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Susan Bryg
Doc Jones showed us how to heat herbs and the oil in a double boiler in the infusions module of making medicine. He suggested that we let the oil and herb mixture stay above the simmering water to help kill any possible microbial contaminants.
Along the same lines, this is a question for those of you who have a VitaMix. I did the same with my oil infusion and it got to 170 degrees in 5 minutes. Would that be an acceptable short cut?
Also, are there any herbs that really shouldn’t be heated past 100 degrees or so? I heard that plantain might fight in that group.
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Dawn
The idea behind the warming is to quicken the extraction which needs time to reach potential. Leaving the herb at high temps can “burn” off some of the sensitive constituents like volatile oils and more time there means more loss. I don’t use my dehydrator for drying herbs because they say it can be too hot. Honey will lose healthy qualities when over 100 degrees, I’ve been told. I would stick to the suggestons from his video (oven, double boiler, etc) and let that be the quickest method for quality extrapolation … hate to waste good herb or expensive oil. (This has been something I’ve been reviewing too … need that infused oil quickly so I can’t wait 2-4 weeks and this is what I determined for myself.) I hope that is helpful. Have a great New Year!
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Thank you for your thoughtful response, Dawn. I agree with you about overheating the herbs and I want to be very careful about that.
What I was asking about was using the VitaMix to heat the oils rather than to do it via a double boiler as Doc Jones showed in the lotion-making video. The oils are going to possibly get heated up to 200 degrees following that method but it takes an hour or so.
A VitaMix blender took an oil mixture to 170 degrees in only 5 minutes when I did it yesterday.  Doc Jones has said on several occasions that he uses a VitaMix in his business, so I thought that he might know the answer to that question.
When I simmer products in a double boiler I am careful to monitor the temperature of the product via a laser thermometer. Is there a specified temperature that I should not exceed? 200 degrees?
Any herbs that really don’t like it when you get above 90-100 degrees?
Thank you
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