# I have a terra cotta garlic baker **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990 "2005-05-01T23:15:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/1 "2005-05-01T23:15:47Z")
My mother had it, asked if I wanted it, and I said “Sure!” So now I have it. What is it? Is it good? Do you have one? Do you use it? Can I make a hat? A brooch? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/2 "2005-05-01T23:46:02Z")
Roasted garlic is a wonderful thing. My favorite applications are in salad dressings and on bruschetta. I have one of the little terra cotta roasters, which was a gift from my mother-in-law. In all honesty, the job is done just as well (better, probably) with a piece of aluminum foil. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/3 "2005-05-01T23:49:48Z")
What **DoctorJ** said. With the terra cotta baker, you’re supposed to soak it in water first for something like 15 minutes or half an hour, then put the head of garlic in it (top cut off, oil drizzled over, salt and pepper on), then turn the oven on and let it bake for an hour or so. The aluminum foil requires much less prep (no soaking ;)), and it does just the same job. But the terra cotta is much more impressive for guests. And me? Roasted garlic on french bread with kalamata olives. I think I need to go to the store now. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/4 "2005-05-01T23:49:50Z")
But she didn’t give me a piece of foil! What’s your favorite recipe/technique for roasting the little darlings? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/5 "2005-05-02T00:08:33Z")
I bought one of those things once and ate two heads of garlic the first night. The next day, one of the guys I worked with came back from lunch and declared the place smelled like a Mediterranean restaurant. Apparently the garlic scent oozes from the pores in your body and I was really making everyone hungry. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/6 "2005-05-02T01:38:38Z")
I got one. They are so cool! I immediately made some roasted garlic as per **Campion’s** instructions. Yummy! Then I put it on top of the fridge 'cause I knew I’d use it frequently, and it would be there, looking cool and ready for use. After a year or so I moved it into the cupboard. I just found it again recently and thought, “some roasted garlic in this cool looking ceramic garlic roaster would be really good!” Oh, well. It’ll probably sit in the cupboard another year or so 'til I finally use it again. Maybe. Hopefully. It is a cool little thing though, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/7 "2005-05-02T02:06:21Z")
The other day I roasted a head of garlic and tossed all of it in the last cycle of my breadmaker, so roasted garlicy bread. Boy, was it good. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/8 "2005-05-02T14:32:48Z")
Make a pterodactyl! _Prrrrr! Prrrrr!_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/9 "2005-05-02T17:39:02Z")
Mmmmmm. Garlic. 350[sup]o[/sup] oven. Cut the top off the head(s) of garlic. Drizzle on olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper. Wrap in foil or put in roaster and throw in the oven for a while. At about 1/2 an hour prep some french bread–slice 1/2 inch thick, olive oil on either side, onto cookie sheet. At about 45 min pop into oven. The bottoms will get nice and brown, I guess you could turn them over to get the tops brown too. Pull out bread and place onto a platter when reaches desired toastyness. Pull out garlic, and either squeeze the little cloves out into a dish or put whole head into a small bowel and scoop out cloves with a butter knife. Full cooking time about 45 min to 1 hour. Serve with cream cheese. One toasty bread + cream cheese spread over surface + garlic clove on top = happy Little Bird. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/10 "2005-05-02T17:44:19Z")
> [@Little Bird](#): > > Pull out garlic, and either squeeze the little cloves out into a dish or put whole head into a **small bowel** and scoop out cloves with a butter knife. Well, I suppose eventually they will end up in your small bowel, but for service a small bowl will be more appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/11 "2005-05-02T17:45:11Z")
And the best part is, if you’re the only one eating this stuff, you get the TV room all to yourself! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-terra-cotta-garlic-baker/301990/12 "2005-05-02T17:53:22Z")
One bit of advice: Don’t eat roasted garlic with home-brew. Related story: Every year, a group of us judge the home-brewing competition at the SoCal renaissance Faire. It gives us an excuse to drink and eat on somebody else’s dime, and dress up in the bargain. We always get roasted garlic with lunch. After an hour or so, the still-active yeast in the home-brew reacts with the roasted garlic to produce emissions that are prohibited under the Geneva Conventions. We have cleared parking lots. 😃