Canning garlic is not recommended as it loses most of its flavor when processed. It can be stored in wine or vinegar for months in the fridge without any processing. But straight vinegar undiluted is recommended simply because garlic is in the top 5 potential sources of pathogenic bacteria. So while a few cloves added to pickles isn't a problem when the whole jar is nothing but garlic lean heavy on the vinegar.

Safe Methods for Storing and Saving Garlic

Dave

so basically i shouldnt eat the stuff i canned....crap. why can you eat raw garlic then? or is that not recommended either ha...

Eating it raw has a very limited appeal to most and from a purely safety point of view it isn't recommended. Yeah I know there are some of the health fads that advocate it but it is right up there with drinking unpasteurized milk and some of the other current health diet claims. If you feel the benefits of eating it raw vs. cooked is worth the risk then that is your choice. Or you could at least ferment it first or even slice and dehydrate it..

As for the jars you pickled in the 50% brine? Bound to be safer to eat raw than if it hadn't been pickled at all but cooked is far safer. All it takes is eating one bad fresh clove to change your mind, once you make it out of the hospital.

Dave

Interesting Dave...I did not know that it is not recommended to pickle garlic cloves.

IIRC one of the balls books (either a recent Blue book, or Complete guide to home food preservation) has a recipe for pickled garlic. I can't remember the ratios but I believe it was just vinegar, water, canning salt, and sugar. I made a few half pints last year and everyone loved them.

I guess I will stick with dehydrating my garlic that is showing signs of going south over the winter. Love home made garlic powder!

"I did not know that it is not recommended to pickle garlic cloves."

Not what I said Jack. Just that it isn't recommended to pickle it in diluted vinegar and water like the 1:1 ratio of vinegar - more vinegar is recommended OR to heat process it. It is the heat processing that destroys the flavor.

The BBB recipe for Pickled Garlic Cloves is straight vinegar - no dilution.

6 cups peeled cloves

1 cup sugar

1 tsp canning salt

3 cups vinegar

Pickle Crisp (optional)

For clarification in case needed, eating cloves of pickled garlic isn't the same thing as eating raw garlic cloves since the pickling process prevents the spores from growing or producing toxins.

Dave

OK sorry my bad!! I reread your comment and you did say it is not recommended only because it looses much flavor.

I guess I did not remember correctly on the BBB recipe....good thing I never try to can anything by memory :). It does call for BWB though doesn't it? Good to know that I can still can some this fall. We can only use so much garlic powder and garlic chips.

i did process them for 10 minutes..idk if that makes a difference or not. i dont eat raw garlic for health benefits, i just like the taste so when were pickling cucumbers ill eat a clove or two. guess i just wont do that anymore to be safe.