How to make garlic infused olive oil

This was literally some of the best olive oil, both smell and taste, that I have ever had and I was able to make the infusion myself. This is a super easy recipe and really only takes about 5 minutes to do and then a few weeks to infuse. To begin with, olive oil is an extremely healthy oil. It is made by pressing whole olives and extracting the oils. Olives have been agriculturally grown since the 8th millennium BC and are used for everything from cooking to medicine to beauty. Grades of olive oil are defined by various standards around the world. These different standards around the world show slight differences in terms of the parameters used to define each grade but despite what country you are in, the grades are pretty similar. There are various grades of olive oil, each having distinct differences in terms of production method, quality and suitability for consumption. Olive oil is classified according to its acid content, measured as free oleic acid. This is where your different classifications, and thus cost ranges, come in. Extra virgin olive oil contains a maximum of 1% free oleic acid, virgin olive oil contains 2%, and ordinary olive oil contains 3.3%. Unrefined olive oils with more than 3.3% free oleic acid are considered “unfit for human consumption.”

Olive oil is considered one of the best edible oils with antioxidant properties and health benefits. It has high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids, which reduces the body’s total cholesterol levels, which may help lower your risk of heart disease. Using the correct type of olive oil for your needs is crucial. There are five primary grades of olive oil: extra virgin oil, virgin oil, refined oil, pure olive oil, and olive pomace oil. Another grade you may see is Lampe or Lampante. Each type of oil has a different smoke point, and this smoke point depends on the quality of the oil. The lower the smoke point of oil, the better the quality. An oil with a high smoke point is appropriate for cooking or other uses. Using oils with high smoke points for salads and dressing is not advisable.

The reason I begin with this is because selecting the correct oil for your infusion is very important. Extra virgin is the best quality olive oil. It undergoes cold processing, which prevents the natural content from altering after exposure to high temperatures. As a result, it has a low acid content, even lower than virgin oil. Virgin olive oil, on the other hand, is an unrefined form of olive oil extracted using the cold-pressing technique. It has a slightly higher level of acidity content but is temperature resistant. In comparison to extra virgin oil, the taste is milder and is suitable for low heat cooking. It is also ideal for salad dressing. Pure Olive oil is created by mixing either extra virgin or virgin oil with the refined one. It is rich in Vitamin E and is used only for heat and cooking or body massages and therapies. This is a great carrier oil for when you are making massage oils, roll on aromatherapy oils, or even lotions.

Refined is considered a moderate quality oil. Refined olive oil primarily comes into use for cooking only. Now, olive pomace oil is the lowest quality olive oil available in the market. Pomace comes from the residues and the remains left after the fruit’s pressing is completed. Once the actual fruits are pressed, there is still oil and water left. Finally, is Lampante olive oil. Lampante olive oil is also a naturally obtained oil, however, it’s quality parameters render it unfit for human consumption without further processing. It has traditionally been the olive oil of worse quality due to it having the highest level of acidity, and an unpleasant small and flavor that prevents consumption. The traditional name of lampante comes from its historical use as a fuel in oil lamps.

Traditional oil lamp from the Mediterranean

Now that we understand a good quality olive oil is needed, on to the recipe! You will need a good quality extra virgin olive oil and a few cloves of garlic, more depending on how much you plan to make. I did this initially in a glass Tupperware dish but it came out so incredible that I will be buying it in a larger size and adding it directly into the packaging it came in. The Tupperware is better for pictures as typically, good quality extra virgin oil is stored in dark colored glass bottles or cans to keep sunlight from affecting it and deteriorating the quality. All you need to do is peel the cloves of garlic and add them to your container. That’s it! For mine, I put about 2 cups of olive oil in the Tupperware and then peeled 2 BULBS of garlic. Bulbs, not cloves. I love this stuff. After peeling, I added them to the olive oil and secured the lid. I left it to sit in my pantry for about 2 weeks.

The above picture was the end result. It was absolutely amazing. The smell was very robust and earthy. The olive oil had a little bit of a cloudiness due to the oils from the garlic being infused in it but that did not bother me in the least. The taste was phenomenal. I put it in a convenient olive oil jar for easy pouring after that and used the left over garlic in cooking. I made a 100 clove garlic and potato soup with it, and personally, I think the taste could not be beat because of the super softened and delightful cloves I used. I have received so many compliments when others come to my home and smell the olive oil as soon as I uncork it to use.