Cooking with essential oils
Cooking with essential oils is becoming increasingly popular. But what should I bear in mind when using essential oils in the kitchen?
Contents
Internal use of essential oils
In certain cases it is also possible to use essential oils internally. The simplest option is to cook with them.
As we have already published 2 recipes with essential oils, I would like to take this opportunity to inform you about the possible uses of essential oils in the kitchen.
Many etheric oils are published on the GRAS list. The → GRAS list includes only those essential oils that are considered generally safe.
The oils listed there come from herbs and spices that we already know from the kitchen. These include, for example, basil, cumin, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, dill seeds, fennel, ginger, etc. You can find the complete list with dosage recommendations below.
However, essential oils - even if they are extracted from herbs and spices - have a much more intense aroma than when they are used fresh or dried. Therefore, care should be taken here and, above all, in much smaller doses! A maximum of 1 - 3 drops is usually enough to conjure up an unforgettable aroma.
4 points list - Cooking with essential oils
If you want to cook with essential oils, you should definitely consider the following 4 points:
- Keep the amount of essential oil low
- Never use oils with toxic properties
- The concentrated power of the essential oils can be diluted and stored for later use (see small tip below)
- Prolonged cooking (simmering) reduces the strength of the more intense oils such as geranium, rose, basil, oregano, sage and rosemary, as they evaporate during cooking
How do I cook with essential oils?
To slowly explore the intensity of the essential oils, start the first cooking process with just 1 drop. For better dosing, do not add the oil directly to the food, but first drizzle it onto a teaspoon and then gradually add the aroma to the dish until the desired dosage is reached.
The longer the dish is cooked afterwards, the more the flavor is reduced.
A little tip:
You can easily dose the strength of the aroma by preparing a bowl of water + essential oil to suit your taste. The flavored water can be frozen as small ice cubes and added to the respective dish as required.
Which essential oils are suitable for cooking?
Not every essential oil can be used internally. However, there are some oils that are excellent for cooking with.
Below you will find a list of oils from the GRAS list, as well as a recommended dosage in drops:
- Field mint (1 drop)
- Basil (1-2 drops)
- Bergamot (1 drop)
- Dill seeds (1-4 drops)
- Tarragon (1 drop)
- Fennel (1 drop)
- Geranium (1 drop)
- Clove (1 drop)
- Ginger (1-6 drops)
- Cardamom (1 drop)
- Coriander (1 drop)
- Cumin (3 drops)
- Mandarin (1-4 drops)
- Nutmeg (1-2 drops)
- Orange (1-8 drops)
- Oregano (1 drop)
- Peppermint (1 drop)
- Rose water (1-3 drops)
- Rosemary (2 drops)
- Sage (1-2 drops)
- Tangerine (4-6 drops)
- Lemon (1 drop)
- Lemongrass (1-2 drops)
