Black Garlic

Anybody ever make Black Garlic?

While it's not necessarily fermented, it's a similar process. Black garlic is the product of aging regular garlic bulbs over the course of weeks or months, a process called the Maillard reaction. It requires strictly regulated temperature and humidity to achieve its sticky consistency.

Anyway, I recently harvested my garlic crop, and most years, I have more than I can use or sell or giveaway...So I gotta give this a try. I'll post some results in the future.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/black-garlic-4165384

Not much chatter on this black garlic ... I have never heard of it ...
I skimmed over the link ... it takes 504 hrs 10 mins to make .... WOW ?

What's the story ... :popcorn:
Gary

The story is, I like to experiment, especially with cooking, and am curious of how the garlic flavor changes after the Maillard reaction, in comparison with roasted Garlic.

Would love to know how you grow your garlic?
I have planted two years now and nothing ???

I've had it before, and I prefer roasted garlic taste wise. Black Garlic has a subdued sweet flavor with a hint of sourness on the backend. My Grandmother used to use it in her cooking and made it regularly.

I keep some in the fridge, I didn't make mine I got it online. Quite a unique but delicious flavor, works great in a brown gravy.

well, I got a bunch of them in the Crockpot...fermenting ur umm I mean, Maillard reactioning away

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Originally Posted by BLAHUT

Would love to know how you grow your garlic?
I have planted two years now and nothing ???

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Are you planting Hardneck Garlic or Softneck Garlic?

I plant a Hardneck variety,
I plant in the first week of Sept. and cover with 6" of Oat Straw.
June is a critical month, they need lots of water to gain size, so if you are having dry weather in June, be sure to water the equivalent of 1" rain per week.
I cut off the scapes in early June...use them for cooking...yum.
I harvest in Mid July.
I cure them for about 3 weeks, hanging in my garage.

Fermenting is different than a Maillard reaction. Fermenting is turning sugars into alcohol and potentially then into vinegar (acetic acid). A Maillard reaction is often referred to as a non-enzymatic browning reaction. Basically turning sugars/proteins into a brown colored state without the utilization of enzymes to do so.

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Originally Posted by JonB_in_Glencoe

well, I got a bunch of them in the Crockpot...fermenting ur umm I mean, Maillard reactioning away

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boy oh boy, does my garage smell good.
And the crock pot is staying a nice consistent 160º

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Originally Posted by 36g

Fermenting is different than a Maillard reaction. Fermenting is turning sugars into alcohol and potentially then into vinegar (acetic acid). A Maillard reaction is often referred to as a non-enzymatic browning reaction. Basically turning sugars/proteins into a brown colored state without the utilization of enzymes to do so.

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sounds like Caramelization? ...I'll have to google that ;)

google says...

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Caramelization may sometimes cause browning in the same foods in which the Maillard reaction occurs, but the two processes are distinct. They are both promoted by heating, but the Maillard reaction involves amino acids, whereas caramelization is the pyrolysis of certain sugars.

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source: wikipedia

As noted from Google, caramelization is the burning of sugars. The degree of caramelization is temperature and time dependent. The comment about Maillard reactions being prompted by heat is partially true. Maillard reactions can be enhanced by heat (up to a point) but also will occur at room temperature over time.

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Originally Posted by 36g

As noted from Google, caramelization is the burning of sugars. The degree of caramelization is temperature and time dependent. The comment about Maillard reactions being prompted by heat is partially true. Maillard reactions can be enhanced by heat (up to a point) but also will occur at room temperature over time.

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I'm thinking you have some experience? I have a question.
While I've fermented many produce items (grains, veg, fruit, and am currently researching mushrooms).
What Produce, other than Garlic, would benefit (and maybe become a delicacy) from a Maillard reaction, that you've experienced?

Generally, Maillard reactions are considered as an indicator of degradation in packaged products. That's where my experience lies - in product development and stability testing. As has been noted though, the flavor shifts associated with a Malliard reaction will differ depending on the foodstuff and how it's processed or stored. My suspicion is that for garlic it can be a positive thing to mellow the flavor and potentially provide a slight cooked/potentially aged flavor as well as a slightly darkened appearance. The trick will be to control the reaction to yield the same result each time that a batch is processed. Something that may cause some discrepancies will be the year-to-year crop growing conditions that will cause changes in the garlic itself (one year more rain may yield more sugars to proteins ratios that can affect the Maillard reaction). Those are some of the potential pitfalls with crops. If you find something that works well, note all the details that worked - crop growing conditions, how processed, how packaged, how stored and storage conditions - time, temperature, light exposure, etc. If you like to play a bit take some of the packaged product and store it at a slightly higher temperature, which should accelerate the Maillard reaction and if a darker color occurs then see if the flavor has changed. Note the result. At some point the flavor shift may become unfavorable...

As far as other potential prospects I'm thinking mushrooms might not do much - little sugars/carbohydrates and little proteins/amino acids. Something with more simple sugars and some basic proteins would be more logical choices.

Thank you so much for the detailed response. I now better understand your previous posts in this thread.

As to mushrooms, I am looking for a successful process to develop the umami to a greater content.

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"Dried mushrooms tend to have more umami than fresh ones, and cooked mushrooms are more umami-rich than raw. This means that adding mushrooms in virtually any form—raw, sautéed, whole cap garnish, even a dusting of dried powder—will add an umami lift to foods."

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https://www.mushroomcouncil.org/all-...t%20to%20foods.

Another aspect to mushrooms is that they contain natural MSG which tends to enhance the flavor of anything that they are added to while providing that nice background flavor.

Brewers malt is kilned to dry it. The temp it is kilned at controls how caramelized the natural sugars in the grain get. Some malts are kilned at very low temps just to dry them(base malts), from there is varies from barely browned to the UK extra dark crystal I use in my house beer(No I am not commercial, this denotes the beer I ALWAYS have on tap) recipe.

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Originally Posted by BLAHUT

Would love to know how you grow your garlic?
I have planted two years now and nothing ???

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You plant garlic in the fall like tulip bulbs.

These kids in the BA Test Kitchen always make me laugh. Generally great info.
https://youtu.be/bF39Xet-3Nk

Probably should link to the BA website, but oh well