The Magic Garlic Peeler Hack

By Margaret Crandall

Everyone has a garlic peeling “hack.” And everyone is wrong. Whack it with a knife? Sure, if you want to send cloves flying across your kitchen. Shake it between two metal bowls? Utter waste of time and energy. Slice the entire bulb in half like they do on TikTok? Listen, if you’re using that much garlic, you either work at an Italian restaurant, are deathly afraid of vampires, or both.

The only truly efficient, fun, and non-messy way to peel garlic is with Ben Omessi’s Original E-Z-Rol Garlic Peeler. I found this thing in my grandmother’s junk drawer and I’m obsessed with it. Designed for people with disabilities, it’s a rubber tube that looks a bit like a cannoli. You simply pop a clove or three into it, roll it back and forth a few times until you hear and feel the crunch as the outside layers fall away, and voila: Whole, clean garlic cloves — without anything getting stuck under your fingernails.

If you want the original E-Z-Rol, you’ll have to head to eBay, but there are many similar options on the market now, like this $4 model. I hope Omessi patented his invention and was able to retire comfortably — in a sea of garlic. 

(Photo: basykes via Never Too Curious)

Originally Published March 22, 2021. Updated May 15, 2021.