Easy Instructions to Make Infused Oils


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I enjoy making my own infused oils. Depending on the time of year, different flowers are blooming in the garden. During the cooler, winter months I make herb or citrus peel infused oil to give as gifts during the holidays.

Here are my easy, foolproof instructions for making your own infused oils:

If you have a flower or herb garden or have access to freshly cut flowers or herbs you can easily make your own infused oils using sweet almond oil.

For external skin care, I prefer to use Aura Cacia sweet almond oil with Vitamin E. It is a high quality product that is readily available at most health food stores. Vitamin E is useful as a natural preservative.

For herb or citrus infused oils for cooking I use any high quality, pure olive oil.

Assemble the following tools and supplies:

½ cup of sweet almond oil

1 cup of tightly packed flowers or 1/4 cup of packed fresh herbs or 1/4 cup of chopped fruit peel such as orange, grapefruit, lime or lemon. You will need a total of 4 cups of freshly cut flowers or 1 cup of herbs or chopped fruit peel. Thoroughly rinse your materials in cool water prior to using.

Plastic zip locked bags. I prefer to use the bags with the zipper attachment that runs across the top to securely close the bag.

Hammer or wooden kitchen mallet.

2 wide mouthed glass jars. All my glass jars have lived a previous life holding soup, fruit or vegetables. After you have emptied the jar, wash it thoroughly and it is ready for use. You could also buy mason jars or some similar type of jar as long as it has a wide mouthed top.

Funnel

Amber, Smoked or Cobalt Blue glass bottles with a stopper

Cheesecloth or Cotton Gauze

Each day for four days place 1 cup of flowers (1/4 cup of herbs or chopped fruit peel) in the plastic bag, close the bag and lightly tap the materials within the bag to bruise them slightly. Do not beat the material into a pulp, this is a gentle process.

Place the sweet almond oil and the flowers, herbs or citrus peel into one wide mouthed glass jar, replace the top and gently shake to mix. Make sure your materials have been saturated in the oil. Leave the bottle in a warm place, perhaps in your kitchen.

Each day using the cheesecloth as a strainer, transfer the oil from one bottle to the other collecting your material in the cheesecloth. Squeeze the cheesecloth to transfer as much of the oil as possible into the second bottle.

Throw away the old material and repeat the brusing procedure with a fresh batch of your flowers, herbs or citrus peel. Add the new material to the oil and gently shake.

When the four days have elapsed, strain the oil through the cheesecloth one final time and using the funnel transfer the oil into the colored glass bottles. Place the stopper on the bottles. Congratulations - You have now made your own infused oil.

The shelf life for your infused oil is 6 - 12 months if kept in a dry, dark, cool spot.

The flower selected is Matthiola bicornis - the Evening-scented Stock. Matthiola is a beautiful lilac to dark purple color with a scent that is a combination of nutmeg and vanilla. I combine this infused oil with Carnation infused oil for a relaxing, delicate, floral scent. A few drops of each mixed with Jasmine essential oil added to Coconut or Jojoba oil makes a exquisite skin cream.

Shown is our wide mouthed bottle, one packed cup of flowers and 1/2 cup of sweet almond oil. This cup of flowers will be placed in the plastic zip locked bag. Three more cups of flowers will be measured out over a period of four days for a total of four cups of flowers.

I have placed my cup of flowers in the zip locked plastic bag and gently tapped them with a hammer. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see that the flowers while being squashed looking, are still recognizable. Do not be too forceful while tapping your flowers.

I have draped cheesecloth around the neck of my glass bottle for straining the oil. You can secure this with a rubber band or hold it in place with your hand while you transfer the oil and materials from one glass bottle to the other.