Hello, I have recently made an oil with fresh homegrown herbs and after day or so it turned cloudy. The herbs were clean, dry (not dried) and the bottle, with cork, was placed in the kitchen but not in full sunlight. I used 2 parts peanutoil and 1 part olive and it's not clear anymore. Can anyone tell me what caused it and how to prevent this next time? Thanx!

-- Sandra Kerkhoven (Sanshine@webtv.net), June 13, 2001

Answers

Plants contain moisture that must be removed before putting them in oil. Dry the herbs well in the shade first to prevent the oil from first becoming cloudy and secondly rancid. The plants will absorb the oil and appear to be reconstituted, this is especially pretty with dried rosebuds. Chili peppers are great too.

-- Lynn (lynnannmb@hotmail.com), June 13, 2001.

Judging by the previous post from you, I'm assuming these oils are to be used as food, right? I can't quote you chapter and verse but I remember reading something about the dangers of botulism in herbal oils. I'll try to find the site and either post it here or send it to you directly. At any rate, as best I remember, you should always refrigerate such oils to slow bacterial growth. Personally, I would not use the oils but opt for herbal vinegars instead or preserve the herbs by another method and add to food as needed.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), June 14, 2001.

Okay, now I can quote chapter and verse. The site to which I was referring is http://ibiblio.org/herbmed/faqs/culi-4-2-oil.html. The whole site has a lot of information on both culinary and medicinal herbs.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), June 14, 2001.