Lemon essential oil

[JellybeanCorncob]

I’m kind of new to extracting essential oils from plants but this is my first success. My rosemary produced little oil but that’s a different story. My sister has been playing around with different extracts (store bought). Mostly she uses them in diffusers for aroma therapy. She also has me making vanilla extract with my nuteral spirits.
So I have a Meyer lemon tree that is loaded with lemons. And yes I make Lemoncello with the lemons also. I’ve dedicated my 3gal copper still for making essential oils.

We picked and zested around 60 lemons.

We saved the juce for lemonade

Then I put the zest right in the boiler with RO water.
I brought the heat up to a boil then backed the heat down to a slow boil like you would cook pasta in. Lo and behold lemon extract was building up on top of the hydrosol.

I ran the still for about 45 minuets.

The result was about 8ml of Pretty damn pure lemon oil.

Lemon oil on top/ hydrosol below

5ml bottles

All in all I consider this a success.
Next time my sister is over we’re going to try making peppermint oil with the mint that is growing like weeds all over my yard.
JBC

[Bushman]

Congratulations, where did you get your collection vessel? Looks like something I would like to add to my equipment. I am guessing you drained the water from the bottom keeping the oil in the vessel. We can get large bags of lemons at Costco to zest then use the lemons for other purposes. Thanks for sharing the post.

[JellybeanCorncob]

Congratulations, where did you get your collection vessel? Looks like something I would like to add to my equipment. I am guessing you drained the water from the bottom keeping the oil in the vessel. We can get large bags of lemons at Costco to zest then use the lemons for other purposes. Thanks for sharing the post.

The Separatory Funnel works great. Amazon or a scintific lab equipment store has them. They even have glass funnels that fit snugly in the hole on the top. Mine is 500ml. Also if you have a microzester it will make your life much easier.

JBC

[badflash]

Been trying to figure out a use for all the lemons and limes I get when I get the produce from the grocery for my animals. If I run them through my stand-alone garbage disposal is chops them up pretty fine. I have a cider press on order. I wonder if I can separate the juice that way and distill the oil from what is left. I get loads of citrus and the chickens only eat so many.

[Bushman]

That is exactly the tool I use for zesting really works great!

[JellybeanCorncob]

Been trying to figure out a use for all the lemons and limes I get when I get the produce from the grocery for my animals. If I run them through my stand-alone garbage disposal is chops them up pretty fine. I have a cider press on order. I wonder if I can separate the juice that way and distill the oil from what is left. I get loads of citrus and the chickens only eat so many.

I know that everything I’ve read says to zest the lemon. And I know that if you have pith in your vapor path as in making gin it will make your product bitter. Sorry I can’t be more help. If you have the time and energy give it a try, then let us know. Zesting 60 lemons is time consuming.
Also: chickens eat lemons?
JBC

[Bushman]

Been trying to figure out a use for all the lemons and limes I get when I get the produce from the grocery for my animals. If I run them through my stand-alone garbage disposal is chops them up pretty fine. I have a cider press on order. I wonder if I can separate the juice that way and distill the oil from what is left. I get loads of citrus and the chickens only eat so many.

I know that everything I’ve read says to zest the lemon. And I know that if you have pith in your vapor path as in making gin it will make your product bitter. Sorry I can’t be more help. If you have the time and energy give it a try, then let us know. Zesting 60 lemons is time consuming.
Also: chickens eat lemons?
JBC

Has anyone tried oranges, the pith isn't as bad as lemons.

[badflash]

My chickens eat lemons and oranges if you cut them open.
I will try oranges as I get the most of them. An orange cut in half goes through my disposer without any water.
I wonder if my Mr. Distiller will work if I put in a bunch of pulp. Worth a try.

[trubbubble]

I got a really good yield from lemons by putting the peels in a blender with water and making a puree then boiling that.
1 bag worth of lemons from Costco gave me 15ml of oil doing it this way. The more cell walls you break open, the more oil you get.

The setup I have has a glass chamber that sits above the boiling flask that you are supposed to put the plant material into and then let steam pass through it on the way to the condenser. That may work for some things but it did not work well at all for citrus. I'm going to try lemongrass at some point and see how that goes.

[CoogeeBoy]

.....We can get large bags of lemons at Costco to zest then use the lemons for other purposes. Thanks for sharing the post.

Hi Bushman
Just out of interest, what do you do with your left over lemons that have been peeled / zested?

Trying to workout what to do with my pile of them!

[The Baker]

.....We can get large bags of lemons at Costco to zest then use the lemons for other purposes. Thanks for sharing the post.

Hi Bushman
Just out of interest, what do you do with your left over lemons that have been peeled / zested?

Trying to workout what to do with my pile of them!

Squeeze and freeze the juice.
That's what I do. (Great in various sorts of tarts).

It's frustrating, right now the neighbour's tree has lots of lemons and I can't use any more.

Geoff

[kimbodious]

I'm going to try lemongrass at some point and see how that goes.

Pretty damn good I’d say, I put some shredded lemongrass and Kaffir Lime leaves in an infusion chamber on my pot still on a stripping run (to prove a concept), and the flavours came across really well

[Bushman]

.....We can get large bags of lemons at Costco to zest then use the lemons for other purposes. Thanks for sharing the post.

Hi Bushman
Just out of interest, what do you do with your left over lemons that have been peeled / zested?

Trying to workout what to do with my pile of them!

If you zest them the peel is still on the lemon, but a lot of times my wife will squeeze the lemon juice and put them in ice trays and freeze for later use.

[Hambone]

Once zested the lemons dry out pretty quickly...

[The Baker]

Once zested the lemons dry out pretty quickly...

Seal in a plastic bag for a short term solution to that?

Geoff

[CoogeeBoy]

Thank you all.
I am going to squeeze and freeze most, make a little lemon cordial with some also.
Have a great day.