Making homemade garlic oil

I would like to make my own garlic oil as I have a good organic hardneck (Music) garlic which I grew this year. How many cloves should I use to what proportion of oil and what is the best oil to use?

[mudbug]

Since no one's answered you question yet, I'll take a shot.

There are no hard and fast rules for making infused olive oil other than it needs to be refrigerated because of potential botulism.

That said, I would use a "cold pressed" Greek olive oil.

You can infuse the oil by heat or by time.

If your cloves are large, use 1 per cup of oil. If you want it stronger, add more. (cut your garlic in slivers)

To heat infuse, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over a low flame. Cook the garlic slivers until they turn a light golden brown. This should be a slow process in which the oil becomes infused with the garlic’s fragrance and your oil retains it's green color. When the slivers are golden, remove them with a slotted spoon and discard.

To cold infuse, garlic in bottle, add oil. Store in a cool dark place like the fridge for 10 days.

If you have any herbs, I would add those too!

I love to serve (roasted) garlic oil with balsamic vinager instead of butter with bread in my restaurant. The way I make it is to mince the garlic in a robotcoupe (food processor) and use 1 Tbsp per cup of ex. virgin olive oil and take that mix and put in a moderate oven or in a pan over mod. heat and cook for 40 minutes then strain. Chill for storage and let sit at room temp. to serve. It makes the bread taste like garlic bread and is healthier that butter.

Many thanks for these tips. I want to try both ways.