Uh oh, infusing shares pitfalls with canning. Botulism.

https://extension.psu.edu/how-to-safely-make-infused-oils

But can we skip the acid step and safely infuse whatever into oils in a refrigerator that reliably holds just above 0 C?

Advice on garlic with oil is just to hold it a few days in the fridge.

If you save the oil from roasted garlic I believe that can safely live in you fridge as well as freezer for even longer term.

It is so delightful when unassuming looking food has a big punch of flavor.

This came up here recently when we were talking about chili crisp.

A NYTimes cooking video posted a recipe a bit carelessly. Shallots and garlic hold water and needs to be completely cooked out in the hot oil infushion. Trapped water in oil is the danger.

The comment section exploded with the danger. (so i didn't need to)

They quickly added the danger note in the written recipe but she should have mentioned it in her filmed video.

My way around that is to use dried garlic, onion and ginger. Sesame seeds are full of oils so no problem there.

Every holiday i make an infused olive oil with fresh garlic, shallots and anchovies. BagnaCauda. The night before and served the next day. Kept warm for serving using a tea light.

A restaurant would do similar.

And just as easy to do at home.

Another method is to season the pasta water.

For a noodle bowl i cook my noodles and dumplings in my master/dashi broth. Similar to a noodle basket set into HotPot.

Another way is to cook your pasta using the traditional risotto method.

Dry pasta in a pan and just covered with a rich stock. A good bronze die pasta will absorb 50-60% water, like dried beans.

Glad this came up. I've been looking for a pasta/noodle/dumpling insert basket. Usually way too small or too big. This might be just right...

6inch would be better. When i make fall stocks, master and vegetable, I have been wanting to set one of these into the back-burner stockpot while i have the stock simmering anyway....

Pasta will soak up all that good broth. My vegetable stock, for holiday vegetarian dishes, has roasted garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms and lots of veg. Added to this 30 second recipe

LINK HERE

We infuse butter with THC using the Magical Butter Machine. While it was specifically designed for producing edibles, it's perfect for infusing any flavor or herb into any oil. This link is to their website. Check it out.

Magical Butter Machine

Okay, now that good advice and knowledge have been imparted, I'll sneak in and say that I really don't like infused oils. Tasty oils that have flavor from their origins are wonderful. I've yet to encounter a flavored oil that I liked, even following touted recipes precisely. They taste off to me. I'm sure I must have enountered them in dishes made by others that were fine, but also, I think it could be because they didn't really impart flavor at all, and were hidden. I'm sure Sleevendog's pasta would be an exception, pasta being the blank page, even if the grain is tasty—One can taste different oils on pasta even without infusions. But to make John's dish, I'd (at home) do it a la minute, though that might mess up the texture if glassy smooth were wanted. :) ETA—-I do like infused honeys, however. Garlic honey is great. ;)

Okay, now that good advice and knowledge have been imparted, I'll sneak in and say that I really don't like infused oils.

Agree. But BagnaCauda is the exception. Served warm it is thin. Not a thick room temp oil.

We are oily adverse, lol. No oily dressings, butter basted anything. Love butter but not gobs of it or bacon grease.

When i lived in Rome, the worst was a beautiful fresh arugula salad tossed in too much olive oil and finished with a handful of coarse salt. By far the most salt used in all the places i have lived. I'm sure that has changed.

Not un-like a basic commercial potato chip. If i indulge, i want a basic potato flavor. Not covered in a salty chemical flavoring...like ranch, lobster roll, spicy salty chipotle. 🤪

One Thanksgiving at our in-laws, we fought over who would make the mashed potatoes. So we had a compitition. We made our smashed with a tBsp of butter, atBsp of greek yogurt. A bit of green onion and garlic. BIL made the same amount of potato with two sticks of butter and a pint of sour cream. SIL made hers in the food processor, lol. Glue. Wallpaper paste. Most liked ours. BIL, after some heart health issues, does not do that anymore. So unnecessary. We like potatoes to taste like potatoes, not butter/cream.

Even those that say to let it go for once a year and indulge...nope.

We prefer to eat just as healthy holiday as every day...

That said, oil infused in warm oil over-night is infused with flavor unlike a basic oils.

Interesting about the 'oil infuser' posted. No go in my home. Another appliance, no thanks.

For aglio olio the garlic is just lightly sauted in the oil, not infused.

If I’m understanding correctly, the botulism risk is from the liquid in whatever you’re infusing the oil with? That’s why you can safely infuse with dried herbs?

Does that mean that with a dehydrator, you can safely infuse just about anything into oil, without needing an acidification or high temperature step?

For example, and I’m not saying this would be tasty, but just could it be safely done: if you wanted to make shrimp infused oil, could you dehydrate raw shrimp, place in oil, and infuse away?

Would this be better done in the refrigerator, or is keeping it cold not necessary for safety?

I’ve never done any canning or preserving, so this is all entirely new to me.

Infused bright green basil oil is popular here atm. Made simply by blending blanched basil with the chosen oil until smooth and then straining through cheesecloth. Cloudy at first but sediment sinks to the bottom. I have seen it suggested that it will keep for a month in the refrigerator. No garlic.

I haven’t made it yet but was tempted when I had lots of basil growing. Perhaps this year. Of course I could easily buy a bunch of fresh basil.

John Liu, while I trust some of our friends here, who know as much as anyone, for the breadths of your imagination, you might want to talk to resource programs at your local university and county agriculture departments. When I was looking for info about the whole botulism/garlic thing, Ifound a great publication from Davis about the science and food safety.

Fresh herbs like basil are on the 'concern' list.

This is slightly out of context from UCDavis. It is focusing on refridgeration. And acidity. The same concerns with proper canning methods. Follow approved tested recipes.

"... fleshy vegetables or herbs in oil, but they, too, are best made fresh with leftovers stored in the refrigerator for use within three weeks. Vegetables have a high water activity level which further encourages the growth of C. botulinum bacteria in an anaerobic environment. Even when dried, there is still the potential for risk, unless the vegetable has been acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower. Dried tomatoes in oil are less of a safety concern than other mixtures in oil because the pH of tomatoes is generally 4.6 or lower. In addition, by drying the tomatoes, conditions become even less favorable to growth of C. botulinum due to a decrease in water activity. Dried herbs in oil also are less of a safety concern because of their low water activity. However, to insure safety it is recommended that all tomato in oil and herb in oil products be stored at refrigerator temperatures.”

^^(I can't find the link)

Garlic and herbs can be made acidic using acidification methods. More than i am willing to do with all the projects i do. A pantry fermentation station, dry brines, herb blends, quick pickles, micro greens....

From U of Idaho...LINKY-LINK

Most of these studies start with examples of illnesses reported. Both commercially made and homemade products.

Again, i prefer fresh garlic and herbs. When in abundance, i roast garlic and freezer. Pesto and herbed oils, compound butters, i freeze.

The bottles above remind me of holiday 2020. Our fridge was full of gifted homemade things made by co-workers wives and husbands. Most started to mold after a few days so all went in the garbage. (i did save the pretiest containers to recycle). None of them were propery labeled. The date, refridgerate, etc.

I do not want to infuse any oils myself, but I do like basil olive oil that I have bought from olive oil companies in Paso Robles. They make other flavored oils as well, but I have found that they have limited uses, and so I prefer plain olive oil, although I did use all of the basil oil that I bought.

If I were to infuse an oil, I would only use the amount I wanted to use for one dish or one meal at a time.

I do like garlic chili oil, but it is mostly garlic and chili with very little oil.

I prefer the leave the oil infusions to companies that are able to do it safely. The ones in Paso Robles gave lots of information about how they did it, in order for it to be safe and stable.

The one thing I do make is garlic butter, which I store in the refrigerator until I am ready to use it. I've been making it with butter, olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs, generally basil, but also oregano and/or thyme if I have them on hand.

I prefer a fresh herb oil. For example fresh basil in blended to make a lovely green oil that tastes fresh. Not something to keep at all, but to make and use straight away.

John,

We used to make garlic spaghetti a lot (garlic pasta).

We would not infuse any oil, but did the following: we took some finally minced garlic (or you can use garlic press garlic, which is even finer) and sautéed this in a little bit of butter and extra-virgin olive oil. Be careful not to overcook, but don’t have it undercooked either unless you like that bite of the garlic. I like it sweet but not overcooked and definitely not crispy. So we make it simple like this and maybe add a little bit of, red pepper flakes and whatever else maybe a little bit of sea salt. Then we combine the pasta that’s been cooked and drained – – only a little bit of the pasta water to help the sauce adhere.

Years ago, a friend and I were in East Boston after making a trip to the airport. I think it was around noon time and on one of the main streets we saw this little restaurant and went in for lunch. We ordered the broccoli pasta with garlic. It was just fantastic. Fresh, bright green perfectly cooked broccoli florettes in a fragrant garlic sauce as I described above.

The next day I made some for dinner and we began putting it on our rotation. It’s very easy to make and always delicious. It’s even good leftover and sometimes I’ve eaten it cold. Do not skimp on the butter or olive oil.

Here is a link that might be interesting: Lydia’s BASIC AGLIO E OLIO

https://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/basic-aglio-e-olio/

Another: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/spaghetti-aglio-e-olio/

Well we rarely eat pasta anymore but I am now craving garlic and oil pasta. It is my personal favorite pasta dish. This makes sense now that I discovered the red sauces have always disagreed with me. When I used to make it a lot, I sauteed the garlic in oil with red pepper flakes. I never strained the oil but it would be so easy to strain it prior to adding to the pasta. That would give you the same heat effect I think.