Garlic Peelers

When you need to peel garlic, you can whack the clove with the side of a knife blade (which works beautifully, but you get a crushed clove) or you can use a garlic peeler. You roll these devices—simple silicone or rubber tubes, or sheets that you shape into a tube—with the garlic inside, a process that gently tugs the papery skin off the cloves and leaves them intact. Thus, garlic peelers are perfect for recipes calling for whole or sliced cloves. We tried three models priced from $6.50 to $8.79, peeling both single and multiple cloves, and evaluated them on their peeling performance, ease of use, and cleanup. While all were easy to wash in the dishwasher or by hand, the real differences lay in how comfortable they were—or were not—to press down on and roll, and how quickly and effectively they removed the peels. Our winner lived up to its name. It was the thickest and most well cushioned, making rolling easy and painless. Its grippy silicone surface thoroughly and speedily removed the skins from cloves of all sizes without bruising them. It’s our new favorite way to peel garlic.