The peel is thicker and attached firmly to the root, so cutting off the root end first will save a lot of time and effort peeling garlic.
you can avoid stripping the peel into tiny sticky pieces or digging grooves into the clove while you gouge or scrape off the peel from the top or side.
this is another lifehack I would have appreciated learning years earlier.
that was my go to for a while, but it's easy to wind up with sticky little strips of peel and I like making fried garlic slices, like little fried garlic chips, and you can't use a smashed clove for those.
smashing garlic cloves will help, but since i still have to pick out pieces of peel and take off the bottom part anyway after a smash, I usually do the root end cut now.
especially if I'm using an entire bulb, it's easier and quicker for me to cut off the entire root end all at once than a bunch of smashes.
nice garlic game!
I'm right there with you on soft garlic.
I cut off the root end of a couple bulbs, peel and pan-steam the cloves, then mash them up in a bowl with a fork and use them like an accompanying spread or dip for steaks or scallops.
I used to sautee them but that takes forever and it's easy to char the edges.
The garlic flavor is strong enough that intense steaming doesn't warp the flavor and they get soft enough to whip into a puree after 10 or 15 minutes deoending on the heat.
Garlic paste is a wonderful substance, I buy a jar of it from an international foods store (Peru section)