I had two heads of garlic I hadn’t used yet. I noticed today that the broken off root ends looked a little… fuzzy. One head had no mold inside the skin when I separated the cloves, the other had a little and two cloves were a bit moldy on the outside. I discarded the moldy cloves but saved all the ones that looked fine. They feel fine texture and weight wis, and I broke one open and the color and scent were normal.
Is it gonna kill me if I use this garlic? I’d rather not run to the store for more, I’ll just make the dish without it. And it’s only 50 cents a head, so I’m not out too much money if I just toss what I have. But if it can be saved, I’d like to know.
I’ve used garlic like that many times with no problem. However, if you take that “purple pill” to eliminate stomach acid, this kind of thing can be riskier. Our stomach acid makes it much safer to ingest small amounts of risky microbes.
Be VERY careful, especially if anyone sitting at your dinner table tonight has an allergy to penicillin.
I’ve used onions with moldy spots, because those layers peel off so neatly. Garlic is so small and slippery, I’d have to make damn sure the clove has no mold on it, that the mold is confined to the papery covering. I really wouldn’t want to scrape the individual peeled clove, because knowing my klutziness, I’d end up cutting myself.
I buy the chopped up stuff in a jar. My fingers, cutting boards and trash cans don’t reek of garlic, and I don’t have to worry about mold.
~VOW