Making Chilli Oil

All Chilli growers come across the inevitable quandary as to what to do with all the fantastic pods that are now accumulating due to the hard work put in over the last few months.  Most of my Chilli types flower and fruit around the same time so a lot of the time you can end up wondering what to do with them all.  Luckily I have a wonderful foodie wife who has loads of cook books and is a seasoned veteran in the kitchen – so she often gives me awesome ideas to cook with or how to store them.  Also her lovely sister bought me a hot & spicy cookbook as a wedding present this year, thanks Pippa!

This time I decided to make Chilli Oil.

It has recently come to my attention that making certain Infused Oils such as Chilli Oil can lead to Botulism so please be extremely diligent and inform yourself on how to avoid this through official sources.

I would just like to say at this point that I am not a food preparation expert and that, with all my recipes that I try out at home, it is a mixture of internet/cookbook research and experimentation so please use the necessary precautions when making your own Infused Oil or any of the other future recipes on my blog.  

Ok back to it!  I had excess Black Hungarian, Culinary Thai, Jalapeno & Filius Blue stored in my kitchen but some were threatening to go off so I had to use the whole batch of around ten Chillies.  Don’t worry to much about mixing the Chilli types because it’s better to make use out of them than let them waste.  Those of you who prefer to make recipes with only the same Chilli type , that’s fine too – you can make a Jalapeno Chilli Oil for example.

I chopped the Chillies up just roughly and removed the stems.  I got a small tupperware and the Virgin Olive Oil that we use for cooking – a glass jar or bottle is what I read you should use for storage and make sure it is properly sterilised and then sealed when your finished making the oil.  I would suggest that you don’t worry too much about the brand of oil, just a standard Virgin Olive Oil that you can get for a reasonable price at your local supermarket will do.

After mixing the oil & Chillies together in my container I popped it into a pan to heat at a high temperature, which kills off any bacteria.  The heating is also meant to get the best out of the Chillies and it infuses quicker.  The Chillies also discoloured during this process.

I placed it back in the container (being careful not to burn myself) leaving it cool to room temperature, and BOOM I have a lovely Chilli infused oil!  All I had to do then was to pour it into my lovely new glass oil jug.

The best place to store it is in the Fridge after its cooled and use it within a few weeks.  During which time I personally will add a bit more oil to my specific taste.  If you see any mould or cloudiness it’d probably be best to throw it out at that stage.

Have any of you recently made use of Chilli batches or have your own way of making Oil?  Let me know. Chillininja