tedln
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Infused Olive Oil!

I enjoy using olive oil infused with the flavors or scents of various herbs or garlic. I rarely cook with infused oil, but will make a salad oil, pasta topping, or bread dip with it.

I'm curious if other people use it or more accurately "make it". If you infuse your oil, please tell me how you do it and how long it can be stored.

If you infuse with garlic, how do you do it? I greatly prefer pasta tossed with garlic infused oil over pasta tossed with a marinara sauce or basil pesto.

Ted

Hatter
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I love chilli oil. I simply cut chilli peppers into small pieces and put in into the bottle. I often use it for frying.

syntheticbutterfly
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I just stick a load of garlic cloves in the bottle and leave it for a couple of weeks. Sometimes I add some herbs too.

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Kisal
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Just a helpful hint:

"Are people aware of the slight, but deadly risk presented when these oil infusions are not prepared properly? Consumers need to understand the potentially life-threatening hazard of oil infusions. Oil infusion recipes can still be tasty and safe as long as the following precautions are clearly stated and adhered to:

Wash all soil-contaminated produce before adding it to an oil infusion,

Add an acidifying agent such as lemon juice or vinegar to the recipe at the rate of one tablespoon per cup of oil. Acid prevents the growth of the C botulinum, so any spores that might be present in a flavored oil infusion will not be able to flourish and produce toxin. The acid must be added as the recipe is being prepared.

Keep oil infusions refrigerated in order to retard the growth of any microbes. Discard infusions after one week, or sooner if apparent cloudiness, gas bubbles, or foul odor develop."

Read the complete article at [url=https://www.ext.colostate.edu/safefood/newsltr/v2n4s08.html]Colorado State University Extension SafeFood Rapid Response Network[/url].

tedln
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Hatter wrote:I love chilli oil. I simply cut chilli peppers into small pieces and put in into the bottle. I often use it for frying.
I may try that with habanero peppers. I always have problems moderating the heat of the habanero while retaining the flavor. That could be great.

Ted

tedln
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Kisal,

Thanks! Your post is really the post I was waiting for. I was aware of the dangers inherent with infused oils, but didn't remember the specifics. I am hoping others may have some old family methods that worked to both infuse the flavors into the oil and maintain a reasonable margin of safety.

Ted

syntheticbutterfly
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My experience of doing this is based on what the locals here in Spain do. I used to be a bit nervous about bacteria and so on, but its not yet done me any damage, and I keep my oils maybe for a month at a time.
Another preserving method they do here a lot is pickling, but I won't hijack the post by starting on that subject!

tedln
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syntheticbutterfly,

Thanks,

I think after you trim or remove the outer layer and the root base off the garlic cloves, they are probably pretty clean and safe to be put into the oil. I was expecting someone to say they heat the oil in a pan and then drop the garlic cloves into the hot oil. After the oil cools, return it to the bottle. I would think the heating process would extract more flavor from the garlic. you wouldn't even need to keep the garlic in the oil. It would probably work with herbs also. I don't think you would want the oil hot enough to "cook" the garlic and herbs, just hot enough to extract the flavors. I've never done it and I don't know if anyone else does. Just wondering.

I know there are a lot of exotic flavored oils on the market like truffle oil that are very expensive to purchase. It just seems someone would know a safe method to produce the oils with an extended shelf life.

I know a lot of countries have the tradition of pickling all sorts of products. I remember pickled pigs feet and pickled sausages, and pickled eggs from my childhood. That was back in the days when most families received a daily delivery of ice from the iceman, so preservation techniques were important. I've seen almost all common vegetables pickled in large jars. Your right, that subject is so deep it would deserve its own thread. It could probably justify its own forum under the "Food Preservation" title.

Ted

cynthia_h
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One quick oil-flavoring method I use is to reverse the sequence in which ingredients are added to the cooking pan.

Normal sequence: oil, onion/garlic/"hard" veggies, "soft" veggies, seasonings

Quick oil-flavoring sequence: oil *with* desired herb(s), onion/garlic etc.

We have a huge rosemary bush/tree here, so we're always well-supplied with rosemary. I got tired of adding what seemed like tons of rosemary at the end of the "add stuff to the pan" sequence and not getting rosemary flavor throughout the food.

So, one day, I decided to put the well-ground rosemary directly into the olive oil and let them warm together before adding onions, garlic, or anything else.

That was the taste I had been looking for!

Just a quick idea, and you need to do it each time you cook, but this seemed like the place to put it. :)

Cynthia H.
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Ozark Lady
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I haven't made infused oils at all.

But, I have researched, a long time ago, the smoke temp of oils and they vary widely.

Also the keeping qualities of oils, most do not keep for a long time before going rancid.

I wonder, if after you make your infused oil, if freezing would: a. prevent the growth of botulism spores and b. preserve the oil itself from going rancid as quickly. Freezing will not kill botulism spores, but to be toxic, they must grow anerobically. However, freezing does change herbs, some will get stronger and some will get milder.

Just an idea!



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