I've been trying to make herb-infused oils at home to use through the winter, but I keep reading scary stuff about botulism from storing herbs in oil. What's actually safe here? Should I be blanching them first or using dried herbs instead?
Freezing your herbs in oil is genuinely the safest move - you skip the botulism risk entirely since the bacteria can't grow in frozen conditions. If you want shelf-stable infused oil instead, the real solution is acidifying it (adding vinegar or citrus juice to drop the pH below 4.6) or using completely dried herbs, since botulism needs moisture to thrive. Blanching fresh herbs before oil storage doesn't actually eliminate the risk, so that won't solve your problem. Honestly the frozen route is what I'd go with if you're worried - just blend herbs with oil, freeze it in ice cube trays, and you've got perfect portions for winter cooking without any stress.
The safest shelf-stable route is starting with dried herbs instead of fresh - botulism spores can't grow in oil without moisture, so you skip the whole risk. If you really want fresh herbs in oil, keep it in the fridge and use it within a few days, treating it more like a condiment than a long-term preserve. One thing I haven't seen mentioned: you can also make a compound butter with fresh herbs instead and freeze that - gives you the same infused flavor for cooking without any of the oil-storage headaches, and it lasts way longer.
You're right to be cautious - the real solution is keeping your infused oils refrigerated after you make them, which stops botulism spores from germinating even with fresh herbs in there. If you want something shelf-stable, dried herbs in oil actually work great and sidestep the whole problem since the spores need moisture to grow.
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