Have you ever tried to make your own infused oil? Are you wondering why you should or how to even start?
Infused oils have so many uses! From making medical salves to cooking and salad dressings! Making them on your own is not only cool points on your lifelong scoreboard, but can open a door to being more self-sufficient!
Why make homemade infused oil?
Essential oils are great for many things but natural, non-synthetic oils can be very pricey! Infused oils are a great alternative for some things you may want to make. Like a bangin’ base for a lemon, garlic dressing or marinate.
Making salves, balms and medical creams and lotions is so, so much cheaper if you use herbs from your garden and make the, with infused oils rather than essential oils plus a carrier. With infused oils, the carrier is built in!
Making DIY infused oils simply puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to the ingredients that you and your family will later be ingesting! Every little things that you control, if one less thing putting unnecessary chemicals into those you love.
Should you use dried or fresh Ingredients for your infused oils?
Dried herbs will give you a better shelf life due to the lack of water. Water in oils, salves and such equals higher chance of mold and bacteria growth.
If using fresh herbs, simply let them sit in the sun or in a window sill for a few hours. This will cause them to wilt and a good portion of the water content to evaporate.
Which one you use depends on the shelf life you want and the uses you have planned. If making on a stovetop and turning into a salad dressing for the week, fresh herbs are completely fine and can be easier for you to assemble.
However, if you plan to turn into salves or body creams and lotions, you need as little water as possible! I would stick to dried herbs. Drying them is quick and you don’t need a dehydrator! You can lay out fresh herbs on a cookie sheet and put in the oven on it’s lowest setting. They usually will be completely dry within hour or less, depending on the herb and quantity being dried.
Choosing Your Ingredients
The oil is important. I suggest a vegetable oil such as olive or avocado. You likely already have them in your kitchen’s arsenal so no new purchase is necessary.
Olive oil is medicinal in it’s own right and is a great base for most medical creams and salves. It doesn’t go rancid as quickly as other types of oils making it more self stable.
Jojoba oil is an amazing base for lotions and skin applications including face creams.
As far as the herbs to use, there are just too many options to even begin listing in this article! I suggest starting with something versatile like rosemary or oregano for medical use and garlic & Italian herbs for kitchen use.
Making Infused Oils on the Stovetop
Be careful with this method! I see so many people online telling you to put a jar full of oil directly into a pot of boiling water. Please. Do. Not. Do. This. Overheating your herbs will basically render them useless medicinally and the oil can burn if exposed directly to the heat at the bottom of the pot.
If you’re making a salad dressing and do not care about the medical benefits, go for it! However, if you are attempting to extract the medical benefits from both oil and herbs, You need to keep your heat low and simmer the oil using the double-boiler method.
What you need
- Either a double-boiler or, if you’re cheap like me (Financially. Not that other way), you don’t own one and can use a pot and a large glass bowl.
- Oil of choice
- Herbs of choice
- Jar or glass container to store in once done
- Small strainer and/or reusable tea bags
How to make Stovetop Infused Oils
Step 1
Starting heating water in your pot or lower section of double-boiler with water level about half way to the top. A small pot can make it easier to find a bowl that works. Put bowl or upper section on top.
Step 2
Put desired amount of herbs into bowl. If learning, start with a cup or two of dried herbs. No need to make a lifetime supply. Now cover with chosen oil completely.
Step 3
Slowly bring the oil to a simmer. Keeping at around 95 – 110 degrees is perfect! Now simmer for at least 45 minutes. The few times I go with this method, I try to simmer for roughly an hour.
When the oil is done, it will smell “herby” and may even have a green or yellow tint to it as it as taken on the color and properties of the herbs.
Step 4
Strain out the herbs. If you plan to store, a double strain may be needed to be sure all small particles are pulled from the oil. I use a cloth tea bag for this second strain. It get s all of the smaller particles.
Making Solar-Infused Oils
I like this method. A lot. It’s simple, no time & temp pressure and it just feels more natural. There is zero chance of burning your oil in a pot or overheating the herbs. You can just “set it and forget it”, kinda.
This could be called the “old-fashion way” as people have been making solar-infused oils for thousands of years. There are records of the Ancient Egyptians using this method! How cool is that?!
Why doesn’t the oil go bad since you’re exposing it to the heat of the sun?! Don’t know. Not to be funny but no one seems to understand exactly why. There are some sources kinda talking in circles if you look into it, but no one has throughly explained it.
Typically if essential or infused oils are exposed to light and/or heat, they go bad rather quickly. Strange thing is, if you are in the process of making solar-infused oil, they keep just fine while the properties are being extracted into the oil by the heat of the sun. Nature is so cool.
What you need
- Glass jars. 1 with a lid
- Oil of choice
- Herbs of choice
- Small strainer and/or reusable tea bags
How to Make Solar-Infused Oils
Step 1
Place herbs in jar leaving plenty of space to the top known as “head space”. Mark the top of the herbs with a top using a black marker. This is in case some of the pesky herbs choose float, you will still know how high to go.
Step 2
Pour in chosen oil and cover herbs by 1 inch in an 8 or 16 oz. And by 2 in larger containers.
Step 3
Put the lid on and set in a warm and sunny place for 2 weeks. I keep mine in a windowsill but some people leave them outside in warm weather.
Some people will bury the jars in warm sand to intensify the heat. This is a technique used in the Mediterranean.
Step 4
Strain the oil of herbs but don’t squeeze or push the herbs. This will get smaller bits into the oil. It’s easiest to strain the oil into another jar or even a glass measuring cup.
Now, you can either discard the herbs, compost them or put them into a reusable tea bag. You can use an cloth but, you won’t feel so bad ruining these with the oil. A coffee filter works as well but takes entirely too long and is a hard pass for me!
Step 5 (optional)
Double straining is not a bad idea. Especially for a longer self life. I like to pour them through the same style disposable tea bags and I pour everything back into the now clean original jar.
Conclusion
Be sure to write the date on the lid and store in a cool, dark place. If you used fresh ingredients, put in the fridge and use before a week to be safe.
If you’ve used dry ingredients try to use within 6 months. If you don’t, be sure to check every few weeks to make sure it hasn’t gone rancid. You can tell by the smell or if mold is forming.
Aren’t sure? Chuck it. Better safe than sorry on this one.
Don’t throw those herbs away!
In the photos above, I’m doing garlic, oregano and parley. The garlic can be mashed and everything added to butter. This can make you some mean garlic toast! You can also add grated parmesan and fresh oil for a yummy dip for bread on spaghetti night.
Feel free to compost the herbs if you’re into that, but otherwise…you’re done!
Until Next Time!
PJtxGirl
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make infused oil with a crockpot?
Sure! The main issue with this one is the mount you will be making all at once. If everything goes straight into the pot. I suggest, hot water in the crockpot, then place jar(s) into the water with the lids off. Put on low.
Before adding the jars of oil, check the temperature of your water after having the lid on and off. You want to be sure the temperature is between 95 – 110 degrees. You need to know where your temp is both ways & which is the best conditions for the jars.
Does infused oil need to be refrigerated?
If you used fresh herbs then absolutely! If keeping in the fridge, you have about 7 days to use it. If you used dried herbs, the self life is much longer. With some herbs it can be as long as a year!
What is the difference between infused oils and essential oils?
Infused oils is a carrier oil that has basically had the herbal ingredients steeped into it so that it can take on the medicinal qualities of the herbs.
Essential oil is made by using a distilling type system to extract the medicinal oils directly from the plant. The is a very condensed, strong oil with the aroma and medicinal properties.
Are infused oils and essential oils interchangeable?
No, not really. Infused oil is not as strong and already has a career oil. It basically is the carrier oil. With essential oil, you often had to add a carrier oil to your skin, for instance, before application due to the strength.
Essential oils are the way to go for diffusing.
Can you infuse oil without cooking it?
Yes! But heat is required no matter what. Try the directions above for solar-infused oils. It’s the easy, “old-fashion” way to make infused oils yourself.
Why is my infused oil cloudy?
Could be a couple of reasons. If it is moldy colored green or yellow, this is due to the oil taking on the properties and colors of the herbs. No worries!
If it is not clear at all, it is likely just due to being cold. Remember that your career oil, is just that. Oil. The fats in the oil can start to solidify if they get too cold. An oil pulled from the fridge for example.
Simply leave out for a bit and it will clear right up once at room temps.
What are the best oils to infuse with?
Natural, vegetable oils are best. For ingesting try olive or avocado oils. If using for salves and creams, you can also use jojoba oil for added skin care and moisture.
What are good herbs for infusing?
Too many to list! It’s best to have an end goal in mind and go from there. Do you want to make a salve for your joints? Look up what herbs are good for joint health or anti-inflammatory and go from there.
Just be sure to use organic oils and herbs to prevent more exposure to chemicals.
How can I tell if my infused oil is bad?
Mostly smell. It will get a rancid, weird smell that is hard to explain. Be sure to breath your oils deeply when making and completed so that you are familiar with the way the smell when fresh.
My rule of thumb is, not sure? Chuck it. They are too easy and cheap to make to risk it
What is the ratio of dried herbs to oil for infusing?
It’s less about the ratio and more about the “head space” or quantity being made.
If you are solar-infusing in a jar, cover the herbs by at least an inch. If doing on a stovetop, just be sure everything is fully covered by a minimum of a 1/2 inch.
How long does it take to infuse oil?
Depends on the method that you use. Stovetop oils will take roughly an hour and half including time for it to strain. If making solar-infused, the process takes 2 weeks. However, it’s 2 weeks of basically ignoring it and letting it do it’s thing.
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