Q&A for How to Infuse Olive Oil

Sautee the garlic for five minutes before adding it to the oil.

Yes! Basil olive oil is very common and is great for cooking Italian and Mediterranean dishes.

Whole herbs are fine, but the powdered herbs/spices may not work well. They will not taste as flavorful as fresh herbs that you dry yourself.

To make a butter olive oil, do a cold infusion with melted butter. You won't need to use a food processor to pulverize the butter since it's already melted, so you can simply mix the two together until the oil is flavored to your liking. Be sure to store the mixture in the refrigerator to keep it fresh, and shake the bottle before using it!

If done properly, you can safely infuse garlic into olive oil with very little risk. Be sure to always dry your ingredients thoroughly, and cook them before making your infusion if necessary.

As is with basil, sage has a more powerful flavor, so you will want to use 3 - 5 healthy sized leaves. Parsley is a much milder tasting herb, and would require 12 - 15 leaves in order to incorporate the flavor into the oil (would definitely recommend that you use Italian flat leaf parsley).

Any homemade infused olive oil will be fresh for about 1 month after bottling. Since you're infusing organic ingredients into the oil, there's no way to ensure that the oil will be safe to eat after 1 month, even if it's heated while infusing.

For a mild flavor, use 3-5 leaves, depending on the type of basil and your flavor preference. The general rule is to smart small, because you can always add more if you need to, but you can't go back if you start with too much.

It's possible that there was some bacterial growth, but there are a number of factors that could affect the color of your oil.

The garlic does not need to be cooked before the oil is infused; you can eat raw garlic.

You can cook your onions before infusing them to get a smoky flavor, but it's safe to infuse raw onions into the oil. Be careful not to overcook the onions, which can cause the oil to taste burnt.

For every quart of olive oil you're infusing, use about 1 loosely-packed cup of the ingredient.