Grocery Store garlic vs. Conley Farms' bodacious bulbs....what's the diff?
Great question! Garlic has two main categories, hardneck and softneck. Hardneck averages 4-6 large cloves arranged around a center stem or stalk. Those big cloves are also big on taste, which means using less cloves in your delicious dishes. Softneck garlic has no center stalk and on average contains 8-20 small cloves. Although still tasty, those small cloves don't pack the flavorful punch that Hardneck cloves do.
Why is grocery store store garlic so much cheaper?
Another great question! There are several reasons but here's the short answer. Softneck garlic seed is cheaper and their bulbs last twice as long in storage. To large scale commercial growers and grocery stores that means more profit. Though it means a lower price for the consumer it also means smaller cloves with smaller flavor and often times it also means it's been chemically treated with an anti-sprouting agent.