SmokED Garlic Powder — 5,000 Years of History and What Hickory Smoke Does to It
Garlic has been cultivated for over 5,000 years — one of the oldest known cultivated plants on Earth. Here’s where it came from and what hickory smoke does to it.
The History of Garlic
Ancient Egyptians fed garlic to the workers building the pyramids, believing it provided strength and warded off disease. Roman soldiers ate it before battle. In medieval Europe it was used as a plague remedy. Louis Pasteur identified its antibacterial properties in 1858. Today we know it contains allicin — one of nature’s most powerful natural antimicrobials — which is released when garlic is crushed or chopped. Garlic powder was developed in the early 20th century as a shelf-stable alternative to fresh garlic, and became a staple of American spice cabinets after World War II when dehydration technology expanded into food production.
🦠 Did You Know?
Garlic powder and garlic salt are not interchangeable — garlic salt is roughly 3 parts salt to 1 part garlic powder. Using garlic salt where a recipe calls for garlic powder will dramatically over-salt your food. Granulated garlic (what SmokED uses) is coarser than powder and behaves differently in rubs — it holds its texture longer and creates more visible garlic pieces in a crust, rather than disappearing into the meat.
The SmokED Difference
SmokED Garlic Powder combines granulated garlic with natural hickory smoke flavor … a natural flavor enhancer that deepens the garlic’s savory character. Hickory is the assertive, bold smoke of American BBQ — the smoke you smell at a real pit. It amplifies the garlic’s natural pungency rather than softening it, producing a garlic powder that punches hard on roasted vegetables, rubs, sauces, and garlic bread that genuinely tastes like it came off a smoker.