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Recently I found a book on reducing food waste that suggested making infused garlic oil from the cut-off ends and (inner, reddish) garlic peels rather than the cloves. The recipe doesn’t involve any heating steps, nor notes on refrigeration after initially infusing the oil in the fridge for a month, and it’s suggested to use the oil in making salad dressing and the like.

Now it seems to me this recipe is using the parts that are at the greatest risk for contamination with soil bacteria… can something like this in fact be done safely? Does the peels' lower moisture content make any difference? Is acidification a feasible approach or will this just end in a sad pile of wet peels and no taste in the oil?

KeyboardCat
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The approach you describe is practically a recipe for maximizing one's risk for death by botulism, while at the same time not producing particularly good garlic oil. Garlic peels/skin have very little or no flavor, may have dirt or sand on them, and the garlic "ends" are where botulism spores are most likely to be located.

While there are a number of ways you could attempt to make this more safe ... why bother? Why risk your life for low-quality garlic oil?

FuzzyChef
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