[CH] Infused Oils
Goslowsky, George (gjgoslow@ingr.com)
Thu, 6 May 1999 10:17:20 -0500
I saw an episode of Home Matters yesterday and in one segment they were
talking about olive oil. They said that there were 3 grades of olive oil :
Extra Virgin, Pure and Pumace, in decreasing order of quality. They also
said that the Pumace grade was used when very high heats were needed.
Finally, they were talking about infusing the oil with flavors from
pepperonicini and garlic. They said to just added a little of either to the
oil, store in a cool, dark place for several days and then remove the
chiles/garlic and use the oil.
Now I was confused on a couple of points :
1) I thought that olive oil came in Extra Virgin, Virgin and plain
Olive Oil. That Extra Virgin was the first pressing of the olives and
therefore the richest and most flavorful. Virgin was 2nd pressing and plain
was the third, with each successive pressing having less of that "olive"
taste.
2) I have found that olive oil is very volatile and never use it when
high heat is recommended. Too low of a flash point.
3) I thought, from discussions on this list, that putting fresh garlic
in oil, without heating it or anything, for several days, is a recipe for
botulism.
Is this generally true. I thought that y'all might know.
This is just a personal observation. They were using pepperonicini chiles
to "spice it up". The commentator tried some and thought that it was
scorching. No CH there I am afraid. I usually make my chile oil with
cayenne, de Arbol, Thai and habaneros.
George J. Goslowsky
Senior Software Analyst
Intergraph, Corp.
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