Shall I chuck it?

[binley100]

I followed this recipe and made some chilli oil ........
Make Your Own Chilli Oil – Simple and Easy Recipe

one bottle has been in the fridge and one has been under the stairs for a few days. I took the one out of the fridge today and it looked very strange as if it had got studd growing in it . Left it on the side to be chucked as didn't trust it . After about half an hour it had cleared again and looked as it did when first done. Any scientific boffins know whats going on and do you think it should be binned . I followed the recipe to the letter but don't fancy a dose of botulism.

[Scarlet]

Olive oil solidifies in the fridge. If it has cleared again at room temp I think that it should be ok.

[Two_Sheds]

^ As Scarlet says, olive oil isn't meant to be kept in the fridge - it goes cloudy.

Did you get "the temperature to reach at least 85°C for 5 minutes to kill off any bacteria on the chillies" ?

[Hilary B]

Fresh chillies or dried?
the oil 'freezing' in the fridge is the likeliest cause of the change. I get olive oil going semi-solid in the kitchen when the house is cold.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I tried doing a similar thing with olive oil and garlic but ended up binning mine after reading about the possibility of botulism developing. . If I'd read about needing to heat to 85°C (Thank you TS) for 5 mins to kill off bacteria, I would have done so.

[binley100]

yup it was heated to at least 85 deg and kept there for the allotted time (used my sugar thermometer ) I've popped it back in the fridge cos the guy who wrote the recipe asked if I could e-mail a photo of it ...

[Patchninja]

I agree with the others. Often, olive oil in the supermarkets is like that if it's been stored in a cold place.