乾燥浸泡油的製作流程 Excerpt from Making Plant Medicine

暑假期間陪伴小孩的同時,在家上了幾個國外線上芳療課程,也抽空翻閱老師介紹的藥草書。七月的時候看了這本關製劑書,書名叫做 Making Plant Medicine,看到家很繁作浸泡油的程,提醒注意的要點,覺得受益良多,非常想跟大家分享。之前貼了英文版的文字內容在社團內跟學生分享,今天終於找到時間來整理成中文。

有興趣買這本書的人,可以到阿罵爽網站去購買,只有英文版,雖然我很愛實體書,但是為了減少碳足跡,也避免傷荷包,我是買Kindle 版本,現買現看省運費。




今天這一篇是乾燥香草的,我會另外再找時間介紹這本書裡面提到的新香草浸泡油作流程。

【說在前面】製作香草浸泡油,有很多不同的理論與作法,有人堅持不可日曬,有人覺得日曬無妨,不要直曬即可。也有人說不可加熱,否則破壞油品營養。其實這些都要看日曬如何曬,加熱如何控制溫度。這一篇介紹的,是這本書作者行之有年的作法,也不是絕對的、唯一的答案。我沒有用慢燉鍋之前,也用「西曬法」泡了好幾年的油品,做了很多鍋的皂,還有各種家用的油膏面霜護膚油,也是充分感受到植物浸泡油的優點。(我要強調的是不要把某一種方法、流派視為聖經,要聰明運用自己手邊的工具與環境。)

其次是關於文章中提到的 crockpot 慢燉鍋。我自己買了一個台灣製的,陶製內鍋,品質很好的慢燉鍋,但是溫度並無法控制在43 49℃ 之間,而是即使設定為「保溫」也會飆高到至少7-80度,不小心開成高溫,就會變成「油炸xx香草油」,所以台灣的慢燉鍋,跟國外的 crockpot 還是不太一樣的。我搜尋到可以定溫在這個範圍的,只有餵奶的媽媽用的溫奶瓶器,但是容量小些,請大家參酌運用。

最後一點是關於攪拌。之前貼英文版跟學生分享的時候,有一位很認真的同學讀完了問我說,油不是怕氧氣?一直攪拌不就加快氧化的速度嗎?這個推論原則上是對的,不過我想只要不是打蛋似的攪拌油品,拼命把空氣攪拌進去,氧化速度應該是沒有這麼快。攪拌的用意是要把沈澱在底下黏成一團的藥草粉團攪散以便更充分的萃取,對於做出濃度較提升的浸泡油是有幫助的。

===以下為節錄的文章翻譯===

Basic Formula for Dry Herb Infused Oils 
乾燥香草浸泡油的基本配方

1: 5 (dry herb weight in g:oil volume in ml) 
1:5(乾燥藥草重量 單位為克 : 油容量 單位為毫升)

*以下香草台灣沒有那麼常見,內文不另翻譯,有興趣的朋友自己看原文喔!原則上就是 100g 的香草對上 500ml 的植物油。

Example 1: Arnica oil 山金車油
100g dried and coarsely ground arnica blossoms 
500 ml olive oil 
This oil is sometimes known as “arnicated oil.” It is an excellent penetrating anti-inflammatory for treating traumatic injuriessuch as bruises, sprains and torn ligaments. Arnica resolves stuck blood. 

Example 2: Calendula oil  金盞花油
100g dried and coarsely ground calendula blossoms 
500 ml olive oil 
This oil is sometimes known as “calendulated oil.” It is a good antiseptic and healing agent for treating cuts, scrapes, chapped skin, diaper rash, eczema, and windburn. 

Example 3: Comfrey root oil 聚合草(西洋紫草油)
100g dried and coarsely ground comfrey roots 
500 ml olive oil 
This oil is best used for speeding healing of broken bones, shallow wounds, scratches, diaper rash, abraded or windburned skin, etc. 

Example 4: Goldenseal leaf oil 金印草葉
100g dried and coarsely ground goldenseal leaves, picked after the berries ripen 
500 ml olive oil This oil is best used as an antibacterial for treating wounds, and is also healing to traumatized or infected mucous membranes.

General procedure for making dry herb infused oils:

製造乾燥香草浸泡油的一般流程

1) Finely crush the dried herb by rubbing it through a screen or grind it to a coarse powder.
 將香草搗碎,可以用手捏碎或是在篩網上壓碎,或者用調理機攪拌成粗粉。

2) Weigh the herb and place it in the macerating vessel. 
將磨好的藥草秤重,並放入預備製作浸泡油的容器中。

3) Measure the oil and pour it over the dried herb. Stir thoroughly, until the herb is completely incorporated into the oil. 
量取所需的油,倒入乾燥藥草裡面。充分攪拌直到油與香草完全混合。

4) Maintain the digesting oil at a temperature of 110 ° to 120 ° F (43 ° to 49 ° C) for a period of 2 weeks. The use of a crockpot is highly recommended, but other sources of heat are acceptable. Keep dry herb infusions out of the direct sunlight. Since there is no water in the herb, there is no danger of fermentation in the process. The herb will have a tendency to settle into a gummy clump at the bottom of the vessel, and extraction is vastly improved by stirring several times per day. 
將油維持在華氏 110 120 ℉(攝氏 43 49 ℃),浸泡2週。非常建議使用慢燉鍋,但其他熱源也是可以的。乾燥香草浸泡油不要接受陽光直曬。另外因為乾燥香草內沒有水分,不用擔心浸泡過程中會發酵。藥草粉末容易黏成一團沈澱在容器底部,每天固定攪動幾次,可以增加萃取率。

5) Press the oil. Using a tincture press is highly recommended, because unlike fresh herbs that tend to repel the oil, the dry herb will have absorbed much oil during the 2- week digestion. The oil yields slowly from the herb; therefore, press at low pressure to start and gradually increase the pressure as the herb gives up the oil. Finish at high pressure.
把油壓出來。非常建議使用 tincture press (過濾酊劑的一種工具),因為不像新鮮藥草會排斥油脂,乾燥藥草則是會吸收油脂。因此,從低壓開始,慢慢增加壓力,把油從藥草裡面逼出來。以高壓結束萃油的過程。

6) Pour the crude oil into a clean, dry jar. Put on the lid and allow the oil to stand undisturbed overnight. A heavy sludge will settle out to the bottom of the jar. The next morning, carefully decant the oil through several layers of cheesecloth into another clean, dry jar, leaving the sludge behind in the bottom of the settling jar. 
將初步過濾榨出的「原油」倒入乾淨、乾燥的玻璃罐。將蓋子蓋上,靜置過夜。沈澱物會慢慢累積在罐底。隔天早晨將油用多層濾布過濾之後,裝入另一個乾淨、乾燥的玻璃罐,沈澱物則留在原罐內。

7) Store the finished herbal oil in a correctly labeled, tightly stoppered, amber glass bottle in a cool place and out of the light. Properly made, dry herb infused oils require the addition of no preservatives, and they have an expected shelf life of at least 2 years. 
將製作好的藥草油加上正確標示,放在有良好封蓋的深色玻璃罐子裡面,放在陰暗處。製作方法良好的前提下,乾燥藥草浸泡油不需要添加任何防腐劑,可以保存約二年左右。

摘自 Making Plant Medicine

*****摘譯完畢*****

這張照片是我之前用慢燉鍋製作紫蘇浸泡油的情形,已經濾出來,部分做成了目前架上還有的紫蘇草本洗髮皂。(站上照片尚未更新,因為還添加左手香汁液,皂體是深綠色的)

製作的過程還有幾點可以分享:
  1. 因為事先用慢燉鍋煮過竹筍排骨湯,用溫度槍測量發現即使設定為保溫,也是會飆溫到80度,所以採取機動開開關關方式,將溫度控制在65以下(還是有不小心飆上去的時候,實在很難避免)。
  2. 因為擔心溫度飆昇,而且後來也證實溫度有超過,所以一開始的時候我就選擇比較耐高溫的椰子油來製作浸泡油。
  3. 這次的紫蘇是去年我的綠手指爸爸媽媽種植並且曬到完全乾燥的,一大把經過食物調理機打碎,全部進了這一鍋,可以說是精華中的精華。打成細碎片之後,過濾的時候粗梗就留在濾網上,底部全部都是紫蘇葉打成的粉末,味道非常香濃。
  4. 因為目標是入皂,所以我沒有用濾布過濾,皂裡面因此也有少許黑點點,就是粉末狀的紫蘇葉。




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