Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to wash the jars and lids in the dishwasher on the “sterilize” cycle. If you do not have a dishwasher or a dishwasher with a sterilize function, put the jars and lids into boiling water for 10 minutes to sterilize them. When handling freshly-sterilized cans and lids, use clean tongs or canning tongs. Any interaction between human skin and the jars or lids could transfer unwanted bacteria. Try not to use old jam or jelly jars as your canning jars, as these don’t preserve properly. Instead, opt for mason jars. If you want to use old jam jars, you’ll need to keep your pickled garlic refrigerated at all times and use it up within three months.
Shake them up. Break up the garlic bulbs and place the cloves into a metal bowl. Invert another identical metal bowl over the first bowl to create a locked seal. Grip the bowls tightly with both hands and shake vigorously for up to 30 seconds. Your cloves should be completely peeled! Blanch the garlic. Break up the garlic bulbs and sink into boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and put them into cold water to stop the cooking. Separate the peel from the clove in the water. The peels should easily slide off after they are blanched.
Use a stainless steel, teflon, porcelain or glass pot. Do not use a copper pot; too much copper present in the water may cause the garlic to turn green or blue.
Add more boiling water to the canner if necessary to bring the water level to at least 1 inch (2. 5 cm) over the tops of the jars. Place a metal standing tray on the bottom of your canner for the mason jars to rest atop. The mason jars may break if they sit on the bottom of the canner, next to the direct heat from the burner.
After they are completely cool, push on the center of each jar to see if it pops up and down. If it does, the jar has not sealed properly. Restart the canning process with the jars that didn’t seal if you have too many to use up quickly. Use new lids on the jars and leave them in the canner for the full 15 minutes again.
