Best Ways To Preserve Garlic Scapes
Fresh garlic scapes are only available for a few weeks a year, so having a way to preserve them and be able to use them throughout the year is a must.
Preserving Garlic Scapes
Plus Great Recipe Ideas
So What The Heck Are Garlic Scapes Anyway
There are several varieties of garlic available that fit into two basic categories.
- Soft Neck Garlic
- Hard Neck Garlic
No matter the variety when you plant garlic, your goal is to grow big beautiful garlic bulbs.
Both categories of garlic have unique features of their own. In the case of hard-neck garlic, you also have a stem and flower bud growing from the center of the plant. This stem and flower bud are known as a garlic scape.
To focus the plant's energy on growing larger garlic bulbs rather than on producing seeds, you'll want to cut the garlic scape off the plant before the bulb begins to open. It's a good rule of thumb to watch for the scape to curl over and then cut them off.
Why Don't They Sell Garlic Scapes In The Store
First, they typically have to cut the garlic scape off the plant by hand, but you can find garlic scapes in some markets, especially farmer's markets.
You'll have to be quick about purchasing your garlic scapes because garlic scapes are a very short-season crop. If you find them at all, it will likely be in the last few weeks of June.
The First Problem, store-bought sour cream is cheaper because they reduce the cost of making the sour cream by adding regular milk instead of cream along with a lot of thickening agents, starches, and gums, among other more artificial ingredients.
The Second Problem is, When you find a quality store-bought sour cream that doesn't contain all the added junk, the price tends to become prohibitive. Therefore you do not save any money by making it yourself, so unless you're just experimenting, you may as well have just purchased the cultured butter.
When, Where and How To Plant Garlic
While you can plant garlic in the early spring, garlic, people will usually plant during the cool of fall as temperatures begin to come down.
Zones 1-4 plant bulbs in late October - November.
Zones 5-7 September - October
Zones 8-9 November - December(In Zone 8-9) You'll need to store your garlic bulbs in the refrigerator for at least a couple of months before planting them, allowing the garlic to go through the vernalization process of a cold winter.
To grow garlic in 1 year, you will want to plant garlic cloves instead of seeds.
You can plant 4-9 garlic gloves per sq. foot in a garden bed, raised bed, planter boxes, or even in pots, and the bulbs will grow throughout the fall, winter, and spring. I usually plant 5 leaving plenty of room for the bulbs to grow. Cover them with a few inches of leaves or straw for the winter and rake most of that back in the spring.
When To Harvest Garlic Scapes
As soon as you see the garlic scapes curl around, you will want to cut them off or break them from the plant. Where I live in the north, the garlic scapes usually show up around mid-June to early July or about 4 to 6 weeks before the garlic bulbs are ready to harvest.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});How To Preserve Garlic Scapes
Fresh garlic scapes are only available for a few weeks a year, so having a way to preserve them and be able to use them throughout the year is a must. Throughout the rest of this article, you'll find several ideas for storing your garlic scapes and recipes for enjoying them year after year.
Storing Garlic Scapes Fresh
Countertop:
Add a few inches of cool water to a mason jar and place the freshly cut ends of a handful of scapes down into the water. Store on your counter for a few days to use fresh.
This is probably the easiest thing to do. If you change the water daily they will Keep 4 or 5 days!
Refrigerator Storage
Properly stored in the refrigerator, your garlic scapes will keep for up to a month or even more.
Good Method
Store them whole and unwashed and in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel in the bag. When stored this way in the "crisper drawer" of your refrigerator, they should keep up to 2 to 3 weeks.
Better Method
I'd have to say the FridgeSmart line made by Tupperware is hands down the best method I have ever found for storing most produce in the refrigerator, and garlic scapes are no exception. With the FridgeSmart setting on the half-open position on any shelf of your refrigerator, you should get 4 to 6 weeks out of those garlic scapes.
Freezing
Do not blanch your garlic scapes. Instead, wash and completely dry them before freezing them raw.
There are several ways to freeze your scapes.
One method is to chop them up by hand into small, chive-sized pieces, or better still, you can run them through the food processor until you reach the desired consistency. Place them into freezer-safe containers, or freezer bags and flatten to remove all the air from the bag before closing.
Storing these bags of summertime goodness flat in the freezer allows you to stack several bags into a small space in your freezer. Then when you want to use some in a recipe, you can just open a bag and break off what you need and then reseal the rest for later use.
Stored this way; your garlic scapes should keep up to a year.
Other methods of freezing garlic scapes include making and freezing things like pesto or compound butter. You can learn more about these methods in the upcoming recipes.
Pickle Your Garlic Scapes
You can make refrigerated pickled garlic scapes simply by using vinegar, spice, and salt, then placing the jar(s) in the refrigerator.
Or, you could go all out by water bath canning several jars at a time to make your pickled scapes shelf-stable and should keep on your pantry shelves for years.
They go great with grilled meals like burgers, hot dogs, and more, so serve them like any dill pickle.
Great Recipe Ideas For Your Fresh Garlic Scapes
- Wrapped & Roasted Garlic Scapes
- Garlic Scape Compound Butter - Coming Soon
Fresh garlic scapes are only available for a few weeks a year, so having a way to preserve them and be able to use them throughout the year is a must.
- 1 Bn garlic scapes
- Prep
Cut the ends of garlic scapes to create a fresh cut. Place garlic scapes into a mason jar (or similar) and fill the jar with water until the cut ends are well submerged.
- Keeping Them Fresh
Store on the countertop and change the water daily
- How Long Will They Keep
You should be able to keep them fresh for up to a week using this method
- Storage Bags
Place 1 or more bunches of fresh, unwashed, garlic scapes in a freezer bag.
- Keeping Them Fresh
Take a damp (not soaking) paper towel and place it flat inside the bag with the garlic scapes.
- How Long Will They Keep
They should keep 2-3 weeks stored this way in the crisper drawer,
Place your entire batch of garlic scapes into a container specifically designed for storing produce in the refrigerator.
- Keeping Them Fresh
Store on any refrigerator shelf - Not in the mushy drawer!
- How Long Will They Keep
You should be able to get your garlic scapes to keep for up to 4 to 6 weeks with this method.
- Prep
Scapes can be chopped by hand or using a food processor (preferred) and frozen in freezer-safe storage containers
- Keeping Them Fresh
The best way to freeze them is by using freezer bags and storing them flat. This allows you to easily break off any amount you need for your favorite recipes without having to thaw the whole batch.
- How Long Will They Keep
You should be able to keep them for up to six months with this method. You can store them in the freezer longer when you make things like compound butter.
You can pickle garlic scapes as well. They go great with like burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, or even on those grazing platters you serve up for family gatherings.
Servings 4
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 203kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 1g2%
- Total Carbohydrate 45g15%
- Dietary Fiber 3g12%
- Sugars 1g
- Protein 9g18%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
- For the best flavor use your garlic scapes fresh out of the garden.
- If you freeze garlic scapes whole, they will have a soft, mushy texture so I don't recommend storing them that way unless you have a recipe you plan to use where the texture is not an issue.