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Post by serri588 on Mar 31, 2019 12:52:53 GMT -5
Along with lettuce, I have peppermint going pretty much all the time. The goal is to make peppermint oil in my crock pot. Not as pure as doing it properly, but that equipment is dangerous so I don't want to try it in my apartment. There are three plants I cloned from the previous batch. I've started aggressively cutting them back and letting them regrow. I think I've done two rounds of that and this is the third grow out.  |
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Shawn
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Post by Shawn on Mar 31, 2019 15:14:05 GMT -5
Ooo, Peppermint oil? What will you use that for? I am interested in how it turns out.
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Post by serri588 on Mar 31, 2019 15:15:49 GMT -5
Mostly I use it to make my house smell good.  the real process involves extracting the oils under high pressure, which is dangerous. According to the internet, you can make "good enough" oil by boiling the heck out of in a crock pot then cooling the water so the oil solidifies on top. |
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Post by raynebc on Apr 1, 2019 12:22:03 GMT -5
There's an essential oil steam distillation product that involves using a microwave (https://www.amazon.com/EssenEx-100A-Essential-Oil-Home-Distillation/dp/B07BB4MPR3), but it's more expensive than I'm willing to spend on this kind of thing, at least for now.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2019 7:49:52 GMT -5
The aromatic oil sounds so different and interesting!
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Post by serri588 on Apr 7, 2019 20:00:25 GMT -5
There's an essential oil steam distillation product that involves using a microwave (https://www.amazon.com/EssenEx-100A-Essential-Oil-Home-Distillation/dp/B07BB4MPR3), but it's more expensive than I'm willing to spend on this kind of thing, at least for now. That's an awesome find! I wish it had a few more reviews. If I can find some more info I might be willing to take the plunge. It beats storing the herbs long term while I gather enough to make a batch, |
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Post by raynebc on Apr 8, 2019 11:53:33 GMT -5
I'm getting closer to wanting to buy that distillation system myself, as I'm a big fan of mint. I picked up a third variety (orange mint) at the store this weekend and am going to grow it outside in a bucket so I'll probably have a lot of it that I'll have to find something to do with. If nothing else it will be nice to smell and look at, and it will attract pollinators for my peppers and tomato.
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Post by serri588 on Apr 10, 2019 7:28:22 GMT -5
Nice! I'm going to invest in a few new varieties of mint myself this year. None of the nearby nurseries seem to carry them though so I'll have to order some.
I looked in to the distiller and apparently it was created by some college students for their research project. Pretty sure now that it does work. Time to buy myself a birthday present!
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Post by serri588 on Apr 18, 2019 13:31:30 GMT -5
The distiller came today. I'm very happy to see they included a lot of supplies with it. I think they are all reusable so the set should last a long time. Sadly, the plants are 1-2 weeks from their next mowing so I don't get to try it out yet.   |
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Post by raynebc on Apr 18, 2019 14:05:15 GMT -5
Coincidentally, I ordered the same distiller and it arrived in the mail yesterday. The ice core should be frozen by this evening so I'll give it a try then with some spearmint.
Edit: On my first attempt with the distiller, I didn't seem to end up with a layer of essential oil so I don't know what the deal was. I emailed OilExTech to see what they suggest. I'm going to have to try it again soon. I'm sprouting some peppermint seeds in my AeroGarden, I think I'll have it replace my basil and spearmint bucket in my growing cabinet because I like peppermint more since it has a stronger flavor.
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Post by serri588 on Apr 27, 2019 12:48:54 GMT -5
I'll be taking my try at it tomorrow. The ice form is in the freezer now.  |
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Shawn
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Posts: 16,267
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Post by Shawn on Apr 27, 2019 13:25:53 GMT -5
Looking forward to how you do and how it goes!
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Post by raynebc on Apr 27, 2019 16:51:17 GMT -5
I'd be interested too. I haven't had luck with mine yet. So far it seems like I'm just getting hydrosol mixed with essential oil instead of the oil separating properly and floating to the top so I can remove it. I've tried it twice (once with spearmint, once with orange peel) and didn't get any usable oil yet. I'm waiting to hear back from the manufacturer.
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Post by serri588 on Apr 28, 2019 8:32:20 GMT -5
My first attempt was a fail- I misread the directions and put 280ml of water in the ice cone instead of 230. Means that I couldn't properly seal the lid or secure the ice to it because the screw was too far into the ice. Fortunately, I only used one of my three plants, so I've got two more cones freezing. This time they have 225ml of water and the screw is set deeper into the foam. I did get a bunch of liquid in with the plants that may have some goodness in it, so I'm going to add that to the next batch.    |
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Post by serri588 on Apr 28, 2019 8:33:51 GMT -5
Before and after on the peppermint plant. Trying to get some cuttings rooted as these ones are getting a bit rough.   |
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Post by serri588 on Apr 30, 2019 17:05:03 GMT -5
Well, 3 attempts, 3 fails. This last one there were a couple drops of oil on top, but not enough to harvest. Dunno- maybe this variety doesn't produce enough oil or I'm not feeding them a mix that allows for good oil production.
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Shawn
Administrator
Posts: 16,267
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Post by Shawn on Apr 30, 2019 19:08:19 GMT -5
Will you try growing a different variety?
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2019 9:35:14 GMT -5
It was a valuable learning experience, though, no doubt! I bet you will succeed with another method if you see it through. But...I have some peppermint from the herb kit in my project and I am about to end it. I thought it would be good for peppermint tea, BUT it smells nothing like the peppermint I am used to for tea. What on earth variety peppermint is in the Kit? I am really not an herb person and really only have that kit going for the Basil and the Chives. But the mint is a disappointment and I am pondering another project for that tall machine.
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Post by serri588 on May 1, 2019 10:00:11 GMT -5
I'll probably try again, but I need to do more research so make sure I'm working with a variety that is good for oil.
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Post by raynebc on May 2, 2019 1:35:37 GMT -5
After emailing the OilExTech support about how I couldn't get their essential oil extractor to work, the director of their company called me up to work it out. I think my biggest mistake was using too much plant matter, or at least plant matter that had too much water as opposed to essential oil. The result is that the water vaporizes before the essential oil does, and it consumes the ice core before the oil vapor can condense. If the ice core is completely melted at the end of the process, it's possible that some oil vapor was wasted instead of captured in the beaker. So I tried again with navel oranges. As per the director's suggestion, I grated off only the outer-most portion of the peel and avoided using the pulp: I also made sure to use a controlled amount of it (50 grams). After 5 minutes of microwaving and about 10 minutes of cooling, I actually got some orange oil: Probably about 25 drops' worth. I diluted it to 5% strength in sweet almond oil extract and will probably make more of it with the remaining orange peel that I have (4 typical sized navel oranges provided about 150 grams of peel), so I can give it as a Mother's day gift. I'm going to try again with my spearmint plant, it could certainly due with a pruning: This is a 5 gallon deep water culture bucket with spearmint and a couple stalks of basil peeking out in the back. They've gone to flower so I'm not sure how much longer they'll keep themselves alive.
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the real process involves extracting the oils under high pressure, which is dangerous. According to the internet, you can make "good enough" oil by boiling the heck out of in a crock pot then cooling the water so the oil solidifies on top.
