[Herbalist] BASIL OIL

[Jenne Heise]

> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> I have lots of basil coming up in my herb garden.  I would really like to
> make basil oil for later consumption.

Ok, this is kind of a problem. There have been, recently, an upsurge in
problems with botulism in infused oils (the commercial infused oils that
you buy are heavily heat-treated to destroy botulism spores).

In general, the USDA recommendation is to make infused oils by heat
infusion (heating the oil with the botanical in it) and then store the oil
in the refrigerator and use within 24 hours.

What you might try is freezing your basil and making up infused oils to
use as needed.

--
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at mail.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.
"Well," the Goddess said, "your heart didn't heal straight the last time
it broke. So we'll break it again and reset it so it heals straight this
time." Diane Duane. _Door into Shadow_