does not make much difference.</p>
<p>For popcorn, I find powdered garlic to be more effective than fresh as it doesn’t burn and it get spread around to the kernels more evenly. Same thing with onions.</p>
<p>I agree, BCEAgle. There are situations when powdered garlic is far more useful.</p>
<p>I like fresh over jar over powdered. I have a great little hand press–works a clove in seconds. Works an entire bulb in a minute or two.</p>
<p>Garlic in a jar doesn’t work on Vampires.</p>