Make your own Infused Herb Oil

06/01/2021

It is a luxury for those who plant their own herbs. For those who have no time usually we purchase off shelve. Have you ever wonder what to do with the leftover herbs after prepping all the meals? Most of us might just let it rot and ended up in the trash bin! One of our new year resolutions is to reduce wastes – there are various ways to avoid wasting food. Such as make them into herb butter, homemade soaps or even just dried them up as dried herbs for meals or tea.

There is another method that you might be in interested with – making your own Infused Herb Oil. If you love to make flavourful dishes like us; you might want to pay attention to the use of oil.

Truffle Oil, Chilli Oil or even Garlic Oil, all these infused oils provide great flavour for your dishes. But these various type of infused oil on the shelve, they can burn your pocket! We decide to make ours and the result is just stunning. Now, you can make your own oil without a fuss.

Sterilize it all the time

When coming to preparing your food, remember that water is the enemy of all! It contains different germs to your imagination. So always dry your plates and cup carefully before serving your food on it.

When coming to homemade food, water is the enemy of your food. Once in sterilised jars like this your preserves should keep for about 6 months in a cool, dark place compared to those you don’t. Start by washing your jars and the lids in hot soapy water, but do not dry them. Instead, leave them to stand upside down on a roasting tray while they’re still wet. Pop the tray of clean, wet jars and lids into a preheated oven at 160-180ºC for about 15 mins.

What oil to use?

Your infused oil should be used exclusively for drizzling over soups, as a dip for good bread, and in vinaigrettes. You’re not cooking with it, so skip the neutral, high-smoke point oils, like canola, vegetable, and grapeseed. Instead, use olive oil that has a buttery, sweet flavour profile. Avoid olive oils that are grassy, herbaceous, and bitter—while those are great on their own, they don’t combine with infused flavours well. Not sure what oils are buttery and neutral-tasting? Choose blended oils, rather than single-origin oils. Not only are blends less expensive, but they are also less assertive and strongly-flavoured.

What kind of Herbs can I use?

Making your 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. We preferred fresh herbs as it gives a stronger flavour.

Except the oil won’t keep as long and needs to be stored in a cool dry place or in the fridge. We suggested you make your own infused oil with the staple you have at home. Here a few suggestions, don’t be afraid to mix and match:

Basil
Garlic
Chillies
Clove
Rosemary
Coriander
Oregano
Tarragon
Thyme
Peppercorn
Sage
Cumin

Here are a little recap of how to make the perfect infused oil!

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 dry and dark place. Swirl or shake the jar every day or so.

While it is easy to get my blend of infused oil in the supermarket, but making infused oils, from tarragon to chilli, rosemary to lemon, is an easy way to transform your cooking, and reduce food waste in the process! We have read lots of advisories that recommend you to stay away from fresh herbs since there is a rare chance of a bacterial infection. As mentioned before one of the ways to combat this is to use the warm infusion method, keep the oil refrigerated and use within a week or ten days. Wash and dry the herbs thoroughly, preferably in the hot sun for several hours or by roasting them in the oven for some time.

xoxo, Angela