The amount of times that I will see products in the grocery store for infused oils. And they are wildly more expensive than making it yourself.
When you make infused oil yourself, you do need to remember that the oil is a preservative, and when you start to run out, just top it up! With either the seasonings or the oil.
Infused oils make great dips for bread, salad dressing bases, or even just a flavour to fry food into. They are a very handy thing to have around, and hey, they do make great gifts because they can sit under a tree for 2 weeks and infuse!
What You Will Need – The Basics
Here is the basic ingredients that you will need and essentially cannot do without. That being said, I have thrown in flavoured oil which is not essential. I know, I am changing the rules on this section at every turn.
Olive Oil
Flavoured oil if you want to spice it up a bit more. I.e. if you want to make a bit of an “asian” style flavoured oil, sesame is great
A bottle that will allow you to seal solidly. I have gotten one like in the image with the Grolsch beer-type closing mechanism
Your seasonings
Seasonings That Compliment Oil
Garlic
Ginger
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Sage
Fresh Chillis
Fresh Corriander
Fresh Basil
Fresh Oregano
Fresh Black (or multi-coloured) peppercorns
Fresh Bell Peppers – I would suggest red and yellow first
Lemon Grass
Cloves
Cardamom Seeds
Fennel Seeds
Nigella Seeds
Cumin Seeds
And of course anything else you can think of.
Method
I would suggest you think of a “theme” or at least decide on your flavours first. In the image attached I have put in –
Garlic
Ginger
Thyme
Rosemary
I would definitely suggest to put in the “chunks” first and the sprigs second. But you essentially want to part-fill your bottle with the ingredients and then fill with your oil(s).
You need to keep things chopped rather large so that they do not infuse all of their flavours at once and over power the whole oil. The larger they are the longer it will take to fully diffuse and the rate will be slower.
Storage and Serving
I would wait for at least 2 weeks for the infusion to seep into the oil. Definitely store it in a cupboard to ensure it is dark and cool. If it is too warm then, again, it will infuse too quickly.
Taste it after 2 weeks and make an executive decision if it needs to sit for longer or if you can start cooking with it.
As stated above, you can keep it almost indefinitely changing up the ingredients and the oil. That being said, you can also pour it out. I am not your parent, you know what you want to do with this. I hope that this resource has helped to inspire your own flavour concoctions and do let me know what flavours you think of.