[Karen W. (OP)]

OH MY isn't lavender wonderful.. I love it!




well, I know I use olive oil and soak my lavender in it for 24 hours, then I gently

squeeze it out throw the flowers away and get a fresh batch and do it again.. repeating

each step 6 more times, total of seven using the same oil every time and just changing

the flowers after lightly squeezing them out into the glass bowl with the oil!

what I don't get is how the olive oil draws out the lavender oils to make this

essential oil?

I can't remember why but I was told never to use a metal bowl!

what is it that brings out thr fragrance?

[lyner]

Doesn't it just dissolve the oils out of the cells?
The flowers are 'designed' to let out the smell gradually - your olive oil   speeds up the process, I would guess.

[Karen W. (OP)]

Hummmm I really don't know.. but something set me to thinking, and why can I not use a metal bowl.. I know yeast things loose their rising ability cause  aAI believe th metal kills the yeast.. but lavender and olive oil... what reaction would it have when being made in a metal bowl?

It might desolve I don't know.So does the olive oil act like a wick or drawing save pulling the essential oil out and how does an oil draw another oil to itself or is that just natural thing for oil to do.. like I know its not water and oil so maybe oil just attracts oil.. I don't know.. it is odd.

Thanks

[Karen W. (OP)]

Well thats cool but I also hang the old bouquets to scent the house! I have not any desire to do it for commercial use. I just hate paying an arm and a leg for something I have growing in my yard that will take me seven days to make and last me most all year round! LOL..Lavender grows like crazy here!

[Alandriel]

                       Lavender is gorgous  [] but if you want to make essential oils, you'll need one of these

                 

What you're doing when immersing crushed plant material in a base oil is to produce a macerated oil. Now that works of course but does not yield any essential oil per se. Macerated oils are still very useful and quite common e.g. St Johns Wort is a quite well known remedy only produced as a macerated oil.

You can have quite a lot of fun making macerated oils, especially where the essential oils are either difficult or expensive to obtain (e.g. rose oil, jasmin, neroli - orange blossom). You can also make your own infused oils to use in the kitchen e.g. as specially flavored salad oils e.g. garlic, rosmary, thyme, oregano etc. etc. There is virtually no limit to your immagination and creativity plus they'll cost a fraction of what you'd pay for such products off a shelve.

yep - I'm an enthusiastic (and qualified) Aromatherapist, can you tell?
 []

[another_someone]

yep - I'm an enthusiastic (and qualified) Aromatherapist, can you tell?

Already knowing your background in this, when I saw your name on the thread, I was expecting an interesting response, and was not disappointed.

[Bored chemist]

Steam distillation is a fine technique for most essential oils; a few are not heat stable enough for it.
On the other hand it would be illegal in many places because the equipment needed is essentially the same as you need for making illicit alcohol.

On a related note you can also extract a lot of oils directly into alcohol.

[lyner]

Pass the bottle.

[Karen W. (OP)]

Yes, I have seen the use of an "herb still".. I have always used oil or vodka and then when done, I freeze it and remove the oil or the vodka leaving just the flower oils, as the other does not freeze well, and these  can be lifted off. Otherwise it seems it would be two expensive  and impractical.. Although I would like to try it to actually see what the flower to oil ratio turns out to be. I suspect one would have to have huge amounts to even get 1 gallon of essential oil. I don't need a gallon, now if one were bottling it in 1 ounce bottles then that might be fun! My In laws took great pleasure in bootleg whiskey and other alcohols ... I hear tell They had some runners in the family way back. One whom just passed and loved to tell stories of out running the law on his liquor runs from one dry county to the next! LOL...


I believe I heard that when using the "still," it is actually the steam that
really extracts the oil. Is that right, or am I remembering that wrong?

[Karen W. (OP)]

                       Lavender is gorgous  [] but if you want to make essential oils, you'll need one of these

                 

What you're doing when immersing crushed plant material in a base oil is to produce a macerated oil. Now that works of course but does not yield any essential oil per se. Macerated oils are still very useful and quite common e.g. St Johns Wort is a quite well known remedy only produced as a macerated oil.

You can have quite a lot of fun making macerated oils, especially where the essential oils are either difficult or expensive to obtain (e.g. rose oil, jasmin, neroli - orange blossom). You can also make your own infused oils to use in the kitchen e.g. as specially flavored salad oils e.g. garlic, rosmary, thyme, oregano etc. etc. There is virtually no limit to your immagination and creativity plus they'll cost a fraction of what you'd pay for such products off a shelve.

yep - I'm an enthusiastic (and qualified) Aromatherapist, can you tell?
 []

Thanks Alandriel!

Steam distillation is a fine technique for most essential oils; a few are not heat stable enough for it.
On the other hand it would be illegal in many places because the equipment needed is essentially the same as you need for making illicit alcohol.

On a related note you can also extract a lot of oils directly into alcohol.

Thanks BC!

Thanks George!

your bread machine instructions will tell you to make a well in the flour and put your yeast in the well of the flour .

I thought that was just so that you could set a delayed start time and avoid the yeast getting wet before it was needed.

My Grandma said, metal objects killed the yeasts ability to create the rising action needed for your breads! I have noticed it to be true. If you mix the yeast directly in the metal bowl then it just does not work well!

[Karen W. (OP)]

That is probably true as too hot will kill it also before it has had a chance to become active. too cold just seems to take longer to activate..

[Karen W. (OP)]

I slit the thread and you may find  it here at this link... continued Yeast discussion!

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=10963.0

[Alandriel]

Although I would like to try it to actually see what the flower to oil ratio turns out to be. I suspect one would have to have huge amounts to even get 1 gallon of essential oil.

You are unfortunately right. Essential oil yields are quite low, anywhere from e.g. 0.007 % for yarrow (flowering tops) to e.g. 15 - 25% for nutmet seed; the average is probably around the 3-4% margin. here are some more figures if you're interested.

I believe I heard that when using the "still," it is actually the steam that really extracts the oil. Is that right, or am I remembering that wrong?

Right again!  []
The steam works its way through the crushed plant material and the oils 'float' on the steam so to speak. When the steam cools again and turns to water, some of the EO components end up in the water (hence e.g. floral waters or water based herbal extracts etc.), the EO's themselves float and are taken off.


gotta read up on that yeast link - I've also made the same observations about yeast not working well when in contact with metals and wondered why many times.

We also say in aromatherapy that you should not bring the essential oils in contact with metals but only use e.g. glass or pottery for storage, mixing etc. I wonder if that is connected?

[Alandriel]

crossposting from the other thread - hope I'm not confusing everyone here - and I'm trying to see if there is any relevance here too ...

"What I know is that usually metals inhibit enzymes

Do essential oils contain enzymes? Now *that* I really don't know (... and I really ought to)  []