Every now and then I try gadgets even though I pretty much know that I will not like the product or use it. Usually, I have heard good reports on it, the Amazon ratings are high, and the product is relatively cheap. Essentially, I get to satisfy my curiosity and there is no regret if it turns out to be useless.
So I finally gave in and bought one of those cannelloni-shaped garlic peelers by Zak for around $9. I must admit that I didn’t have high hopes for this gadget. Once you know that you can just tap the flat side of a chef’s knife on a garlic clove and the skin will easily come off, a garlic peeler seems redundant. Just search YouTube and you will find many videos showing how to remove garlic skin with a knife or other flat object.
But maybe I am too quick to judge. The Amazon ratings are really high for this simple and cheap gadget, and there are some logical reasons someone would use it. The main arguments for it include:
* It is quick and easy.
* You touch the garlic less, so you hands don’t smell as much.
* It preserves the shape of the clove as it doesn’t crush the clove as the knife method does.
So how did it perform?
Well, first of all it does work. It quickly took away the skin and left a clean clove of garlic on my counter. I must say I was quite impressed. Though that is basically what a gadget does: it wows you with its magic and then you actually start cooking with it and begin to see the real benefits and drawbacks.
Was it faster than doing the knife trick?
That is tough to say.
If you are just skinning one or two cloves and have a chef’s knife handy, then you would likely be done removing the skin with a knife before you could retrieve the garlic peeler from your gadget drawer. So for a small number of cloves, it is probably still best to use a knife if you have one handy. If you don’t, go for the peeler gadget. You’ll just have to wash another kitchen item later on.
For larger amounts of garlic, the peeler makes more sense as it may save you time overall. But that isn’t always true. I tried out 20 cloves and after about 8 of them, garlic skins were stuck to the inside of the cylinder and it took longer to peel each clove. Productivity declines with use. You could wash out the cylinder, but that also takes time and when it becomes wet it also works less effectively, so you need to dry the inside thoroughly.
Essentially, in terms of speed, if you know how to remove garlic skin with a knife, the peeler won’t really save that much time — if any. If you aren’t comfortable with knives and are only doing a moderate amount of cloves, then the peeler could marginally save time.
Other Considerations
The most compelling reason to use the peeler is when you want to retain the garlic clove shape without smashing it. The knife or other flat surface, depending upon how much pressure you use, will crush the garlic to some extent. So if you are using whole cloves for pickling or want neatly sliced garlic to put into the slits of a tenderloin, then the peeler will do a good for such purposes.
Another reason for using the peeler would be to reduce the smell that handling garlic imparts to your hands. When you crush garlic, you start to release its oil and that is what makes your hands smell. But I do find this argument less than persuasive. If you neatly peel the garlic with the gadget and then use your hands to chop or slice the garlic, you still end up handling it — albeit less. Even if you use a garlic press, you still often end up employing your fingers to dig out the pulp remains. Basically, unless you are using only full cloves, you will still end up handling the garlic and have some garlic smell on your hands.
Lastly, I think the peeler is also good if you have children or less-than-foodie relatives or friends helping in the kitchen. It is easy to use, can be fun for children, and the helpers don’t have to worry about hands smelling like garlic. You will be the one chopping and preparing the food.
Overall Evaluation
If you are comfortable with a knife and are already using one to remove garlic skins, this peeler gadget will probably not get used that much. I wouldn’t buy it.
In terms of speed, the peeler can be superior but it depends upon how much garlic you are peeling. If you are doing 4-6 cloves, the peeler may be quicker but after that, the peeler can lose efficiency and become slower. I wouldn’t buy this gadget for the speed.
If you want to reduce garlic contact with your hands; you like to cook a lot with whole cloves; or you want to involve kids in cooking, then this gadget is a small price to pay for those advantages. It does work well; it just depends upon how you cook.
