ISTR reading that making garlic-infused olive oil carries a risk of salmonella. Does anyone have any information?
Yes, but there is a risk of salmonella in most things you eat. I haven’t seen definitive results of tests on this subject, but it seems like the issue arose when it was found that garlic may naturally harbor salmonella, and I think listeria too. I don’t know if anyone has ever gotten sick from eating garlic infused oil though.
Isn’t the risk actually of botulism? The oil creates an anaerobic environment that isn’t sterile- much like a bad canning job or something. Added to that, you are using something that grows under the ground and doesn’t have a particularly high Ph.
Could’ve been botulism. Now that you mention it, I’m not sure it was salmonella.
Oh, you meant botulism? Yes, there is a risk if the oil is kept at room temperature.
I used to use raw garlic, but since hearing of the botulism risk have switched to simmering the garlic cloves in olive oil for 20 minutes or so before bottling it. I figure that’s enough temperature to kill any botulism spores.
Johnny, there have been several past threads about botulism, and about how difficult it is to kill botulism spores even by cooking. Plan on using up any oil you infuse within a short period of time.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=577525&page=5
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=lightning+rods&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=100&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2F&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images#num=100&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=botulism+site:http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2F&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=c99decee79d1fe4a
Probably not. Most of the hits I’m getting from Google on “temperature kill botulism” are similar to this one, which states that you need to hit 240-250 degrees for at least 30 minutes.
If I want garlic-infused oil, I just make it up as I go. Simmering garlic cloves in olive oil (as you mention) results in a very nicely garlicy oil in a relatively short time. Might as well just side-step the whole botulism issue and eat it before there’s any chance of it growing.
Virgin olive oil doesn’t reach the smoke point until it hits 400 deg F, so I don’t lose any sleep about that 250 deg F minimum for 30 minutes. I’m sure I’ve got the oil above 300 degrees F for 20 minutes. I could make it as I go, but sometimes I only want a tablespoon.
We routinely make our own roasted garlic at home. We peel 5-8 heads of garlic, depending on size, put in an oven safe dish, and top with olive oil. Put in a 350-400F oven, stir every 15 min or so, and cook until the garlics are nice and golden, but not yet hard. (Usually about an hour or so) We then transfer into clean canning jars, and refrigerate. When we’ve used too much of the oil, we add more to the jars.
The garlics are great in all sorts of things that you want a garlic flavor, but not the sharp bite of fresh garlic. The oil is fantastic for dipping.
I’m not dead yet, and I’ve been doing this for 10+ years. The garlic is heated to well over 250 for the better part of the cooking time, killing anything that might be alive, then refrigerated. The oil does “harden” in the fridge, but liquifies pretty quick on the counter, or in a pan.
Speaking as one with a professional background in Microbiology, I recommend a bit of Googling like this before making your own oil.
Yeah, if I die from clostridium botulinum toxin I won’t come crying to you, but I won’t die, so it’s kinda moot.
Well, I cut up some garlic and put it in a bottle of oil a while back… and it wasn’t until today that my stupid brain realized that the wonderful anaerobic environment at the bottom of the oil bottle would probably be a great place for c. botulinum to thrive.
So what should I be watching out for after our lovely pasta dinner cooked with my garlic oil? (Of course, I’ve been using it over the course of the last 10 days, since I made it, but I imagine it would take time to get to Bad Levels.
BTW: Discourse suggested this thread to me when I started to create my own, so that’s a pretty neat feature.
I’m always finding very low prices on peeled garlic cloves at the Asian markets and it’s tough for me to use them all up in time so I think I need to put together some garlic confit. It’s simmered for 30 minutes so I’m thinking it should hit the magic temperature just fine. Recipe claims good to store in the fridge for 4 months.