These are the kinds of things that I'm apt to do. I decided to make pepper and herb-infused oil with the half-hearted goal of giving some away as a Christmas present. Here's the crop so far:
To tell you the truth, I think that if you add completely dehydrated garlic, you're okay, but do so at your own risk. There are commercially made garlic oils and garlic that's preserved in oil so there has do be a method that makes it safe. Botulism is very sensitive to acid so something as simple as lemon juice, if properly used could probably kill it. The thing is, I don't know enough about it to ensure its safety and botulism is one of the most powerful toxins known to man; scary stuff!
When I was little, my mom read somewhere that you could keep rodents out of your garden by planting garlic plants all around it. It didn't work, but we ended up with tons of garlic....We peeled all the cloves, and canned them in oil. So I have a feeling that if you can treat them like that, it may work. We had preserved garlic for almost a year (so did our neighbors), but stored it in the refrigerator always, once the jar was opened.
I don't know much about botulism, really, just about all the canning safety my mom drilled into my little head, but there has to be something out there that works.
It was most likely pasteurized or otherwise treated. (I actually just did a presentation on botulism for my food safety and sanitation class.) If you do make your own garlic/oil mixtures, keep them in the fridge and use them within a day, or buy commercial preparations.
As a bit of random trivia, you can also get botulism from home-canned fish and baked potatoes. (This is only if you wrap potatoes in foil before you bake them and don't eat them piping hot or chill them. Don't let them sit out at room temperature; time-temperature abuse is one of the main causes of foodborne illness.)
I wasn't sure if you were kidding about drinking the wine or not, but you can buy bottles(and fresh corks, and labels) from a brew shop. And rent a corker so they're all the way in the bottle. :)
That's okay, we'll call drinking the wine my gift to humanity ;-) Besides, I like the little wine bottles. I think the punt in the bottom gives them a touch of class, they're a good size, and they're reused so that I can get my daily dose of delusions of green living superiority. One thing is for sure, I can't find a 1/2 bottle with a label glue that doesn't seem to have been designed by NASA. Getting them off is a serious drag.
When I try to get labels off, I put ice water in the bottle, and then put it at room temperature. Then I use a box cutter to scrape the label off. Most of the time this works, but there is always that really stubborn label where it doesn't, and for those, I put a hot, damp towel over that one and use the box cutter again. For any really stubborn bits of glue left, I rub them with nail polish remover. Any klutz like me knows that stuff disolves even Super Glue...
I don't know. Some people recommend storing in in the Fridge. If you do that, it should last practically forever, but olive oil has a tendency to solidify when it gets cold and I don't like that.
People say that most of the commercial preparations have preservatives in them. I don't know about that. The bottle that I based this recipe on did not list any preservatives in the ingredients.
I intend to leave mine out (part of the reason why I made it is because it's pretty) at room temperature and I'll probably eat the bottle full within the year. I put it on pizza and pasta at least once a week. I only used completely dry herbs and spices so I have a feeling that it should be okay for quite awhile. Your mileage may vary.
I made this last year but I did the hot infused oil and it turned out great! I used grapeseed oils since it doesnt have much of its own taste. I will warn you about the sprigs of herbs though, they will mold if they arent fully dried out. Its not just garlic that will go bad.
I would let your recipients know that the oils keep up to 3 months.
Of course this is all just in case you didnt know already :)
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I don't know much about botulism, really, just about all the canning safety my mom drilled into my little head, but there has to be something out there that works.
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As a bit of random trivia, you can also get botulism from home-canned fish and baked potatoes. (This is only if you wrap potatoes in foil before you bake them and don't eat them piping hot or chill them. Don't let them sit out at room temperature; time-temperature abuse is one of the main causes of foodborne illness.)
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Dude, that is SO good to know!
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People say that most of the commercial preparations have preservatives in them. I don't know about that. The bottle that I based this recipe on did not list any preservatives in the ingredients.
I intend to leave mine out (part of the reason why I made it is because it's pretty) at room temperature and I'll probably eat the bottle full within the year. I put it on pizza and pasta at least once a week. I only used completely dry herbs and spices so I have a feeling that it should be okay for quite awhile. Your mileage may vary.
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I would let your recipients know that the oils keep up to 3 months.
Of course this is all just in case you didnt know already :)
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