Smoked paprika oil

I was watching a food show last night and one of the ingredients was smoked paprika oil. I checked on the web and it seems like it is an infused oil. When would you use smoked paprika oil vs ground smoked paprika powder? How would the smoked paprika oil change the flavor profile vs ground smoke paprika powder?
Lance

Primarily one would use it as a finishing drizzle. But it might also be used as an ingredient if using a straight powder might cause textural problems, or if one wanted more of the flavor but with less of the ground chile (it should be well filtered), such as for a smoked paprika vinaigrette.

The profile would be unchanged--unless the oil used had its own flavor.

Kevin,
Thanks for the quick response. I am not sure if is was used in a vinaigrette or for pan frying. It was a quick mention and then the camera cut away. What is your preferred method for making smoked paprika oil?
Lance

Well, I always heat the oil gently to maybe 180-200 to allow the chile's flavor to disperse and the grinds to absorb some oil. How much chile I add depends on application. If I don't really care about the grinds in the oil I might leave it unfiltered or simply filter quickly. If I do I use a finer filter. If essential that the oil be clear I don't use powder at all, preferring whole or crushed chilies instead. (For 'smoked paprika' oil I use ripe mild chilies that I've smoked/dried myself, not necessarily any actual paprika variety.)