How Can I Tell If My Garlic Has Gone Bad?
Good Questions

Q: I've recently gotten a little braver about garlic and now I try to use it in several dishes a week.

But after buying a netted string of five garlic cloves a couple months ago, I'm beginning to wonder when and if garlic goes bad. What are the warning signs that I should refresh my stash?

Sent by KT

Editor: KT, we use our garlic unless it gets brown, mushy, or rotten in appearance or smell. Having said that, old garlic does get sharper and spicier, and sometimes it will begin to sprout. (A green sprout will grow out through the tips of the cloves.) This isn't a problem, though; we just peel away the sprout and use the clove as usual. But some people find older, sharper garlic not as pleasant.

Overall, though, the only time we would throw out garlic is if the cloves were totally rotten, or else completely dried out.

Readers, have you ever had garlic go bad? What did it look like?

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(Image: Faith Durand)

Comments (23)

Anything mouldy is an obvious no-no. We usually use up or give up on garlic at our house when it shoots out a green stem (though they can be delicious). The only reason I am less inclined to use them is that the flavour seems to diminish slightly when it sprouts ( I usually just use extra).
When I don't use it is when it is mushy or if it has dried out, turning a yellowy colour. Just be sure to keep it somewhere dry without too much light (the terra cotta garlic keepers with the holes in them are great).

>>"Readers, have you ever had garlic go bad? What did it look like? "

It came home past curfew, smelling of cigarette smoke and whiskey.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

I've always thrown out my garlic when it sprouts, because I thought it was supposed to taste bitter at that point. But, if it actually gets sharper instead, I'll have to try it! I love garlic, so anything that would give it more kick would be fine by me.

I still use garlic even after it sprouts. I just cut the clove in half and pull out the sprout.

I use it even if it has sprouts. I just peel away the green part. I don't think it tastes spicier or anything...actually I don't think it tastes as strong as usual. Brand-new, fresh garlic tastes best, but I just use extra if it's a little old.

The sprouts are the best! I plant them in little containers, chop them up and use them in everything: A lovely, mild garlic flavor.

Yup, same here. If it sprouts, I remove the green sprout and continue as usual. I have seen a garlic clove here and there that appears to be dried out, and those go in the garbage bin.

Hah, I must be the only person who actually uses the sprouts!

Pepperjo - I've never heard of that, I'll have to try it. Does it grow more sprouts, and keep growing after you clip it?

I've recently started using fresh garlic a lot more too so I'm thankful to find this post.... I always though garlic was bad after the cloves started to loosen from the head...turns out I've been throwing out good garlic!

http://rachelsrecipebox.wordpress.com

Garlic sprouts are amazing in stir-fries. They are to garlic cloves as shallots are to onions: mellower, sweeter, and more fun to bite down on.

I've seen garlic go bad. It will turn brown, soften, and shrivel up within the skin.

Yep. Sprout lover here as well!

What guyblur said. You'll go to peel the layers off and find a shrivelled brown thing there instead.

Ditto to the above - if it starts getting mushy or dried and papery. If I press a thumb against a clove and don't get a good solid feel from it, it's tossed.

That said, I go through about a head a meal! So that bag would only last a week in my house. ;)

You can plant sprouted garlic, too, and both the greens and pretty purple flowers are edible and taste of garlic.

I toss it when it gets brown and dry, or if it gets moldy (thankfully not often; I store it in an open basket with the onions.) If it sprouts I plant it if I've let it get far advanced, or just use it.

Note: Some commercial garlic is treated with sprout inhibitor, so even if it sprouts the sprouts never get anywhere. So if you plant commercial garlic it may never become a plant.

I just take the green sprout out. Mold and browned parts of garlic I cut off and put in the compost. I find the green sprout is often bitter -- same with green in an onion.

If it isn't mushy, moldy, or a funny color I use it. I've never had problems with the sprouts, I just pull them out and use the clove. I love strong garlic though.

My mother keeps her garlic in the freezer. It goes yellow and a bit mushy but still fine to use.

I keep my garlic in the fridge. It never goes bad before it's all eaten up.

I adore garlic. Use it in almost every dish.

Is it true that over 90% of the garlic is imported from China and the reason the skins are white is due to the fumigation process?

When my garlic starts aging, I like to mince it and store it in olive oil for the times when I need garlic in a pinch and can't get to the store, like the week of being snowed in last month.

i usually use garlic when it has the green sprout, but pull the sprout out. i've never realized i could eat the sprout!

be careful about storing garlic in olive oil - this is a easy way to get botulism:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/garlic-ail-eng.php

If you have to ask if your garlic is going bad, you aren't cooking with enough garlic!! I have to buy new heads at least once a week. ;)