Infusing herbs into oil is an easy and accessible way to extract the medicinal and volatile oils from your plants for culinary or body-care use.
You can infuse many different types of oils depending on what you plant to use them for. Some oils are better for skin care, some chosen for taste and others are not suitable for consumption altogether. If you aren’t sure about what oils to use, olive oil and grapeseed oil are two nice multipurpose options that work for both cooking or skin care.
Herbal body care oil can be applied directly after a shower or bath, made into lotions, creams or salves, hair masks, facial oils or mixed into Epsom salts for nourishing baths.
Herbs to use for body and skin care:
calendula
devils club
yarrow
plantain
st johns wort
violets
cleavers
arnica
comfrey
Herbal culinary oil adds a nice flavour and medicinal properties to your cooking. It can be used for roasting vegetables, in salad dressings, drizzled on veggies or however you like to use your cooking oils.
Herbs for culinary use:
rosemary
thyme
oregano
sage
mint
Infused Oils solar Method
Fill a 500ml mason jar 2/3 full with fresh herbs or 1/2 full with dried herbs.
Cover herbs with chosen oil and fill to the top of mason jar.
Cover and let sit in a sunny window for 4-6 weeks.
Strain off your herbs with a cheese cloth and make sure to squeeze out remaining oils that the herbs soaked up.
Set aside herbs for making body scrubs, adding to bath salts or seasoning your veggies.
Store infused oils in a sealed container away from direct light.
**If you are using fresh herbs be mindful of moisture content spoiling your oil. If you are unsure if the moisture content of your plants is too high, let them air dry for a few days before using them to infuse oil.