[Herbalist] cooked recipe

[Dianaim]

Actually, I added the beeswax after the infusion of the herbs with the oil
and lanolin.  My mistake was trying to squeeze out the herb/oil/lanolin ball
with my hands WAY WAY before it cooled.


Dianaim

-----Original Message-----
From: herbalist-admin at ansteorra.org
[mailto:herbalist-admin at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of Gaylin Walli
Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2002 12:26 PM
To: herbalist at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Herbalist] cooked recipe



On Wednesday, December 25, 2002, at 12:18 PM, foxryde wrote:

> Personally, I'd infuse (cook) the herbs first without the beeswax.
> Then
> strain (and cheese cloth works fine with this - just use it to line a
> metal
> mesh style strainer) - you can even squeeze the ball after it has
> cooled a
> bit.

Well you beat me to it! I was just about to comment on this again.
There's a recipe that was submitted to the TI that indicated this was
the way you should approach a balm as well and I disagreed with that
method as well for the same reasons you mentioned. Infusing oil is much
more effective than infusing beeswax, from what I understand of the
chemistry. Beeswax shouldn't be considered a vehicle for the essential
oils but a thickener for them, in my opinion.

Has *anyone* on the list had much success with the beeswax infusion
method? I've not ever in the years I've been making ointments, so I'm
curious to know what other people have found useful about the method.


Iasmin

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