Is it really better to smash garlic as opposed to chopping finely?!
I recommend smooshing the garlic clove with your knife, then slicing it thinly.
Answers: It entirely depends on the effect you're after. Smashing garlic will mix the flavour through what you're cooking more thoroughly, and chopping it finely will leave you with small bites of garlic that you'll get bursts of as you eat it.
I recommend smooshing the garlic clove with your knife, then slicing it thinly.
If your cooking with it, it would be OK.
Better for what purpose? If you want to make a smooth sauce without chunks of garlic, then it would be better. It depends on what you are making.
I usually smash it with the side of a large knife, then I chop it fine. Smashing it first, makes it easier to chop. Or, if you are using it in a marinade to to either grill or broil, I just smash it lightly and then place it in the marinade. I do this because while grilling or broiling, the garlic will burn and taste bitter.
Your not breaking down the microfiliments and get more intensity and less oil loss.
In terms of better, the difference is very marginal at best.
It all depends on the recipe. If I use it in cooking, I peel it and then with my knife, smash it down. I like to just have a garlic flavor. Before serving, I take the cloves out (that is if I can find them!). I mince my garlic when I put them into a salad dressing or something that is not being cooked.
You have to be careful with how much you use when putting into a salad. One clove goes a long way. I guess you would just have to try and see what your taste buds like -- a little or a lot.
You can buy garlic already minced, chopped or whole in jars if you don't want to peel and chop or mince it yourself. Not as good as fresh, but quicker.
Good cook will tell you that smashing the garlic will better release the oils . Fast cook will just chop the clove up and go on. I just use garlic salt.
You should get a garlic press. It is much help in the kitchen. It keeps you from having to your your hands to finely chop the garlic. They are not expensive and you can find them at many stores. It presses it into little pieces so you will not have big chunks in your dishes.
It depends how strong you want the flavor to be. The more 'smashed' the garlic, the more intense the flavor. Big chunks of garlic will be far less pungent.
If you love garlic (which i REALLY do), the best way to get the flavors out is to take a cleaver, use the side of it to smash the garlic. Then take the peel off the garlic and throw that away, then go ahead and chop the garlic and put all of it in. If you smash it by using a garlic press, you throw alot of the garlic in the trash!!!