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Photos by Daniela on Unsplash (left) and Rens D on Unsplash (right)

Peeling garlic is notoriously challenging.

If you ever cook with fresh garlic, you know what a challenge it can be to remove the cloves from the skin cleanly, especially if you're starting with a full head.

There are various methods people use to peel garlic, with varying levels of success. Doing it by hand works, but will leave you with garlic-smelling fingertips for the better part of a day. Whacking the head on the counter helps separate the cloves from each other, but doesn't help much with removing the skin.

Some people swear by vigorously shaking the skinned cloves around in a covered bowl or jarred lid, which can be surprisingly effective. Some smash the clove with the flat side of a knife to loosen it and then pull it off. Others utilize a rubber roller to de-skin the cloves.

But none of these methods come close to the satisfaction of watching someone perfectly peeling an entire head of garlic with a pair of tongs.


A video shared by the TikTok channel Learn Green shows what appears to be a woman's hands holding a large head of garlic in one hand and small metal tongs in the other, and within 30 seconds, the skin is separated from the cloves without any damage to the garlic, and it's a thing of beauty.

Just when you think there couldn't possibly be anything new social media can offer humanity, a video comes along that blows your mind and changes your life for the better. Watch:

@learngreen

Garlic Master 💚 #good #garlic

Garlic master, indeed. People in the comments clarified that the tongs appear to be fish bone tweezers, which are a bit like ice tongs, but sturdier. And the reactions to the video were pure internet gold:

"The way I want to go on the ultimate garlic peeling spree now, for absolutely no reason."

"It takes me 2-3 business days to peel fresh garlic."

"My flabbers have been gasted."

"I am telling you I haven't done a damn thing right in my entire life."

"No thx, I'd rather cut each one individually, struggle, throwing half of it away away in the process and getting angry at myself by the end of it."

Several people lamented that they've never known they had this wonder tool at their disposal.

"Are you telling me that I've had a garlic peeler in my drawer all these years and didn't even know what to do with it until just now?"

"I have that set of tong things. I didn't know it was for garlic."

"You finally throw away that 'useless' thing in the kitchen drawer you had for years the day before you find out what it was for."

Others sung the praises of "TikTok University."

"I believe after so many of hours of TikTok we get college credits."

"At the very least a masters degree in life skills."

"I have learned more on TikTok than school."

"I don't know what other people's feeds are like but I'm learning something every 6 minutes."

And in case you're wondering, this person is not the only garlic master with the tongs. There are other videos showing the same thing, and they are all just as mesmerizing.

@c_wondersoffarming

Garlic peeling! #satisfying #decompression #garlic #peeling #lifehack #tool

Seriously, this is what social media should be used for—succinctly sharing useful, helpful skills that actually add to our quality of life.

(Helpful tip for getting the most out of TikTok: Don't scroll past garlic peeling videos if you want your feed to teach you valuable hacks like this. Game that algorithm in your favor.)