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Dehydrate Garlic & DIY Garlic Powder

Dehydrate garlic for the best garlic powder you’ve ever had! These easy step-by-step instructions for dehydrating garlic will help you get started! And use some of the grocery store hacks to help you do it faster with less fuss!

Canning jar of homemade garlic powder with garlic bulb

How to Dehydrate Garlic

Equipment

  • Dehydrator
  • Knife
  • Food Processor (not necessarily, but really helpful if doing bulk

Instructions:

  1. Peel garlic (No, you don’t have to peel the cloves, just remove the paper).
  2. Slice or process into roughly minced pieces.
  3. Place on lined dehydrator trays.
  4. Dry at 95°F / 35°C for 8-18 hours.
  5. Cool to test.
  6. Condition.
  7. Store in airtight container.
  8. Testing for Dryness.
  9. Garlic slices should easily snap when fully dried.
  10. Minced pieces will be hard and plink when dropped onto a hard surface.

Dryness Test:

  • Allow garlic pieces to cool for five minutes.
  • Slices should easily snap apart.
  • Minced pieces should be hard and plink when dropped onto a hard surface.

Place pieces back into the dehydrator if they need more time.

Conditioning Dried Garlic

Place into an airtight container, with room to spare, and shake once a day for 5-7 days.

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If you see signs of:

  • Clumping together
  • Moisture buildup
  • Pieces stuck to the side of the jar that don’t easily shake off

Throw it all back into the dehydrator for a few more hours to finish drying

NOTE: If you see mold, do not use it – throw it all out. Mold in one place visible may not show you where it is growing elsewhere in the jar.

Storing Dried Garlic

Garlic is best-stored whole in an airtight container until you need to powder 1-2 months worth of garlic powder

  • Garlic pieces store 1-2 years, conservatively
  • Garlic powder stores 6-9 months.

Expert Tips

To do a bulk load without all the work of peeling, consider purchasing commercially jarred minced garlic in water. It will save you a ton of time to create your own dried minced garlic and garlic powder.

If you have issues with intense smells, you might consider drying garlic outside. The smell can be overwhelming for some.

How to Make Garlic Powder

DIY garlic powder is easy if you have a coffee grinder or bullet blender. Follow these simple steps and have garlic powder that tastes better than storebought!

Equipment

  • Coffee Grinder
  • Bullet Blender
  • Large Blender (these are generally not as effective unless you are doing large quantities – such as for holiday gift-giving for spice baskets)

Instructions:

  1. Place garlic bits or slices into the grinder of your choice
  2. Pulse often until pieces look fairly broken up, THEN process for 20 seconds at a time. Overprocessing leads to clumping!

Conditioning Powder

Yes, you should condition your garlic powder, too!

My favorite method is this:

  1. Place garlic powder onto fruit leather sheet lining a cookie sheet
  2. Place in a warmed (but turned off) oven
  3. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so.
  4. Cool
  5. Store in an airtight container with either 1/4 teaspoon or more of arrowoot powder or a moisture absorber. Either helps control moisture from opening a jar over and over as you use to – and helps stop clumping.

More tips to stop clumping:

  • Store in an airtight container
  • Use 1/4 teaspoon of arrowroot powder per pint (increase if you need it)
  • Use a moisture absorber
  • Condition as above

LEARN MORE: 5 Ways to Stop Clumping in Powders

Expert Tip

Don’t open your powders over your stovetop while cooking. The steam from your pots and pans will get into the powder to create clumping (remember that block of onion powder you struggle with?).

Instead, open near the stovetop, close the container, then pour your powder into your pot.

Dehydrating Basics & Journal book and ebook mockup
Canning jar of homemade garlic powder with garlic bulb

Dehydrate Garlic and Make Garlic Powder

Create your own fabulous garlic powder from dehydrated garlic – you'll never buy storebought again!
5 from 4 votes
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Course: Preserved Food
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Drying Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 1
Calories: 676kcal
Cost: $1

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

To Dry

  • Remove outter papes of garlic
  • Rough chop or slice
  • Place on dehydrator sheets
  • Dry at 95°F/35°C until done
  • Condition
  • Store in an airtight container

To Powder

  • Place garlic in coffee grinder or bullet blender
  • Pulse often until you can continuously grind (more more than 30 seconds)
  • Preheat oven to its lowest temperature then turn off
  • Place powder onto a lined cookie sheet
  • Put powder into oven for 15 min or so to dry it out
  • Cool, then store in an airtight container

Darcy’s Tips

Notes:
You can choose to throw unpeeled garlic cloves into the food processor to roughly chop them into small bits. These will work to throw into soups or stews for flavor or to continue to powder.
Yield:
1 Cup fresh garlic cloves = 1/4 Cup dried garlic = 1 Tablespoon garlic powder

Nutrition

Calories: 676kcal | Carbohydrates: 150g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 77mg | Potassium: 1819mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 41IU | Vitamin C: 142mg | Calcium: 821mg | Iron: 8mg

Nutritional information is an estimation only. Nutrient information for dehydrated foods is based on fresh. Use 1/4 of the servicing size for the same nutrient information. Thus 1 Cup of fresh fruit has the same sugars as 1/4 dried.

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9 Comments

  1. Avatar for Denise H. Denise H. says:

    5 stars
    I would like to leave a simple review for the Bright Home silicone leather trays I purchased recently. I decided to use them to dehydrate my minced garlic( purchased pre-minced in water) on to prevent the little pieces from falling through the trays. I am new to dehydrating so this was a new experience. After the garlic was dehydrated per your instructions( which I love by the way) I became a little disheartened. My garlic stuck to those trays. What should have been an easy job suddenly turned into a frustrating job. It took me an hour to remove the garlic and clean 4 trays. I don’t know if my experience is typical or not. I just wanted to save others from having to go through this situation. I am happy to say that my garlic did turn out wonderful. Thanks Darcy

  2. 5 stars
    I was not looking forward to peeling, slicing, and grinding all my garlic. These tips about just removing the “paper” and running through the food processor before drying were game changers.

  3. I want to dehydrate sliced garlic so I can use it in recipes as is, how would you suggest I go about doing this. I just found you and you are such a blessing!

  4. Avatar for Robin Wilson Robin Wilson says:

    5 stars
    So helpful. I need to find the one for onions if there is one ?

  5. Avatar for Deborah Hegney Deborah Hegney says:

    5 stars
    Excellent instructions! ?

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