In the culinary sense, it is actually used in two different senses. In the first, infusion refers to the process by which a food is placed in a liquid, usually hot, to steep and extract compounds to impart flavor. In the other sense, infusion is used to refer to the extracted flavors themselves.

There are quite a few ways that this process could be used. If you want to flavor a tea, then infusion is probably how you’re going to get the job done. Ever heard of a fat wash or fat washing alcohol? That’s an example of infusion. If you want to make a chili oil or some type of aromatic oil? That’s infusion.