Home Distiller

Bushman wrote:I would also guess puking. That is a good video, nice having that separater. The glass container with the small opening would be difficult to clean after the process.

I'll watch the video in a little bit and see what I can learn from it.

rain distillate wrote:

Bushman wrote:Rain distiller, I use a syringe to separate the oil most of the oil floats to the top on some types it sinks to the bottom your mint is a bit dark but most the time you can see the oil.

What caused it to be so dark? bad material? ran too hot?

pretty sure what you have there is peppermint tea. You need to evaporate the water or hydro-separate the oil, both will take time.
somewhere on the interwebbies there will be a yeild calc, how much of an herb gets how much of an oil. my guess from 180g or dry peppermint you would end up with maybe 5 g of oil.

can't see an alembic being the right tool for the job, but meh, i never tried it... so whadda i know...but i did see a site that sells stainless still for this purpose, they have all kinds of funky parts ala rube goldstein. I see if i can find the site.

the chica in the video gets maybe a gram of oil out of her fancy contraption...i think thats a more realistic goal.

Would it be more efficient to re-distill all the liquid material I have collected?

*I filled the bottom mixing bowl with water probably a half inch or so from being full before pasting and clamping the top mixing bowl on...I thought there was plenty of head space.
I'm aware I'm only supposed to get a little oil from a run.
I'm doing something wrong I just don't know what.



Woooooooooooooooooorst case scenario it would make a good spider repellent for the perimeter of the house LOL!

I need help with this that's for sure. Wasn't as easy as I anticipated.

I have a garden bed of oregano growing really well this year, and a 8-gallon unit from Mile Hi with herb basket. I plan to do an alcohol extraction of oregano oil soon. I plan to use fresh herb filling the basket. Are there any other sources where I can go to learn more?

Oh Damn

Yet another load of things to go on the "To do" list - I hate this hobby !

Not sure where you live but these folks in Portland Oregon are pretty helpful.
http://essential-oil.theshoppad.com/#/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow?
Next month I will be picking my lavender and preparing it for distillation.

Today I packed the 'Essential Oil Basket' with a couple pounds of fresh oregano, into the still went 2 quarts of 185proof ethanol and 2 gallons of water. What came out was 3 quarts of clear distillate. No oil has separated. I put it in the freezer to see if chilling it would cause something to form a separate layer.

I wonder if I needed to use dried herb freshly crushed, instead of fresh herb.

Bushman wrote:I got Tater to add a separate thread for Essential Oils and did some basic posts to get it started was hoping for more interest. I will try to add more as I get going. Thanks for the interest and I agree with more topics.

Hi Bushman: where can I find this thread? I did my first and second essential oil run yesterday with rosemary. Lots of fun. I’d like to post in the that thread?
Thanks
JBC

JellybeanCorncob wrote:

Bushman wrote:I got Tater to add a separate thread for Essential Oils and did some basic posts to get it started was hoping for more interest. I will try to add more as I get going. Thanks for the interest and I agree with more topics.

Hi Bushman: where can I find this thread? I did my first and second essential oil run yesterday with rosemary. Lots of fun. I’d like to post in the that thread?
Thanks
JBC

Congratulations, here is a link to all the threads currently under essential oils.
viewforum.php?f=95

Thanks Bushman: I gots some reading to do.
JBC

Interesting topic. Might even make SWMBO like the hobby even more.
Two questions. I have a 5 gallon pot still with thumper and worm.
Seems like I have ready made steam extraction outfit.
How much would I need to put in the thumper to make it effective?

Also, in discussing oils, is anyone familiar with Flor Essence Tea?
It's a mix of Essiac(?) tea and other herbs said to have cancer healing and other therapeutic properties.
It is usually steeped into a tea then drunk daily.

It's hard to tell who to trust and who to ignore on the internet. Take the video that shineoncrazydiamond posted of the lady making juniper oil for example, she doesn't even know how to connect her condenser to the faucet the right way. How are we supposed to believe anything she says if she can't even get that simple thing right? The fact that she was so sure of what she was doing that she felt confident posting a video about it sort of terrifies me.

The thing about using a column or an extraction flask like the lady in the video uses is that when you begin the extraction, your biomass and vessel is still cool so the steam condenses in there and drips back down into the boiler carrying whatever dissolved with it. Depending on what you're trying to extract, the boiler may start foaming up and puking through your biomass. You can't see it with a metal setup but a sure sign that it's happening is if the stuff you're collecting is opaque. Nothing that goes through the vapor phase and then re-condenses is going to be opaque. That is caused by particulate matter.
I have done peppermint and spearmint essential oil extractions and they both are crystal clear with no color.

I'm working on an oil still design that will heat the biomass and vessel so you don't get that reflux problem. If it works out right, I'll post it.

looking forward to it! I have always used the syringe that came with my refractometer to extract my essential oil after it has rested in a dark place for several weeks. So far my best success as also been mint over the lavender I have done. Hoping this year to do more. You might take a look at the still I built just for essential oils.

Id like to distill rose hips. Do you just gather the leaves and flower, throw them into the distilling pot with some water and go for it? Not sure of the temperature it begins distilling and all the particulars. Perhaps someone can recommend a book or a good website link. Appreciate.

ab2 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:06 am Id like to distill rose hips. Do you just gather the leaves and flower, throw them into the distilling pot with some water and go for it? Not sure of the temperature it begins distilling and all the particulars. Perhaps someone can recommend a book or a good website link. Appreciate.

I usually like to break up the herbs and botanicals like you would when you grind a grain before fermenting to allow in this case more of the oils to escape.

Like this juniper, its cones are like those of a poplar, they are not round like those of a Christmas tree or pine, small with small wings. And so around the juniper. Large yield of essential oil. Ran a ferry. Pleasant, persistent, strong smell. Hydrosol used to wash the face, legs, hands, teeth.