Home made garlic oil and botulism

wondering what the difference is between olive and other as far as botulinum is concerned.

I have been looking for references on this, and it sounds as though it is the raw garlic sitting in oil for any length of time that is the problem, in any oil.

For the briefest of moments I thought the thread title was a recipe

I didn't know this, thanks

Thanks for the info

received a beautiful olive oil bottle with dispenser filled with oil and garlic by a friend at Christmas.

I have in the past made up salad dressing, added a bit of garlic, and used it all week, if it lasted that long. This post means I won't do that again

Next year I'll pickle garlic in vinegar instead. I have only ever used home made garlic oil for cooking (usually at high temps) so maybe it's salad dressings that are dangerous.

I'm about to spice up some spaghetti bolognese with home-made chilli oil so hopefully that'll be OK because chillis grow above ground.

I'll let you know!!!!!

Me too phoenix - I assumed it was a Heston type of thing

Maybe I've been giving myself Botox over the years without realising.

I'm off to examine my wrinkles

Only if you injected chunks of garlic into them, Merlot, but the lining of you digestive tract may be beautifully smooth. You may be dead too, but I think you might have noticed that.

Not only smooth but paralysed as well.
botulinum toxin is a brute - but has anyone ever actually died from garlic oil? Or is this a theoretical risk that someone has identified?

I've been making it for years, how odd! Maybe it has to be used up quickly, in a year? I do make more pickled garlic now because in a sweetish mix they are a bit like sweeties... :-) But I have often given it as presents. No-one has died yet, so either it's OK or people haven't been using my presents. Maybe pickle the garlic, then strain and add oil? Another thing I have done is bought big olives in brine, then put them in jars with peppers, lemon and garlic and given it as gifts. Oh dear.

I think they must somehow cook the garlic. It needs some investigation.

That is what I found when I Googled it. It has to be cooked to kill the botulism spores which could be in the raw garlic and could multiply if it is kept for too long. It is because it is dug up from the earth, where botulism spores are often lying around.

All this is bit scary! I had never heard of this before but there is a lot of information out there. Best advice is don't do this at home.

I do put cloves of garlic in the small quantity bottle of home made olive oil and balsamic vinegar salad dressing I make for home use and they often sit in the jar for several weeks. I assume the vinegar has saved me from harm so far.

Have a look at these Googled results.

anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/7231.pdf

www.garlicpassion.com/garlic-infused-olive-oil-dont-do-it-yourself/

edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy487

Pickling would not kill botulinum. This is what the US health authority say:

Because botulinum toxin is destroyed by high temperatures, persons who eat home-canned foods should consider boiling the food for 10 minutes before eating it to ensure safety

Is it the same problem that you get with re heated rice, because that is treated in some way when it's used in chilled foods?

I'm really quite relieved that most of you didn't know about if either. This all started for me on Christmas Day when DD2 was reading aloud from her book, The Mighty Bulb, which I'd given her for Christmas. When she got to the bit about home-made garlic oil and botulism all heads turned towards me as my home-made oils are often given to the family......

They all laughed but there was a touch of, 'Can't believe you didn't know this Mum'

Boil it first then, but I can't think it would be the same texture. What a shame. But the iranians and asians have been pickling garlic for centuries and they are fine! I eat pickled garlic that is several years old, because it grows so well here in my light sandy acidic soil that I don't take it up or thin it out, I pickle the excess cloves before they split. I have an acid soil here, so assume I am safe while I live here.

I can't help thinking the risk must be pretty low, merlotgran, so no need to feel embarrassed. After all, pickled onions and shallotts are fine aren't they? And they are the same family. Garlic is such a strong anti-bacterial agent that it seems impossible that it can't kill off a little botulism!

Apparently it's the anaerobic conditions in oil that's the problem and the fact there is no acidity. Onions are pickled in vinegar so I suppose that's why they're safe.

It's not so easy using oil that has been stored in the fridge either.

I've read about the danger of botulism, although I've got several Italian cookery books with recipes for garlic oil and no mention of any danger. I do remember that my grandmother used to bottle all sorts of fruit, but would never bottle any sort of vegetable because she said it was dangerous.

No, it can take a while to melt. I've looked into it a bit further and it appears that there are only three recorded cases in northern USA. So it's really rare. You would have to be extremely unlucky. I suggest you only give bottles to people you don't like. [makesnextyear'sxmaslistsmiley]