How to store garlic confit safely and avoid botulism

I was recently asked to list my three best spices ever. It is a simple bait for every insatiable house cook – and one that I was able to discuss for hours. In addition to this time, my one-track brain could only fix on the spice that I did religiously this year: Knoblauch Confit.

I drive through glasses with homemade garlic confit like a thirsty pigeon that flows into a fountain. I always have ways to use it in sandwiches, sauces, dips or smooth, muddy pasta. It is also so easy to make: take a handful of bold cloves, undo it in high-quality olive oil extravires and then with a bare simmering cook on the stove or in the oven after one to three hours, until the garlic soft and mellows.

Even if I voluntarily dissolved garlic confit through the spoon, I am always aware that I quickly work through my stock. This is because saving garlic confit increases the risk of botulism for more than a week, a rare but dangerous disease caused by a neurotoxin that attacks the body’s nervous system. This may sound alarming, but the risk can be greatly reduced as long as you keep the spice properly, which I will explain a little.

What exactly is garlic confit?

Knoblauch Confit is referred to as a confit – literally “in French” – because it is cooked and stored in the same oil. The result is what I like to call a delicious culinary double head head: both the roasted cloves and the intensely aromatic oil can be added to all types of dishes. The longer the garlic sits in the oil, the more infused the oil.

The term “confit” historically refers to meat that is cooked and preserved in its own fat, such as: Duck confit. In a traditional recipe for ducks confit, duck bones are first salted to pull out the moisture and heal slightly for 24 to 48 hours. After rinsing the healing and pockets of the legs dry, the meat is dipped in a rendered duck fat and heated in the oven for three hours. As soon as the fat cools down to room temperature, the duck is cooled in its fat, then whipped and eaten on the stove.

In contrast to the duck, most vegetables do not contain much fat, so oil needs to be used to make a confit with them. In the case of garlic confection, olive oil is ideal for work, since its grass -covered undertones complement the mild sweetness of the slowly cooked garlic. With enough time in the oven or on the stove, the garlic becomes soft and spreading and its hard bite blinds, which leads to delicate cloves with a sweet, deep umami taste.

As much as I wish, my garlic confection could take forever, all good things in life are associated with an expiry date.

Why should you never keep garlic confit at room temperature

The risk of keeping garlic confection too long? Botulism. It acts Clostridium botulinum. Untreated, botulism can lead to muscle paralysis and in rare cases to death. While the spores are common in soil and marine sediments and are typically harmless, they become dangerous under certain conditions. In an environment with low oxygen, low acid and low Sugar-like the one in which the garlic confection is manufactured and saved-bacteria can multiply quickly and produce neurotoxins.

Nevertheless, the actual risk of botulism in garlic confection is relatively low: most Documented outbreaks mixed with oil and involved raw garlic and mixed with oil and Stored at room temperature– Technically speaking, there is no garlic confection.

While I examined the ideal retention period for garlic confit, I bumped into discrepancies. Some garlic confit recipes adhere strictly to the USDA recommendation Store garlic confit at 40 ° f (40 ° f) Or below and reject it after seven days. (This council is based on an examination of garlic and oil that are stored at room temperature.) However, other serious sources claim that a chilled garlic confection can take up to two weeks.

Why the inconsistency? I contacted Don SchaffnerChairman of the Ministry of Food Science at Rutgers University to clarify.

“We definitely know that the possibility of developing botulinum toxin is quite high when developing botulinum toxin when you insert garlic in oil and leave it out for long times,” he told me. This discrepancy that you see online depends on refrigerator temperatures. “We know that the temperatures of refrigerators can be very different at home, and some people have frame that are quite cold, while others don’t,” explains Schaffner.

Schaffner pointed me to a paper about it The mathematical relationship between temperature and time for C. Botulinum Toxin production. (The study is observing and developed in order to lead security practices in order not to draw statistically significant conclusions.) With this formula and a few calculations to the rear, he showed that the difference in relative risk at 40 ° f (4.4 ° C), at 40 ° F (38 ° C), the recommendation of USDA for cooling and 3,3 ° C).

Taking with us is that if your refrigerator temperature is uncertain or fluctuates, it will not be kept with a garlic confection for more than a week, then throw it. However, if you have a refrigerator -thermometer to confirm that your refrigerator stays at or below 38 ° F (38 ° C), the storage of garlic confection should be fine for up to two weeks, although I personally prefer to be wrong on the side and use it within a week.

How to keep garlic confit properly

As soon as your garlic confection has ended the cooking, transfer the confit and the cooking oil immediately into a clean heat -resistant container, cover and refrigerator immediately. Use clean utensils to exploit oil or soft cloves of garlic, and consume within a week. (Alternatively, you can freeze the Confit garlic for several months and thaw it in the refrigerator if you are ready to consume it.) Professor Schaffner recommends this for long -term storage, as “As soon as you freeze something, the risk of botulism will essentially be zero if the food remains frozen”. Especially under no circumstances, keep at room temperature at room temperature.

What can you use garlic confit?

Knoblauch Confit gives almost everything you can puree, puree or fold, a wonderfully deep sweetness. Recipes like Creamy bean dip or Garlic and oil spaghetti If garlic confit no-brainer are only used to use garlic confit instead of fresh garlic. You can also flash it in soups, sauces and vinaigrettes; Top -Totast and Sandwiches; Spoon it around Juicy poached shrimps And Tender steak; And serve salads and vegetables that need a touch of taste. I occasionally offer other alliums such as charred spring onions, leeks and shallots for an additional thrust of rich, caramelized sweetness.