How To Make Essential Oils In The Air Still

Hey everyone! Today I am taking a break from my usual videos and I will be showing you how to make essential oils in the Air Still by Still Spirits. The oil I will be making is Labrador Tea essential oil, a bit of an unusual one, but it is one of my favourite plants, if not my favourite plant! I am very new to making essential oils, and so as I am making this video, I had no idea if the oil was going to be an absolute or a dilution. Absolute being 100% pure essential oils, and a dilution being a mixture of essential and MCT oils. This turned out to be a dilution because the yield wasn't high enough to do the hydrosol separation on it's own using the water/oil separator. I hope you find this video helpful in some way, as I realize there aren't many videos on the topic of distilling oils with the Air Still. Now I hope you enjoy the video, happy distilling!
DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored by Still Spirits or Stony Lab in any way, nor is this a paid promotion. I am simply making this video to show people how steam distillation of essential oils works in the Air Still, as well as how to separate the oils from the hydrosol using a water/oil separator, as there are a lack of videos on the topic.

[@caretakerfochr3834]

It occurred to me that you might get a better (and easier) oil extraction from your hydrosol if you simply froze it. The ice would form as pure water while the oil would remain unfrozen and more easily separated.

[@MrMunjacake]

put a tainless colapsable strainer in the kettle to susppend your dry plants....so steam is force thruto condense

[@codysmovies100]

Good to know, apparently there are accessories you can get for this unit that will allow you to do that more easily. Might have to look into that, thanks.

[@daphneraven6745]

@@codysmovies100 : you can just spend a strainer in there that’s an expensive, commercially available locally. I’m sure they probably do sell accessories to go with it, but you may have a strainer or steamer Right in your covert that’ll fit in there no problem. Some of them are adjustable so that’s easy.

[@SuperCindy47]

I just read the other comments. Did you try putting in a strainer? or freezing the hydrosoal yet?

[@georgiegirlization]

Thank you for sharing, I've been looking for videos on stilling essential oil

[@codysmovies100]

Glad I can help :)

[@TheWeen89]

After watching other videos on essential oils, I'm surprised you got that much yield on such a small amount of herbs. I'm wanting to try my hand at making essential oils myself, unsure of which still I want, so thanks for the information on this one!

[@SuperCindy47]

I have a similar machine as the one in your video. I bought it on line it came without a manual and I’ve been WANTING to make essential oil with it. Thank you for your video!!!

[@MrMunjacake]

better if dry herb is suspended in a screen above the boler chamber ...cuz steam is wayyyy hotter than boiling water

[@MrMunjacake]

hsred that dry stuff in a food processr blendr or coffee grnder...really pulvrz....then give it time to steep .....in warm water...brew a tea slushy.....but be patient...let it steep overnight ...then run it thru your kettle

[@daphneraven6745]

Thanks for your video, sir! Usually a person needs a lot of herb to make a very small amount of essential oil. Pretty much a full chamber for a fairly small amount. The water that comes along with the essential oil, is called a Hydrosol; it has therapeutic properties as well. You probably know not to throw that out, but to get the use out of it, but just in case I figure I’ll mention it.

[@codysmovies100]

No problem, thanks for watching! I have yet to try with a full chamber, but I suppose fresh herb would be better for that as it's a larger volume than dried. I would need to find the right herb as well, that is one with a higher concentration of oils of course. I did put my hydrosol to good use though, used it in used spray bottles for cleaning with a pleasant scent which worked nicely.

[@daphneraven6745]

@@codysmovies100 : That’s awesome! You know, while you’re Gaining experience with this, you could choose a biomass that’s not expensive and very abundant in your area. For example, in my area, during the warm times of the year, clean streams have lots of mint. It can be had in pretty much unlimited quantities, and would be an ideal Herb with which to start off. If you live in a more boreal area so that you already have snow down, and are unlikely to have something like mint, you could choose labrador tea. That’s super abundant, and you can harvest as much as you need in a fairly small area without affecting the environment. You are is an excellent point about dehydrated versus fresher. I think that’s gonna depend on how the herb was dehydrated. Because fresh herb tends to have a much higher moisture level, which I know you already know, but the reason why this is significant is because the end product is a lot less potent. If you use a dehydrated product, you get a much more potent and product, theoretically, but that would depend on how dehydration was accomplished. If it was accomplished at two higher heat level, chances are that so many of the aromatics and aerosols will have been driven out Along with the moisture. That’s not very desirable. But if you know that it was dehydrated at low temperature, then there’s a very strong possibility that it’s a very high-quality product. With most commercially-Dehydrated biomass, we don’t really know about that, except if they put it on their websites. And of course the other consideration is that with commercially prepared plant materials, we have no way of knowing exactly how long they were in storage or transit, and under what temperatures and conditions they have been. This also makes a big difference to the quality and quantity of essential oils that they’ll contain. Anything you could basically harvest from your backyard, assuming you don’t live next to a huge polluter, will probably be an excellent bet in terms of knowing that you’re not going to be concentrating any pesticides which may have been applied or environmental pollutants/toxins. The only point of it which I would really caution of person he is that certain resonance plants produce a nice quality resin/essential oil, but they can gum up the works. So just being aware of that might make a difference to what a person chooses for the type of apparatus chosen. I agree. You found one very excellent use for the hydrofoils. Not to mention, if you can use the Hydro cells freshening a room, you get to save the essential oils for other applications. Great thinking! :-)

[@codysmovies100]

@@daphneraven6745 I do have various herbs that grow abundantly in my garden, though it's practically winter right now, I would have to wait until spring to try with those. I suppose using something like conifer bows (fir, pine, spruce, etc) would be the most sustainable way for now. All I would need is to collect a large, preferably fallen branch and work with that. Thanks for your ideas, they open the door to a lot of possibilities. I'm sure I'll be able to make an absolute oil someday, it will just take a lot of trial and error.

[@daphneraven6745]

@@codysmovies100 : You’re very welcome indeed. Even now, when it’s almost winter, they are good candidates to try with. If you find enough of something to pack the barrel of your installation unit quite full, without having it so densely packed that obstructs the flow of the steam through the biomass, you’ll end up with some essential oil. But if you only have a little bit of biomass, then you’ll end up with a lot of hydrosol and maybe no essential oil at all. If memory serves, you were using labrador tea as your biomass. I don’t know about where you live, but that grows wild in the woods, and it’s a type of rhododendron, so the leaves are green even under 6 feet of snow. While I am not suggesting that you go digging any snow, if the snow hasn’t arrived yet, you could easily Take your shears, and selectively pick a nice large bag of biomass, let it dry out a little bit, or even dehydrated, and then process it in your distillation unit. I think it be really pleased with the result. All the same, I’ve never known anybody to produce labrador tea essential before. I bet it’s awesome. :-)

[@codysmovies100]

@@daphneraven6745 yes, I did use Labrador Tea in the video, but it was dried material that I purchased from an online vendor. It does not grow wild in my direct area (that I know of), though I have found it in the past a couple hours drive away. Not practical with the current price of fuel these days. I think tree bows would be the easiest option for now. Of course it's the time of year my Mom collects branches to make Christmas wreaths, so I could get 2 birds with one stone and use the leftover branches to make essential oils.

[@tedanderson3490]

Very interesting. Thanks for your effort.

[@nickic4561]

Make sure prior to starting you give all utensils a good thorough wash in hot soapy water, rinse and dry also a spray of 99% rubbing alcohol to sterilise everything will prevent contamination and bacteria.

[@codysmovies100]

Always a good thing to do!

[@truthseeker5496]

Thank you

[@codysmovies100]

You're very welcome :)

[@freehat2722]

Instead of a "carrier oil" people use solvents. Use a non polar solvent, salt solution to help separate the oil, then distill or drive off the solvent. It is twice the steps but the yield increases. Just the salt should be fine. The solvent would need a lower boiling temp then the chemicals in essential oil.

[@codysmovies100]

Thanks for the tips. There is definitely always more to learn for sure! My still doesn't come with a temperature control, it's at a fixed temperature, which can be inconvenient in terms of different boiling points. When I made the video originally, I had no idea that absolute oils were created using solvents. It really is interesting to see everyone's different ideas on how this can be done!

[@freehat2722]

@@codysmovies100 I watched your video to see if I should get one myself for both alcohol and essential oils. It's a tough call considering the leakage. If I do get a glass one it'll be more useful for chemistry, just not compact. It really helped to shed light on the product's good and bad points thanks. Some timestamps might help with a video this thorough.

[@phoebelowe4544]

Hey, did you just buy the air still by itself? I am looking into buying one and trying to figure out if I need other things in order to use it. I am planning on using it purely for hydrosols. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

[@codysmovies100]

Hi, yes, I bought the Air Still by itself. I know the company makes accessories that are sold separately, but those are mainly for if you were distilling Alcohol, but they are not necessary to do so. If you are only making hydrosols, then all you will need is the Air Still, your Herbs, Water, and something to collect it in. Hope that helps! :)

[@phoebelowe4544]

@@codysmovies100 Yes it does. thank you so much :D

[@albertosanjuan5641]

Do you think freeze the masaon jar will work

[@codysmovies100]

Possibly, I'm not sure. If you'd like to give it a try, I'd be interested to hear the results.

[@maineguitarists]

hydrosol will collect first and the essential oil will float and need to be separated.

[@vancamerawoman7399]

Could you start off with boiled water to shorten the time?

[@codysmovies100]

Good question, I'm really not sure. I don't see anywhere in the instructions that says you can't, so I'd imagine it would probably be fine.

[@benjamindejonge3624]

Do you clean it with a vinegar run ?

[@codysmovies100]

I haven't done that, but I imagine that would be fine. Normally I just run it with water afterwards.

[@mariaking81]

I have only used mine for distilling water so far and use white vinegar to clean it, I was wondering if the strong smell might taint the still for future use of water or other plants? Would using the vinegar be enough because you can only really clean the drum and the inside of the lid.. Also - would you still leave the carbon filter in do you think?

[@codysmovies100]

@@mariaking81 from my experience, yes, it does leave a bit of a flavour for future water use, but it goes away after a couple runs of just water. I haven't needed to use vinegar, but I don't mind my water tasting a bit herbal, as long as those herbs are safe to consume, of course.

[@mariaking81]

@@codysmovies100 thank you so much for replying, appreciated

[@tomguitaronline]

im surprised you don't scorch the still bottom

[@lifeisagift5627]

Does the water have a strong smell?

[@codysmovies100]

Yes, very strong. It is pretty typical with every hydrosol/essential oil I've attempted to make. I've discovered recently that the hydrosol water itself goes great on it's own in a diffuser! It makes just as much scent as having the pure essential oils drops in the diffuser and I think makes a great excuse not to go through the hassle of separating the oil in the first place.

[@freehat2722]

@@codysmovies100 The oil is in suspension with the water. Use salt to help separate them (dissolve the salt).

[@mariaking81]

@@freehat2722 do you just put the salt in the separator or in the collection jar?

[@freehat2722]

@@mariaking81 In the separatory funnel with both layers. It helps to kick out oils from the water layer. If you have an emulsion layer between them some people use a vibrator to break it up or a lot of time to allow them to separate. After that collect the layer you want.

[@freehat2722]

Seems like an issue with only using air to cool in a small package. It's not getting cold enough to capture a lot of the odor (oil), so it's rather wasteful.

[@joelhenry4643]

Yeah. No