How to Make Essential Oils Out of Herbs
Essential oils can not only be healing, but also pleasing to our senses. Unfortunately, it can be expensive to make true essential oils. Sometimes it takes a large amount of an herb to create only a few drops of oil.
Things You'll Need
- Herb of choice
- Pressure cooker
- Vegetable steamer
- 10-foot food-grade tube
- Hose clamp
- 5-gallon bucket
- Small-mouth jar
Instructions
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1
Select the herb needed to make your essential oil. Purchase it in bulk, starting with 1 lb.
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2
Prepare your pressure cooker. Fill it halfway with water, and place it on your stove burner. Place a vegetable steamer inside the pressure cooker so it is situated right above the water line.
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3
Place your herb on the top of the steamer.
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4
Put the lid on your pressure cooker. Instead of placing your regulator vent on top of the cooker, you're going to put a 10-foot food-grade tube over the outlet. Use a hose clamp to make sure it fits tightly. The other end of the tube should drop over the edge of your countertop.
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5
Place the 5-gallon bucket on a chair, and put the other end of the tube inside the bucket. Make sure the tube wraps or coils inside the bucket at least four times.
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6
Fill the bucket with enough cold water and ice to cover your coiled tube.
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7
Allow the extra coiled tubing to drop over the bucket edge, toward the floor. Place a clean jar, at least 1 qt. or larger and with a small opening, on the floor. Make sure the end of the tube hangs right over the jar.
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8
Turn your stove burner to medium-high. Wait as steam takes traces of the oil from the herb through the tube. Once it reaches the tube under cold water, the steam will cool and separate from the essential oil, which will then drop into the small jar. The substance in this jar is your essential oil.
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Tips & Warnings
For a less expensive and easier method, create an infused essential oil. Use about 2 cups of a dried herb of your choice and add carrier oil, which can be grapeseed, coconut or almond oil. Place ingredients in a jar and shake for a few seconds. Let set for a day, then shake the jar each day for three days. Drain the oil through a cheesecloth.
