Something went wrong with my oil...?

Question

I put a sprig of cinnamon basil in a glass jar and covered it with olive oil (might've mixed it with a little vegetable oil). I read it takes about 2 weeks to fully infuse the flavor, and then you can strain the oil and add a fresh sprig for looks. However, after about 1 week, I'm seeing a slight fuzz around the leaves of the herb... this is probably not good, am I correct? Do you know what I did wrong?

Answer 1

Did you clean and dry the basil before covering it in oil?  You should also sanitize your bottle.  It's probably mold growing on the basil...

Answer 2

Yes I do.

You have contaminated olive oil there.

The oil lasts only as long as the cycle of the "Fresh herb" which will last about 2 days in olive oil.Olive oil is not brine or a medium for preserving. You must be very careful here.

I say fresh because you should only use dry herbs for the method you used.

( Remember the chain that went out of business for getting 100's of people sick by doing that with garlic)?

The only way to infuse with fresh herbs is to heat the oil( slightly) with the herb inside), remove for the heat, let it sit for an hour, remove the herb and let the oil cool down in the fridge for a few hours.

The safer way is to buy a basil or rosemary oil and just as a few drops to the olive oil.

So basically you have a seriously contaminated product there.

get rid of it( and the bottle).