preserving fresh garlic in oil

15 years ago

Hi. I'm brand new here. I've browsed various sites looking for info, and this one seemed to be the most informative! I read in an old old magazine about how to preserve garlic in oil and avoid the botulism issue. However, my 2nd batch has turned GREEN, streaky, weird looking green! The recipe called for soaking the garlic cloves in vinegar for 12-24 hrs. then covering with the oil. It said it would keep for many months in the fridge. (mine would never last that long! ha) The 2nd time I did it, I inadvertantly left the garlic cloves in the vinegar much longer than called for; like maybe 3-4 days. I loved the first batch, and the oil was great for many uses too. But I have not used the 2nd batch, for fear that the color indicates spoilage. Any help out there? I saw discussions of botulism, and some references to color changes, but in relation to "canning". I want the garlic fresh, raw, not canned. Thanks!

Joan

Comments (5)

TJG911
15 years ago
i don't know if your food is ok or not. but this is what i hear yesterday.

i never did this but i was listening to a gardening show yesterday. one person stuffed cherry peppers with anchovies and garlic, put them into a canning jar and covered it with olive oil. they did not refrigerate the jars. in 5 months they were done and safe to eat.

now i thought this is insane, fish, unrefrigerated? so if it works on that (olive oil), i don't see why you can't just peel and put the cloves into olive oil.

tom
alphonse
15 years ago

I cannot make any guarantees about food safety, BUT garlic when exposed to acids, whether acetic, citric,etc. will turn that blue green color without harm.
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kristincarol
15 years ago
There is a jar of garlic in olive oil in my frige that was put up in about 1986, no kidding. I have used some of the garlic and some of the oil on occasion and haven't gotten sick yet. The garlic sort of pickles in the oil and is still "snappy" when you bite it. The oil is quite mildly flavored.

If there weren't lawyers and big corporations to worry about being sued then we'd all be doing things EXACTLY like our Grandmothers and Great grandmothers did and be JUST FINE. The greasy fingerprints of the lawyers are easy to see, you know. Learn to look for them.
soil_lover
15 years ago
http://vegkitchen.com/tips/preserving-garlic.htm
Scroll down and read under the title Garlic Oil. There is a high chance for botulism preserving garlic in oil.
rvdb
15 years ago
Hello, Joanfreed. Last november I had the same experience. Although not in exactly the same circumstances. I had simply chopped garlic loves, put them in a small jar and poured olive-oil on top till the garlic was submerged. No previous soaking in vinegar. Yet, after roughly 48 hours, the whole lot turned in a kind of bluish green. We preferred to stay on the safe side and so, we threw it in the dustbin. I haven't a clue what was going on. The garlic was a rocambole cultivar, a leftover from planting garlic which I had ordered a few weeks earlier. I don't think there was something wrong with the garlic. I rather tend to believe there must have been a kind of reaction with acid components in the olive-oil. I also thought of a colouring which might have been caused by the green shoots which had developed in the garlic cloves. On the other hand, since then, I have prepared several batches of minced garlic in olive-oil and the phenomenon has not repeated itself. The mystery is still there.