Garlic Powder

Garlic powder smells sharp and toasty the moment the lid comes off, closer to roasted garlic than raw. The flavor is savory and slightly sweet, with none of the bite you get from a fresh clove. It dissolves into liquid instead of sitting in pieces, so it spreads flavor evenly through a sauce, a marinade, or a dry rub. The grind here is fine and free-running, not clumped.

Use it where fresh garlic would scorch or where you want flavor without texture. It works in burger mixes, meatballs, and sausage. Stir it into cream sauces, gravy, and cheese sauce for macaroni. Rub it on chicken thighs or pork shoulder with paprika, salt, and black pepper. Toss it with potatoes before roasting, or with oil and popcorn. It holds up in slow-cooked chili and bean pots where fresh garlic fades. A quarter teaspoon stands in for roughly one clove. For a pound of ground meat, start with half a teaspoon. In rubs, it can run to a tablespoon or more without tasting harsh. Add it early to anything simmering so it has time to bloom, and keep it off a dry hot pan, where it burns fast and turns bitter.

Store the jar closed, away from the stove and out of sunlight. Heat and steam are what turn garlic powder into a solid brick. A dry spoon every time keeps it pouring.

• 2.3 oz jar: for the cook who reaches for it a few times a month, mostly in rubs and dressings.
• 21 oz jar: for weekly cooking, big pots of chili, and anyone who seasons meat by the pound.
• 80 oz jar: for batch cooking, catering, and households that make their own spice blends.
• Decant from the large jars into a small shaker for the counter.
• Buy the size you will finish in about a year; the aroma softens after that.