How to make Infused Oil

Step 2 Culinary oil: preparing herbs

Culinary infused oils are a great way to add flavour to your cooking. An assortment of herbs and spices can be used depending on your tastes and cooking style. You can use either fresh or dried herbs.  Fresh herbs will give a stronger flavour but the oil won't keep as long and needs to be stored in the refrigerator (see note below**).  I tend to make small quantities of infused oil at at time so that it will be used up quickly.

Here a few suggestions, don't be afraid to mix and match:

Basil	Clove	Oregano	Peppercorns
Garlic	Rosemary	Tarragon	Sage
Chilies	Coriander	Thyme	Cumin

The best type of oil to use is extra virgin olive oil, you can also use grape seed , peanut or sunflower oil.  Walnut oil is also good if it will be used cold such as for salad dressings since it is not good for heating.

How to make:

• Wash your herbs and dry completely**
• Bruise or rub herbs, for spices toast them to bring out the flavour
• Place in a clean dry glass jar.
• Add oil until it completely covers the herbs/spices.
• Place a lid on  the jar and close
• Place the jar on a sunny windowsill or other sunny spot.  Swirl or shake the jar every day or so.

**It is important that no moisture is introduced into the oil as it can become rancid or prone to mold or bacteria growth. (Garlic is particularly prone to this so it should be stored in the fridge or made with the heating method in a skillet described in step 4.)

Comments

[ilieva]

Place the oil at the sunny window for 15-30 min. just before using the oil. It will get the benefits of the sun energy but will not have time to destroy the aromatic molecules of the infusion.

[GreenD]

Placing in a sunny spot may be bad - this can cause degredation of the aromatic molecules, or even of the oil's aroma itself. If you have a UV filter or UV blocking windows than this will be ok, but sunlight is very powerful!

[morthole]

I thought the same, maybe dark bottles is a better option?
This way you can take advantage of the heat of the sun but not the light.

Very nice instructable.