Ready to get your hands dirty this winter?
Infusing oils is a constructive and joyful activity that adds a bit of sunshine back into gray days.
It opens the door for learning and creativity through a practical lens, letting you enjoy life’s finer flavors without paying the luxury price tag. You can use your infusions as a base for all sorts of products, from pain-relieving salves to gingivitis-fighting toothpaste and more.
Once you learn how to make oil infusions at home, the sky’s the limit. You’ll discover a whole new world of self-sufficiency, cutting costs like a boss by making everyday items yourself, and walking on the wilder side of DIY.
People have been infusing oils for thousands of years.
Ancient Egyptians were among the first to record the craft, beginning as far back as 4500 BC. They incorporated oil infusions in all sorts of things, the most interesting of which include embalming ingredients for mummification and send-off gifts for the afterlife.
Long before aromatherapy became a hot Western trend, Greeks and Romans steeped herbs to create delightful massage oils and breathable medicines. Japanese and Chinese practitioners employed these aromatic extractions in holistic healing, while English royalty used them to mask the uncouth scents of the Victorian era.
Nowadays, most homesteaders are (hopefully) not infusing oils to perfect DIY embalming techniques. However, we’ve still got plenty of uncouth scents to mask. And even if your homestead smells like a freshly turned room at the Ritz, there are many other reasons to start infusing oils. Here are a few:
Learning how to make oil infusions at home combines core tenets of self-sufficiency with inspiring and imaginative practices, connecting us to our roots, our principles, and our families.
So, how does it work? Plants are rich in beneficial compounds, many of which are not immediately bioavailable. However, we can use oil as a solvent to break down plants’ cell walls and draw out those compounds. Once extracted, they become more accessible, and our bodies can absorb and use them.
These compounds can be medicinal, like in the case of antiviral cloves or fever-reducing eucalyptus. They can be cosmetic, like skin-soothing strawberries and astringent thyme. They can also be flavorful, like lemon’s tangy citric acid or garlic’s pungent allicin.
Interestingly, we use almost the same processes for infusing oils that the ancients did. There are two methods suitable for homesteaders, each with advantages.
Infusing oils via the cold method is my preference and probably the best method for beginners. It is more straightforward and forgiving than the hot method, but infusions take much longer.
Cold infusions are best for:
You’ll need: A mason jar, a sterilized glass storage container, a carrier oil, and plant matter.
Here’s what to do:
Infusing oils via the hot method can work exceptionally well during a time crunch since you only need a few hours. However, applying heat can be risky. Temperatures above 130°F can destroy medicinal compounds and degrade flavoring agents. The solution is to be very careful and monitor your temperatures closely.
Hot infusions are best for:
You’ll need: A double-boiler, a thermometer, a sterilized glass storage container, a carrier oil, and plant matter.
Here’s what to do:
No double-boiler? No problem. I make do with a steel mixing bowl inside of a stockpot, and it always works fine. You can also use a crockpot set on the “warm” setting but remember that most crockpots will heat between 165°F and 175°F on this setting. This temperature might be acceptable for infusing oils in a flavoring capacity, but it could destroy some compounds you need for medicine-making.
You don’t have to use just one method. You can combine both methods to get maximum flavor and efficacy from your oils. Combining techniques isn’t always necessary, but it works incredibly well for culinary oils like garlic and rosemary.
Heating the oil extracts a bright burst of intense flavor immediately, while the slow-steep afterward provides strength and depth to the infusion. Some medicinal plants, like calendula, also benefit from heat extraction in addition to cold steeping.
The processes described above are folk methods rather than rigid scientific formulas. They don’t give specific ratios because each plant is different, and the technique should be chosen and altered according to the particular plant and preferred application.
If you want a basic formula, use a 1:4 ratio of dry plant matter to oil. You’ll weigh out the dry plant matter in grams, then multiply that by four. The number you come up with is the amount of oil you will add in milliliters.
Here’s what that looks like on paper:
Dry plant weight (grams) x 4 = oil volume (milliliters)
So, 100 grams of dry plants would take 400 milliliters of oil for a 1:4 ratio.
What if you’re using fresh plants? You can use a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio since fresh material has more water, and the resulting infusion will be weaker. You can really use any ratio you want since the process is yours. Feel free to experiment and see what you like best!
Eventually, you’ll be able to alter your ratios and make oil infusions stronger or weaker, depending on your preferences.
Infusing oils comes with the risks of spoilage and contamination. It’s wise to learn about best practices and take a few precautions to ensure the purity and longevity of your finished product.
Always start with dry plant material when infusing oils you plan to consume.
Fresh material contains water, which gets into the oil and creates a risk of rot, spoilage, and dangerous toxins like botulinum. When you start dry, you eliminate many safety issues. You’ll still need to monitor the oil infusion for rancidity and mold, but you should be safer storing it for extended periods.
So, what if you need to use fresh material? In the case of plants like St. John’s Wort, the general wisdom is that fresh is better. You can still use fresh plants in your infusions, but do not take them internally. Only use them to craft topicals like soap, salve, or massage oils.
The only exception to this rule is if you plan to consume the oil immediately. For example, I hosted my parents for a dinner party last week and was desperate to impress them. So, I used fresh garlic and peppercorns to make a quick hot infusion and served it up with crusty bread.
They liked it so much they didn’t even comment on the fact that I’m still using a particle-board bathroom vanity in place of real kitchen cabinets, even after three years of living in my house. And they always say something about that.
If you take a page from my book (it also works on in-laws and visiting clergypersons), use the oil within one or two days. It can spoil quickly, and it’s always better to play it safe.
In 2014, the University of Idaho published research on how we could use fresh garlic and herbs to make an oil infusion that was actually shelf-stable. Their method involves acidifying plants in citric acid to bring down the pH and prevent microbial growth. It has been tested and proven only on garlic, basil, oregano, and rosemary.
This method calls for mincing or slicing the material into pieces no larger than ¼ inch. You must prepare a water solution with 3% citric acid (one tablespoon of citric acid per two cups of water) and soak the herbs or garlic for 24 hours. Afterward, they should be fully acidified, and you can use them safely when infusing oils.
Correct storage is paramount when learning how to make oil infusions at home. Glass is preferred because it will not leach. Ideally, you’ll use dark-colored glass receptacles since they provide some protection from UV radiation and subsequent degradation.
If you create a culinary oil with fresh herbs like I did for my parents, there’s no need to bottle it in dark glass since you’ll eat it almost immediately.
Store infusions in the fridge or in a cool, dark environment to discourage microbial growth. There are no guidelines for canning oils safely.
Correctly stored oil infusions might last up to a year or more. The shelf-life is highly variable and depends on how well you dried your herbs, if you stored the infusion properly, and the length of your carrier oil’s shelf-life.
You can add vitamin E oil if you want it to last longer. Make sure you use a vitamin E oil meant for consumption, and add it at a rate of 1% of the total volume. For example, if you end up with 400 ml of infused oil, add 4 ml of vitamin E oil.
It’s important to note here that vitamin E is not a true preservative but an antioxidant. Since dry plants won’t rot in the oil, what spoils infusions is usually natural oxidation. Vitamin E can prevent that for some time, though the exact length is variable and dependent on conditions.
Knowing how to make oil infusions at home requires careful plant selection. Available options are unique to your region and garden, so you’ll need to research what you have to determine if it will suit this kind of infusion and which applications it might serve.
For culinary use, this is very easy. If it smells good and you’re sure it’s not toxic, go ahead and try it. For other products, you should pick plants depending on their properties. Find out what compounds they contain, if they can benefit you, and how you can best use them.
To help get you started, I’ve made a list of common plants and mushrooms and their uses:
Deciding which oil is best for infusing each plant is a highly personal choice. As you learn how to make oil infusions at home, you’ll likely want to use ingredients you already have available. You can use any type of oil as a carrier, though some are more suited to specific applications than others.
Using pure plant oils rather than mystery mixes is a good idea. That way, you’ll know exactly which products you apply to your skin and put in your body. You can avoid adverse reactions and get the best results possible from your products.
So, which oil is best for infusing your plants? To help you choose, I’ve outlined some common carrier oils and how to use them. This list is not exhaustive; these are simply a few of my favorites.
Ready to get started? I can’t blame you! Infusing oils is a rewarding way to get your creative juices flowing. Now that you know how to make oil infusions at home, you can start crafting custom concoctions for medicines, meals, and more.
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Wow, thanks for the easy to understand directions. Where is a good place to purchase infused products if I don’t have the time to do it all myself?