Needed some roasted garlic, put a few extra heads into the toaster oven while I was at it. It occurred to me: I leave raw garlic sitting out in a basket on the counter until I need it. Is there anything about the roasting process that would require the roasted versions to go into the fridge?
I’m going to say yes, there’s something that happens that necessitates it being refrigerated after being roasted. Don’t know what, but I wouldn’t leave it out.
I can say, however, that after being roasted, it will be fine in the fridge for at least a few days (IME) and probably up to a week or so.
You wouldn’t leave cooked carrots or cooked onions out, but in their raw form, both of them are fine at room temperature as well.
Extrapolating from my ass and brewing principles: yes. Raw garlic is made of starches–complex carbohydrates inaccessible to your average kitchen flora. By roasting (heating), you’ve broken the carbohydrates into simple sugars that are easily accessed by yeast, bacteria, etc. Refrigeration will retard those growths for a few days.
Again, all of this is pulled from my third point of contact and some (very) rudimentary understanding of chemistry.
Whole uncooked garlic cloves and bulbs are alive and can conceivably be planted if they’re organic or at least not sprayed with a growth retardant. As alive things, they fight off “infections” like bacteria and mold. Once cooked, it’s quite dead and is now compost for anything that wants to grow on it. Definitely refrigerate.
Seriously? That’s a whole lotta Ric Flair.