Flavoured oil: Easy instructions for preparation at home

When you use flavoured oil, you can transform even the simplest dish into an exceptional taste experience. The two most important methods of flavouring oil are hot infusion and cold infusion.

Choose the method that best suits your needs and follow our step-by-step instructions for tasty and safely flavoured oils.

How to flavour oil using hot infusion

Hot infusion is one of the most widespread and safest methods of producing savoury oils with strong flavours.

Procedure:

Place the oil and spices (garlic, chilli, basil, rosemary, peppercorns, etc.) in a pot.
Heat the oil to approximately 80 to 90°C.
Let the mixture seep for a few days, and then filter it using a fine-mesh sieve to remove the spices.
Finally, pour your flavoured oil into a bottle and label it.

Note: Use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature during the hot infusion process. The oil mustn’t get too hot!

How to flavour oil using cold infusion

Cold infusion is a simple procedure used to flavour oil while preserving its customary properties.

Procedure:

Pour the oil into sterilised jars and add spices that have either been dried or pickled in water and vinegar.
Let the infusion stand in a cool, dark place for one or two weeks.
Then thoroughly filter the oil to remove spices and solid residue.
Pour the flavoured oil into bottles and label them.

Note: To avoid contamination with botulism, you should take the following measures before making the cold infusion:

Blanch the herbs and spices in a solution of water and vinegar.
Dry the herbs completely in the oven at 60°C.

Tips for packaging flavoured oils

Extraordinary bottles: Choose decorative bottles that can hold 200 to 300 ml. To give them an individual note, select suitable closures or decorate the bottles with coloured heat shrink capsules.
Storage in designer jars: Choose tightly closing jars with an attractive design for garlic, truffle or chilli oils that will be measured out with a spoon.
Refine with spices: For a gourmet look, place rosemary sprigs, garlic or entire chilli peppers that have been blanched in water and vinegar in the bottle with flavoured oil.