Garlic Magic

I made 40 Cloves and Chicken for dinner this week - a recipe which calls for 40 whole cloves of peeled garlic.  I've made it before and tediously peeled each garlic by hand, but I figured there had to be a better way.

And there is!  And it is unbelievably easy!  I put all my garlic cloves in a big lightweight aluminum pot and put the lid on and shook it has hard as I could.  When I took the lid off - at least half of the cloves had fallen out of the peel.  I shook some more and more came out.  The website where I got this technique did it with two big metal bowls - one holding the garlic and one upside down as a lid.  I know there is some scientific explanation for how it works, but it seemed like magic to me!