Anyone ever made garlic oil ?

morganlefay

has anyone got a recipe for making garlic oil ? I had one for basil oil where you just tore up some basil leaves and left them in the oil to infuse, would this work for garlic if you just chopped it and left it to flavour the oil, or does it go nasty ? I've got some nice garlic which is starting to shoot in a big way and want to catch it before it turns into a plant.

JayJay14

I do this often, olive oil, garilc cloves slightly crushed, leave to infuse for a few days. I measure the amount of oil I'm going to need for the fancy little bottle I've had for years and just leave it on the counter top in the kitchen to infuse. 2-3 days should be enough, then strain and bottle.

Olliebeak

This is something that I've often wondered about - as it would make great Christmas Gifts for foodies.

Your query prompted me to go a-googling - and came up with this article which contains a warning of possible problems BUT it is only a warning and how to overcome it . Definitely going to have a go at this one.

Thanks for your query that made me do a google.



PS - There's also this alternative method.

Pink.

Hi morganlefay,

There is an older thread about flavoured oils which may help, however you need to be careful about storing homemade flavoured oils for any length of time.

Taken from the Food Standards Agency website:

Is it safe to make my own flavoured oils at home using herbs?

Lots of different types of flavoured oil are available in the shops, containing garlic, peppercorns, chilli and various herbs including rosemary, oregano and bay leaves, and these often have a long shelf life. But it's not a good idea to make flavoured oils at home unless you are going to use them immediately.

This is because plants, including herbs and spices, can carry spores produced by bacteria. Occasionally, they could carry spores of a type of bacteria called Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism. This is a very unpleasant disease, which is rare in the UK, but can be fatal.

Clostridium botulinum multiplies in places without any oxygen, so if there are spores on plants such as herbs and garlic, putting them in oil can create the right conditions for the bacteria to multiply, particularly if the herbs are fresh or wet.

Companies that produce flavoured oils and foods preserved in oil are expected to take Clostridium botulinum into account and formulate their products to make sure that this type of bacteria doesn't multiply.

Even though recipes for flavoured oils can be found in cookery books, magazines and websites, these might not have considered the risk of botulism. So if you would like to make your own flavoured oil, the safest option is to make a small quantity and use it on the day you have made it. If you have some oil left over, put it in the fridge straight away and use it within a week. Some oils can go cloudy or become solid in the fridge, but if this happens don't be tempted to leave it at room temperature, because this might not be safe.

I'll add this thread to the existing one later to keep the replies together.

Pink

Gothicfairy

I do this slightly differently.

I heat (to blood temp) some olive oil, as much garlic as you want, a few flakes of chili or a couple of whole ones, couple of bay leaves and some herbs ( basil, thyme etc etc ) I also add some lemon peel.
Leave at the lowest temp ( put something under the pan to keep the heat stable ie a trivet) for 30 min or so and then leave to cool totally.
it can then be strained and used or you can add fresh herbs and bottle.

I have found though that sometimes garlic goes blue which is really off putting.

I also make garlic butter along the same lines.