I make pickled garlic all the time. I use just distilled 5% vinegar and pickling salt to taste. I have also add a little dill to some, and a few red pepper flakes to others for a flavor varient. There is no need for sugar, unless you like them sweet. I usually buy 3 pound jars of peeled garlic from Costco. Then they only need the brown root area cut off. You may noticed that after a couple of days a few cloves will start to have a blue green color. This is quite normal, and is not any indication of spoilage or other problem.

Thanks Ken.
The Heinz recipe uses a brine of 3c. vinegar, 1c. water, 1/4c. pickling salt.

The 2-3 garlic cloves are fine in there with the cucumbers. Why (or does it) make a difference if it's just garlic? Both are low acid.

Is there something about the garlic that the recipes seem to call for straight vinegar?

Not that it's a big deal..........I am only making 4 or 5 1/4 pint jars of it. Just seems like it will be awfully "vinegar-y".

Love my kid and want to make sure it's safe! (grin).
Deanna

Garlic, by its nature is very dense and needs a bit more acid compared to cukes and other pickles to be safly pickled. I usually don't add any water to mine, but I would suspect that a little under 1/4 of the amount of liquid could be water. If you want it to be safe enough, it could require a longer processing time, but would also make them very soft. Mine are nice and crunchy when pickled.

Ken
Are you buying the 3 lbs. of canned garlic and reprocessing in in smaller portions? What exactly is in the purchased 3 lb.jar? We don't have a Costco in the area. Do you suppose B J's would carry it?

I would stick with the regular pickled garlic recipe and leave out the sugar. When you pickle garlic, you use straight vinegar or as below, vinegar and wine. You can add dill if that is the flavor she likes with it.
Here is a more gourmet type recipe with wine. It is from Bernadin. This one sounds good to me with the seasonings.
Pickled Garlic
Pickling mellows garlics 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. ( half pints are 250 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 time as indicated in chart.

No, these are Christopher Ranch brand whole peeled garlic cloves and are packed dry in a big 3 pound plastic jar in the refrigerator section. BJ's might carry them too, but only a smaller sized jar of about 1 pound. When I buy them is in a season time when the cloves are very large looking in the clear plastic jars. Maybe even a Sams Club might have them as well. As mentioned, my recipe is simply vinegar and salt, and a flavor if you like a hint of dill or heat, or even oregano.

OK, I'll go with the straight vinegar.
Add a little dill and a peppercorn or two.

I am making the little 1/4 pint jars only, so will probably just pop them in with Katie's Plum Sauce when I seal that (20 minutes in BWB).

The ones she's been eating are semi-crunchy as I don't process my dills. They are kept in the fridge.

I may try one jar with red wine vinegar (mine's 6% acidity), and some oregano.

Thanks for everything!!
Deanna

Would be interesting with red wine vinegar. They do remain quite crunchy after pickling. My mon used to pop them in her mouth like peanuts. They lose a lot of that odor and aftertaste once pickled. If you add dill, just use that and add pepper corns to another jar. The combination of both spices/herbs in one jar may be a bit over powering for the garlic.

Well, I hope it tastes OK. Ken, I didn't read your post till this morning!!
I used 2 pepper corns and approx. 1/2 teaspoon of dill seed per quarter-pint jar. Added the garlic cloves and poured the brine over. Processed 10 min. in BWB.

I'll give them some time before trying them to let the flavors blend.
Deanna

A few weeks works OK. I also like to add a little tumeric to give them a yellow color. When I made a few qusrt jars of pickled cukes they had a couple of peppercorns in each. They tend to get quite peppery flavored, even though I only had a few peppercorns in each quart jar. I don't add them anymore, and just stay with fresh dill weed and dill seed heads.

I use 4 peppercorns (along with the dill and 1-2 garlic cloves) in my pint jars of dill pickles and like that flavor.

That's where my daughter has been getting the garlic she likes. I wanted to make something similiar with just the garlic.

We shall see........
That's the only down side to pickles.
You really don't know for several weeks if they are good.
:+)
Deanna