Converting Fresh Onion/Garlic to Powdered/Granulated

[TasunkaWitko]

To me, there's often no substitute for "the real thing" when making sausage or other traditional products - it brings us a little closer to how things were done "back in the day," and also provides opportunities to use home-grown ingredients.

But how do we convert fresh ingredients to the equivalent amount of dehydrated ingredients found in supermarkets? Regarding onion and garlic, here's what a quick internet search turned upl:

Conversions:

Converting fresh garlic to granulated garlic: 1 garlic clove = 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic.

Converting fresh garlic to powdered garlic: 1 garlic clove = 1/8 teaspoon powdered garlic

Converting fresh onion to powdered onion: 1/4 cup chopped onion = 1 teaspoon powdered onion.

I was wondering if this sounded comparable to how others handled this in practical application, or if there were other measurements out there that are used.

Thanks in advance -

Ron

[Mark R]

Oh hell, I thought you were going to tell us how to make Granulated garlic, powdered garlic and powdered onion!

from http://www.food.com/library/garlic-165
"1 clove = 1 teaspoon chopped garlic = 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic = 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder = 1/2 teaspoon garlic flakes = 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic = 1/2 teaspoon garlic juice"

http://www.food.com/library/onion-powder-502
Onion flakes (1 teaspoon onion powder = 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes) OR onion (1 teaspoon onion powder = 1/3 cup chopped onion)

[TasunkaWitko]

looks pretty close to what I found, Mark - thanks!

As to how to make it, as far as I know, you just slice thinly (maybe dice?), dehydrate, then run though the food processor. There's a topic over at FotW in the dehydrating/preservation section that might be worth a look....

[zombini]

I noticed in a couple of your posts that when you substitute fresh garlic and onion you say steeped in water. Im curious about this.
steve

[TasunkaWitko]

Steve -

I noticed in a couple of your posts that when you substitute fresh garlic and onion you say steeped in water. Im curious about this.

Rich and I have been talking about this a little bit, and I have read about it through a lot of central and eastern European sources.

The idea behind it is that you can add another layer of flavour during the development of the sausage. Basically, you would get your garlic and/or onion together in the amount you are looking for, and then simmer it a while (maybe an hour?) in a little water, about as much as you intend for your cure/spice slurry. Once the water (and simmered onion and garlic) cools off, you can add it all together to your sausage mixture; this keeps the onion and garlic from having that "sharp" quality as it will mellow out during the simmering, but since you're adding the water (essentially a garlic/onion "stock"), you still get all of the flavour.

[zombini]

Steve -



Rich and I have been talking about this a little bit, and I have read about it through a lot of central and eastern European sources.

The idea behind it is that you can add another layer of flavour during the development of the sausage. Basically, you would get your garlic and/or onion together in the amount you are looking for, and then simmer it a while (maybe an hour?) in a little water, about as much as you intend for your cure/spice slurry. Once the water (and simmered onion and garlic) cools off, you can add it all together to your sausage mixture; this keeps the onion and garlic from having that "sharp" quality as it will mellow out during the simmering, but since you're adding the water (essentially a garlic/onion "stock"), you still get all of the flavour.

I'll have to give that a whirl. Thanks