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Distilling my Own Essential Oils
By:
Donna Hancock
I met the Richard and Suzanne Andrews at the PrepperFestAZ event this past month where they had a simple distillation unit making essential oils. For my birthday, Ernie bought me a distillation kit, and Richard and Suzanne come in studio to do a live demonstration on how to make essential oils. An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is "essential" in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. Essential oils do not form a distinctive category for any medical, pharmacological, or culinary purpose. They are not essential for health. Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression or solvent extraction. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and other products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense and household cleaning products. Based on the Andrew's knowledge and experience, here is their top 10 list Essential Oils to have on hand: Lavender - Good for everything Frankincense - Good for emotions Oregano - Anti-Viral, Anti-Bacterial Tea Tree - Anti-Viral, Anti-Bacterial Peppermint - Good for headaches, indigestion Eucalyptus - Good for chest congestion Helichrysm - Nerve damage (can help restore) Marjoram - Good for pain Geranium - Good for emotions Carrier Oils - i.e. grapeseed, almond, olive oil, etc... (for children under 8, rub carrier oil in your hands with a drop of essential oil, apply to child)
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As the show progressed, the distiller was making the essential oil (fennel) - here are some photos from the process: This is the set up:
Water-Oil Separator:
Fennel in the biomass flask:
Condenser Tube:
Bottom of condenser, top of water-oil separator:
Boiling Flask:
After about an hour, you can see the essential oil (yellowish) in the water-oil separator:
This is a travel pouch that you can put your essential oils in (small vials):
Here is the archive of the Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock Radio Show with Richard and Suzanne Andrews (04-02-14 Hour 2 and 3)
2014-04-02 Hour 2 Richard And Suzanne Andrews from Ernest Hancock on Vimeo.
'Drops of Vitality' Essential Oil for Health Phone: 623-512-2247 [Richard and Suzanne do not have a website (yet), but I will post it to this archive when they get one established]
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