Almost unnecessary knowledge

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 18:05

I am putting together some polish sausage and am out of fresh garlic so I resorted to garlic powder. The bottle tells me that 1/8 teaspoon equals one clove. I weighed the 1/8 th teaspoon and came up with .45 grams. A little more or less garlic is not something to start a fight over. I tend to use garlic on the high side and salt on the low side. but by carefully measured amounts.

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 21:46

Somewhere (I think it was Rytek Kutas' book), I read that in amount of flavor, fresh garlic and garlic powder were about equal. That suggests that the drying process robs the garlic of a fair amount of essential oils, etc.

Whatever the case, it seems to be right, in my experience. ...but then, I really like the flavor of garlic, so I may be a poor judge. (Blew out my taste buds on a chile, years ago.)

Comments, anyone?

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 21:53

Ducky, You should read that statement again. If dried garlic and fresh are about equal in taste what do the essential oils contribute?

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 22:01

ssorllih wrote:Ducky, You should read that statement again. If dried garlic and fresh are about equal in taste what do the essential oils contribute?

The taste is different, not as fresh. The strength is about the same, though, according to the statement. ...and still pretty "garlicky."

The statement implies that it takes a gram of dried garlic powder to equal the strength of a gram of fresh garlic. That's a whole lot more garlic starting amount for the dried than the fresh. Sooooo... along with the water, you lose lots of "goodies." I'm sure this is the case with other dried herbs and spices too- - along with losing the fresh taste, you lose plenty of water and plenty of whatever it is that tastes so good, but what's left gets concentrated. ...or somethin'.

Baconologist · Post by **Baconologist** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 22:11

1/8 to 1/4 tsp. of dry powdered garlic per clove of fresh common Chinese or California garlic is a good general rule of thumb. The really good homegrown stuff can vary wildly in it's pungency (some very mild and some very sharp) and size from variety to variety, some hard-neck cloves are easily 3-4 times the size of the average California or Chinese clove.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 22:12

The bottle suggests that 1/8 teaspoon or .45 grams equals one fresh garlic clove. A whole fresh clove weighs 6 grams.

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 22:28

Well, so much for Mr. Kutas!

I think I like garlic more than that 1/8 tsp per clove business, though. Seems like I can chop up fresh garlic (reasonable-sized cloves, not those giant things) and get 2 to 4 into a teaspoon. If you can get 8 cloves to the teaspoon using dried garlic versus 2 to 4 fresh, drying puts us off by a factor of 2 to 4. So yeah, this may put in twice (or more) as much garlic, but for some recipes, I kinda like it.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Sep 19, 2012 17:40

I like garlic it makes for good sausage.
Now a question for those who have been adventurous. made some very pleasing Polish Hot Smoked Sausage yesterday without the smoke. Next time it will get smoked. But have any of you added whole mustard seed to the mix for this sausage ? I think it will be good without making a great change in taste.

Baconologist · Post by **Baconologist** » Wed Sep 19, 2012 18:12

I've had mustard in some of the Americanized versions of Polish kielbasa made by friends; it was good.
Traditionally, white mustard seed is used in Kielbasa gnieźnieńska, Kielbaski porcjowa, Kielbasa piwna and Mortadela cielęca.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Sep 19, 2012 18:59

Thanks Bob. I will try it in the next batch.