Crock Pot Ginger Oil
The other day I was compelled to dig up my recipe for Ginger root oil. Within hours, someone posted the same archived recipe of mine! It was serendipitous, and I knew then it was the right recipe to share with you this week.
(Thanks Shamanic Winds!)
To start, the basic thing to remember about making herbal infused oils is that oil and water don't mix. Therefore, the more water in your plant material, the more likely it is that your oil, if left to infuse on it's own, could grow mold and/or rot all the way through. This doesn't always happen - infused oils are mysterious indeed - and you'll find a range of different opinions and experiences throughout the herbal community.
I'm of the opinion/experience that each plant likes a certain method, and it's based mostly on how much water content it has, how much heat it can tolerate, and how well the healing properties will be absorbed into the oil.
Fresh Ginger root is a perfect example of an herb that is juicy, and I've found that the best oil is made through my simple crock pot method. You can also make infused oil from dried root, though it yields a different result. The fresh oil is gingery, golden, and deeply but gently warming.
GINGER OIL
2 cups roughly chopped or sliced fresh ginger root
3 cups oil: Olive, Coconut, Sesame, Jojoba, Palm, or animal tallow/lard work best
1 crock pot, very well cleaned of any food or liquid debris.
2 days of time when you'll be mostly home
1 mason jar with clean lid
strainer
cheesecloth or muslin
Place ginger into crock pot on lowest setting, or low alternate heat setting. Cover with the oil. Leave on for two days with monitoring as not to boil or burn the oil. You can manually turn the heat off for spells of time if needed, to keep the temperature controlled. It shouldn't get hot enough to bubble. Some folks have found success using a yogurt maker.
The cover should be left ajar to allow the evaporation of water from the ginger root.
Decant by straining your oil through cheesecloth or muslin.
Let your oil sit in a clear mason jar for a day; you may see some additional water - oil separation. Separate them further by carefully pouring off the oil from the water, or by syphoning it out with a clean turkey baster.
Be sure to complete your oil so that it has no remaining water content. It will take some patience but is well worth it. You will not have the same glorious results by using dry root or the essential oil.
What to do with your ginger oil?
~Treat your cold feet to the warm protection and circulatory support of ginger oil before you put your boots on for winter snow shoveling.
~Rub onto your womb and lower back for supreme moontime comfort.
~Massage into stiff aching joints from dryness, fatigue, or arthritis.
~Rub into sore muscles before or after athletics for sports recovery help
~Add to a bathful of hot water and epsom salts.
~Add it to a tamari salad dressing (if you used edible oil)
~Give it away to an aching elder
~Make a ginger-eucalyptus chest rub salve
~Massage congested breast tissue and lymph glands
~Mix it with half glycerin for a very warm and erotic love lubricant!
Fresh Ginger root oil is one of the hardest infused oils to make, as any herbalist will remind us of how quickly it becomes a disaterous rotton mess.
But with the magic of a crock pot and a little patience, this heartwarming, inexpensive oil can be treasured by anyone. The key is to leave the top open or half off and allow the moisture to escape, and to control the heat.
And for gifting? Make a matching set of Ginger root infused vinegar, honey, or oxymel!
Cheers to your cozy ginger toes!!
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