Home canning processes may not work well for this, unless they are pressure canned. But because they tend to cook, that wil soften and 'tone down' the flavor. As an option, mice fresh garlic and add a few herbs of your choice and put in a food processor with some unsalted butter and a little olive oil. Allow the butter to soften and blend in the garlic and optioanl herbs. Quickly refrigerate and then when firm again, spoon out or form into small cubes for use later. Then freeze. This wil help the garlic to remain full flavored and also gives you a fresher flavor when using fresh herbs. My batch of herbed butter has lots of garlic, rosemary, thyme, and a bit of black pepper. I was able to fome small chunks and freeze it. When I want an herbed spread, you simply thaw out or add a chunk of the frozen herbed butter. Made garlic herbed bread the other day with leftover sourdough bread. I softened the herbed butter and spread it on the slices, and added a bit more fresh garlic, and put it under the broiler.What a taste! I also have a small garlic press that crushes it to the right texture, without having to chop it. The jarred stuff simply doesn't have the same flavor or 'character' as fresh. Simply chopping the garlic and packing in small quantities and freezing is also a safer option. For a canned garlic, I prefer to pickle it in a salt and vinegar brine. I usually by whole cloves by the 3 pound jar at Costco and just trim off the brownish root ends and pack in jars. I pour over a boiling brine, cover and process. The end result is a snack, and is great in salads and eating right out of the jar. It doesn't have the stength and heat of fresh, but has a mellow flavor all its own.

I looked for recipes a few years ago after buying a quantity of purple Spanish garlic (fresh bulb form) - really like it and rarely can find it. Everything I found pointed towards most of the flavor being lost to the high temps of pressure canning, and pressure canning absolutely required.

I've found this product to be better than the California garlic in jars most stores carry locally and order 4 at a time about once a year. Did I mention we are garlic lovers? The garlic I use most often is fresh :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Tienda Spanish Garlic

The local supermarket offered a purple garlic too, but fresh whole bulbs. Its a seasonal thing and at times you only see tiny cloves, while other times they are huge. Wish I could find that single garlic bulb I saw a few months ago. It was shaped similar to an onion, but more elongated, and had a white skin. Specially bred to give you a single round clove. Still need to find out the name, but expect its from the same suppliers as those fancy elephant garlics you see. Lately, even shallots are being packed in net bags like onions., as opposed to those tiny two in a box ones which are very expensive. I'm attempting to grow some shallots from seeds this year too.

This may not be what you're looking to do, but it serves me well in the kitchen. Take whole peeled garlic cloves with no blemishes or brown spots in vinegar with at least 5% acidity, then water bath. LET IT SIT. Give it 4-6 months, a year is better. Time mellows the sharpness of the vinegar. The whole cloves are mellow enough for an anti-pasto plate and the vinegar is invaluable as an ingredient in salad dressings, marinades, fridge-pickles, hot sauces, etc. Try it, you'll like it!
b

Not canning, but a culinary trick with garlic is to peel a mess of cloves and an equal or slightly greater quantity of fresh ginger. Run the two through a food processor together, put in a plastic zip-lock type freezer bag, and press down so its fairly flat. When its frozen, it is very easy to break of a chunk and use it in cooking.

I did some roasted garlic (end of one of those 3# containers Ken mentioned) then put the garlic and a little olive oil in the food processor and made an oily paste. Dropped by spoonfuls on parchment, froze, then put into a ziploc in the freezer.
When I want a nice roasted garlic flavor I can take out what I need a quickle soften in the microwave to spread on bread, add to soup, whatever.
Deanna

Garlic can only be pickled and canned in cloves. Don't mince it as it would be like canning pureed veggies. The recipe below can have the hot peppers left out, of course, if you don't want them.
Freezing is how I preserve garlic, too.

This is from Ball:
Pickled Garlic
Pickling mellows garlicÂs pungent taste, creating a unique bite-sized burst of flavour to accent a variety of dishes. Toss pickled garlic into Italian spaghetti sauce, serve it in sandwiches, use as an antipasto or a garnish for salads.

Ingredients
12 large heads garlic, about 1 3/4 lb (838 g)
2 1/2 cups (625 ml) white vinegar 5% acidity
1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine
1 tbsp (15ml) pickling salt
1 tbsp (15ml) granulated sugar
1 tbsp (15ml) dried oregano
5 dried whole chili peppers

Instructions

Place 5 clean 250 or 236 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat water to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside; heat SNAP Lids in hot water, NOT boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and SNAP Lids hot until ready to use.

Separate garlic bulbs into cloves. To soften and loosen skins, blanch garlic cloves in rapidly boiling water 30 seconds; immediately immerse in cold water, drain and peel cloves.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, wine, pickling salt, sugar, and oregano. Bring to a boil; boil gently 1 minute; remove from heat. Add peeled garlic cloves to hot vinegar mixture. Stir constantly 1 minute.

Pack garlic and 1 dried whole chili pepper into a hot jar to within 3/4 inch (2 cm) of top rim. Add hot brine to cover garlic to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top rim (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre SNAP Lid on jar; apply screw band securely & firmly until resistance is met Âfingertip tight. Do not overtighten. Place jar in canner; repeat for remaining garlic, chili and hot liquid.

Cover canner; bring water to a boil. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process Âboil filled jars  10 minutes.* When processing time is complete, turn heat off and remove canner lid. When boil subsides - bubbles no longer rise to surface (3 to 5 minutes) - remove jars without tilting. Cool jars upright, undisturbed 24 hours. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

After cooling, check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.

Makes about 5 x 250 or 236 ml jars.

Note: This recipe was specially formulated to allow home canners to preserve a low acid food  garlic  in commonly available boiling water canners. Do not deviate from the recipe ingredients, quantities, jar size and processing method and time. Any change could affect the safety of the end product. *At altitudes higher than 1,000 ft (305 m) increase processing...

Wow! You all are so helpful.

My dad loves growing garlic and will eat it raw! I love garlic too, but not THAT much!

I really like the frozen garlic ideas. My hubby would probably like the canned garlic and hot pepper recipe.

You guys are great thanks!

Jackie