Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World (17 page)

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Drying, Infusing, and Tincturing Herbs

Herbal preparations are the backbone of the home pharmacy. Infusions, decoctions, and tinctures capture the power of herbs, transforming them into anything from a simple cup of tea to a healing salve. Below we’ll discuss the different types of preparations and how they’re used.

DRIED OR FRESH?

This is always the first question that comes up when it comes to making herbal preparations. The answer depends on which type of preparation you’re making.

INFUSIONS IN WATER:
Fresh or dried herbs can be used in water infusions.

INFUSIONS IN OIL:
Dried herbs are best for oil infusions because the water in fresh leaves may encourage bacteria to breed in oil. If you do use fresh plants, spread them out on a table and let them wilt for a day or two. This allows much of the water to evaporate from their leaves.

TINCTURES:
Tinctures can be made with either fresh or dried herbs.

HOW TO DRY HERBS

To dry fresh herb leaves for future use, gather them into small bundles, tie the ends with string, and hang them indoors and out of the sun. They are officially dry when the leaves crumble rather than bend between your fingers. At that point, strip the leaves from the stems and transfer the leaves to a lidded glass jar. The easiest way to strip the leaves is over a piece of newspaper. Newspaper captures all the bits and then can be folded to direct the dried herb neatly into the jar.

To dry flower heads, spread out the flowers on a screen or piece of newspaper. Remove petals from larger flowers to speed drying. When all parts are crispy dry, transfer them to lidded glass jars.

Store dried herbs in the dark to keep them potent. Use them within a year.

K
ELLY SAYS
. . . Be sure your herbs are truly dry before you transfer them to jars. Last summer, I painstakingly accumulated a quart of fragrant dried chamomile flowers from our garden, but one day I was in a rush to clean up the kitchen and added a last handful of flowers that weren’t completely dry. Dried chamomile should smell like heaven. Imagine my dismay when I cracked open the jar a month later and smelled mold.

WATER INFUSIONS

These are simply herbs soaked in hot water. Herbal tea is an infusion, but for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, the infusions are made strong by using a high percentage of herbs to water and by letting the herbs steep longer. Water infusions can be consumed as drinks, used as a skin wash or hair rinse, or blended into facial creams. Infusions of cleansing herbs like sage and thyme or even gentle chamomile can be put to service around the kitchen as mild disinfectants and deodorizers.

The proportion of herb to water depends on its final use. As a rule of thumb, 1 ounce of herb in 1 quart of water makes a very strong infusion. An ounce is about a cup of dried, chopped herb, though this varies by type of herb.

Don’t overthink measurements. It doesn’t matter much if the infusion ends up slightly strong or slightly weak. It’s all good. With experience, you’ll develop a feel for the correct proportions. To start, just put 2 to 3 inches of dried herb in a clean, quart-size jar, or fill it 3/4 full with fresh herbs.

Set a kettle of water to boil. If your water is heavy with minerals or smells like a swimming pool, you may want to use filtered water or rainwater instead. Take the kettle off the stove just as it reaches a boil, because it’s best if the water isn’t scalding. Fill the jar with the hot water, cap it, and leave it to sit about 4 hours. Overnight is good, too. If you’re in a huge hurry, you’ll have something useful enough in 20 minutes or so. When the steeping time is over, strain out the herbs. Squeeze or press the steeped herbs to extract every bit of liquid.

Keep the water infusion in the fridge for short-term storage. It’s best to put the infusion to use immediately, while the herbs are at their most potent.

DECOCTION

This is a water infusion made with roots, bark, or seeds. These plant materials are tougher than leaves and flowers, so you have to simmer them to extract their active properties. Place 1 or 2 ounces of plant material and 2 cups water in a saucepan or double boiler. The pan should not be aluminum, which might react with your herbs. Bring the water to a bare simmer and keep it there for 30 minutes. Strain and bottle. Use the decoction quickly, as you would with ordinary infusions.

OIL INFUSION

Oil infusions are the basis for medicinal salves. They can also be used in creams and lotions, lip balms, body scrubs, and body oils. They are not practical for soap making, because the chemical processes of saponification will probably “eat up” any of the herbal benefits.

TRADITIONAL OIL INFUSION:
The traditional method of oil infusion involves filling a clean, dry jar halfway or so with dry or well-wilted herbs and filling it the rest of the way with good-quality oil. Olive oil is stable and inexpensive and well suited to beauty applications. Never put wet or fresh herbs in oil. With oil infusions, your goal is always to minimize water content. Cap the jar and put it in a dark, warm place for 4 to 6 weeks, then strain out the plant matter through cheesecloth or other fine strainer and store the oil in a dark place or in the refrigerator. Use it as soon as possible, meaning within a few weeks instead of several months, because eventually the oil will turn rancid.

SAFETY NOTE

Whenever plant matter is steeped in oil for a long period of time, there’s a chance of botulism developing in the oil. Botulism is a rare but serious illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by bacteria that grow in anaerobic settings—like oil. It’s commonly associated with improper canning, but it doesn’t have to be passed through food. The toxin can enter the body through open wounds as well. We infuse herbs by this traditional oil infusion method, and we’ve not heard any tales of herbalists dropping by the droves because they, too, used oil infusions, but you may want to take this safety issue into account, particularly if the oil will be used on cuts or on the lips. To minimize this risk, use the alcohol and oil infusion method instead.

OIL INFUSION USING ALCOHOL:
Alcohol can speed up the oil infusion process. This method is more work than the traditional long infusion—requiring about an hour of your time—but it produces infused oil in about 24 hours instead of 4 weeks. There are other benefits to this method, too. We’ve noticed that oils prepared this way have more complex, delicate scents. Also, sometimes long-soaked infusions turn rancid, either because of water content in the herbs, because the oil itself was old, or because the jar was forgotten and left to steep far too long. Finally, because the plant matter doesn’t spend much time in the oil, the botulism concern mentioned at left is lessened if not eliminated entirely.

To start the infusion, put dried or fresh herbs in a glass jar and cover with grain alcohol, like Everclear. Don’t use vodka, because it has too much water in it. The best kind of Everclear to use is the 190 proof form, but some states only allow the sale of a diluted 151 proof version, and that will do. Pack down fresh herbs; weigh them down, if necessary, to keep them below the surface of the alcohol. To do this, nest a smaller jar or glass full of water in the mouth of the jar. Let the infusion steep for 24 hours. Give the jar a shake whenever you pass by.

The next day, put the herbs and alcohol in a blender. Give it a whirl to chop the herbs up a bit, then note the quantity of herbed booze in the blender. Add about five times as much olive oil (or another high-grade oil, like sweet almond oil or sunflower oil). Mix on high speed until everything is very finely blended, then keep blending for another minute for good measure. Strain the herb solids out of the oil using cheesecloth, a stocking, or a coffee filter, squeezing the herbs as you go. It’s okay if a little bit of green matter gets through, because you’ll strain it again later.

Next, cook the alcohol out of the oil mixture. The trick is to do this at the lowest temperature possible so you don’t destroy the delicate aromatics in the oil. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat it very gently over the lowest heat setting on your stove. The alcohol evaporates at relatively low temperatures. You’ll be able to see and smell the alcohol fumes rising from the pan. This process takes a good while, perhaps an hour, depending on quantity. Don’t be tempted to rush it by raising the heat. Check to see if the alcohol is gone by passing a lit match over the surface of the oil. If it crosses a pocket of alcohol, it will flare up, then extinguish on its own. Keep warming. When you can’t light the surface on fire anymore, you’ll know the infusion is done—and in the meanwhile, you’ll have been well entertained by the pyrotechnics. If any scum forms during this process, spoon it off the surface. Pass the finished oil through a coffee filter or a piece of cheesecloth. Store the oil in a clean, lidded jar out of the light or in the refrigerator.

TINCTURES

Tinctures are alcohol-based herbal medicines. Soaking herbs in alcohol
(tincturing)
extracts their active healing properties. Oil infusions are used for topical applications, like salves. Water infusions are used both topically and ingested (in the case of tea), but they are weaker than tinctures because water doesn’t do as good a job at extracting herbs as alcohol. Tinctures are usually taken orally, though sometimes they are applied to the skin. Because they are so concentrated, they must be considered medicine. Therefore, before you use any tincture, you must study the herb you’re using and fully understand its proper uses and dosages—or consult an herbalist.

If used correctly, tinctures give you convenient access to the healing properties of plants. For instance, it’s inconvenient to simmer up a pot of willow bark tea at the office, but you can keep a small bottle of willow bark tincture in your desk drawer in case you get a headache. Tinctures are used in small quantities—the dosage is measured in drops—applied directly on the tongue or stirred into liquid. Another advantage of tinctures is that if properly stored, they will keep for at least 2 or 3 years.

Alcohol is the most effective medium
(menstrum)
for tincturing, but tinctures can also be made by soaking herbs in food-grade vegetable glycerin or vinegar for use by people with objections to alcohol. Neither glycerin nor vinegar performs as well as alcohol, though, and neither keeps as well, either. Keep in mind that a typical dose of tincture contains less than a teaspoon of alcohol, less than you’d probably get in a dose of cough syrup.

In common practice, the alcohol used for tincturing is 100 proof vodka, which is actually composed of 50 percent pure alcohol and 50 percent water. Eighty proof vodka (40 percent alcohol and 60 percent water) does not work as well with most herbs. All that matters is the proof, not the brand, so buy cheap vodka. In advanced practice, alcohol levels are customized for each tincture, because the precise amount needed varies somewhat from plant to plant. Pure grain alcohol, like Everclear, can be diluted with water to the correct proportions. But for the backyard herbalist, 100 proof vodka will do splendidly. The majority of herbs tincture well in a 50 percent alcohol/50 percent water medium.

Other high-proof alcohols, like rum or brandy, can be used in tincturing. Never use isopropyl alcohol or other industrial alcohols. Only use alcohol made for human consumption. In other words, shop at the liquor store, not the hardware store.

MAKING THE TINCTURE

The directions below are for alcohol tinctures, but the same procedures are followed when working with glycerin and vinegar.

DRIED HERBS OR ROOTS:
Combine 1 ounce dried herb or root with 5 ounces 100 proof vodka in a lidded glass jar. Use this 1:5 ratio in any quantity.

FRESH HERBS OR ROOTS:
Put what fresh herbs or roots you have in a jar. Don’t pack them down. Pour enough 100 proof vodka over them to barely cover. You may have to put weight on fluffy herbs to keep them in the vodka. One way to do this is to put a smaller jar or drinking glass in the mouth of the tincturing jar. Or avoid the problem by filling the jar completely so there’s no headspace left after you add the vodka.

Whether you’re using fresh or dried herbs, after you’ve combined the plant matter and vodka, cover the jar and put it somewhere out of the light. Label and date it so you don’t forget what it is and when you made it. Every day, or as often as you can remember, give the jar a shake. Let it steep like this for 6 weeks.

Strain out the herbs using a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Transfer the tincture to blue- or brown-glass dropper bottles. Store out of sunlight. Alcohol-based tinctures last for years. Use vinegar or glycerin tinctures within a year.