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Increasing the surface area of a substance increases its reaction rate. Proof by garlic.
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this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2025
535 points (98.0% liked)
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I would argue that the surface area of paste is less than the surface area of minced.
Only if you think of the mound of paste as the thing you're measuring. If you're measuring pieces of garlic obviously it's much higher.
Alternatively, just spread the paste really thin.
Ok, so you'd argue incorrectly?
Using a garlic press or a mortar+pestle by FAR exposes more surface area and expresses more oil and aromatics.
Not sure how you can think that flat, cut surfaces on the exterior of undisturbed interior areas can somehow have less surface area than an amorphous blob of crushed matter.
How in the world is this upvoted
Mincing releases more garlic oil, I guess that's why it's the strongest tasting.
It's about the surface of the tiny garlic particles in the paste, not the surface of the blob of paste