My black garlic failed miserably

Two and a half weeks ago I posted about making black garlic. I've never had them before, but they sounded so delicious and were absolutely dead easy to make. You just need patience and wait three weeks which is today. Last week I decided to check on my garlic just to make sure all is going well. This is what they look like, not much different from my last peek on day 2.
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I removed one clove to check the texture. According to the internet, it was supposed to be soft and jelly like. To my horror, it was light and rock hard!!! They had dehydrated!!
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Bummer!!! My black garlic had failed. My rice cooker is a large industrial grade one and I was always a bit worried that it might be a bit too powerful than the normal domestic smaller ones. Seems like my worry wasn't totally unfounded. There was no point in keeping them in the rice cooker anymore. I removed the whole lot and wondered what to do with them. They're not edible in its current form, I mean they're so hard I couldn't even break into them.
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Then I thought, if they're so hard, why not grind them into powder!! I quickly searched the internet for black garlic failure, and sure enough, that's what people do in my situation. I managed to avert a total disaster!
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Here are 5 bulbs of garlic, I don't have a grinder or blender at home and had to use my rolling pin instead. The rolling pin is a bit bruised and dented now as I had to bash the garlic first before I could roll over them. They're not as fine as I would like them to be, but that will do. I've used them a few times already to marinate meat and to add to the gravy. The flavour isn't as strong as I thought it would be, and I have to add quite a few teaspoonfuls, other than that it's not bad for a near failure.
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I've split the rest into four lots and gifted them to my siblings as I promised to share my black garlic for them to try. Now they can try black garlic powder first, while I'm going to do a second batch later this week.
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RESULTS OF MY OCTOBER HIVE PUD GUESSING GAME

And now to the results of my PUD guessing game, to guess how many bulbs of black garlic I had in my rice cooker. The answer is ..... 27
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We have two winners this month they are @lizelle and @sanjeevm. Congratulations!!! You will share the 20 Hive prize pool, I'll be sending 10 Hive over to each of you. And thanks to everyone who entered this month, I really appreciate it, and I hope you will join in again next month.

HiverAnswer
@gems.and.cookies25
@leaky2028
@cryptocurator21
@battleaxe33
@siphon29
@sammie26
@brittandjosie30
@lizelle (joint winner)27
@erikah30
@arrlinn29
@sanjeevm (joint winner)27



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22 comments
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Well that is good that you could make a powder out the rock hard garlic. Hope the second attempt goes better. :)

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I'm hoping as well. It looks so easy to make, but nothing seems to be easy for me 😬

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Nice attempt even though it may have failed but you have definitely made good use of the the failed product.

!tip

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It's a great way not to waste food, glad it worked out in the end

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Thank you do much @livinguktaiwan & congratulations to @sanjeevm!
Glad you averted disaster & had enough to share with family, I'm very curious what black garlic tastes like.

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Congratulations @Lizelle.

These ones have a hint of burnt taste as can be expected because they're all dried out. If you're ever had black bean sauce before at Chinese restaurants, it's a bit like that. I've never had proper black garlic before, just heard about that's why I'm determind to keep on trying till I succeed!

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I was thinking of going with 28 before but I saw an entry but won't have won anyway.
I've wondered if making the black gold thing was worth it but seems like your first experiment failed.
I think the fermenting thing is quite trying la.
Good luck with the next experiment.

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I figured since I got an old rice cooker and plenty of space to let it stink it would be a good opportunity to try. I'm just very intrigued about how iy tastes as every one says its so good. I'm going to use a slightly different method next time hopefully it will turn out better

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Lol, looks like my luck has run out. I'll try next time.
Sorry about the failed project, garlic powder is still good though. I'm thinking maybe the heat was too strong and dried them out too quickly. If you could adjust the heat, apply a lower level.... But it's just a guess.

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You had a good run @erikah, three in a row, that's something to shout about!!

The thing with rice cooker is that it's only got keep warm and cook function. Unless I unplug it occasionally ... But then I will have to know when to plug it back in to keep the temperature constant
Food for thought 🤔

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Thank you for giving the opportunity - it was fun. And let's hope, you will succeed in next attempt. Failure is the pillar of success.

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Oh noooo!!!! Thats a shame. Glad to hear that you were able to make the most of the situation and make garlic powder. Thats a silver lining I guess.

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Yes, otherwise it would have wasted time and effort, food and money 😃

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Too bad about the first batch. Maybe the second one will be better. Anyway, I would suggest you use a mortar and pestle first before you roll them. Might save on wear and tear of your rolling pin 😊.

Missed the guessing game by just 2. Getting closer each time lol. Here's to the best on your next batch of black garlic.

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It's been 5 days since I done the second batch, so far it's looking good. Two more weeks to go!

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(Edited)

Black, soft and jelly like actually sounds quite worrying for something that's normally white! 😅 I've still not gotten my head around the idea of black garlic. Black garlic powder is still a win, at least.

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Thank you @minismallholding and Natural Medicine. I heard so many good things about it, hopefully it won't disappoint, if and when I manage to make a successful batch.

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Oh thank god. When I started reading it, I was like - omg she's thrown them out, I could kill her!!!! Yes, grind them into a powder - and this is awesome as you don't get mould issues as they are super dry! I did it in the coffee grinder, much to husand's displeasure. For some reason he doesn't like his coffee tasting like black garlic. Pfft. He doesn't know what is good for him.

Actually, because I had more layers ,and didn't rotate mine, I ended up with super dry ones like yours on the bottom, and soft ones on the top. The soft ones I made into a paste, and froze it in ice cube trays in the freezer, so I could add them to soups and stews. Mushroom soup and mushroom risotto have never tasted so good! I can't wait til black garlic season!

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Ok, I have to side with Mr Riverflows on this one, garlic flavoured coffee? Nah!

I did a second batch today. This time I wrapped each of them in aluminium foil, then put them in a roasting bag,hopefully it will retain the moist. I'm also going to check on them more frequently, seems like its ok to do that? How often do you rotate yours around?

Also, what's the black garlic season? Is that when you have a garlic harvest, or whenever you get round to make them?

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