Hydrosol How-to

No still? No Problem!

Hyssop, hyssop everywhere! It's on my floor and in my hair!

Part of my homesteading philosophy is using what's already available around me to create a solution to a problem or task that I need completed. Today I am going to share with you my method of extracting herbal hydrosols without utilizing specialized equipment.

What is a hydrosol you might ask? Well, to start with, hydrosols are known by quite a few names: floral water, hydrolats, distillate waters, and/or toilet water come to mind. A hydrosol is the water that is left behind after steam distilling plant material, like lavender or hyssop. Most hydrosol is created as a by-product of the essential oil extraction process, but as the interest in plant extracts has grown, so has interest in hydrosol. Hydrosols have a small amount of a plant's essential oil floating in them, are water soluble, and contain many useful properties of the plant's that they are distilled from. They can also be applied directly to the skin, unlike essential oils, and they smell so lovely!

However, steam distillation usually requires a steam distiller of some sort. After twelve years of lavender production and another ten years of producing hyssop, I still haven't found the extra 1000 plus dollars lying around in my budget for a proper still for the job. There are plans to build a still from scratch, but like a lot of things in my life, the plans are there but they have not been realized. After a bunch of research and experimentation I finally came up with my own method that suits my herbal essence water extraction needs.

Equipment:

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For this process I use one of the enamel canners that my Grandma gave me, three pint glass mason jars, the metal plate divider from a pressure canner (A stainless steel steamer basket would work too), and a small glass bowl.

I placed the three Mason jars into the bottom of the canner on their sides. I then added 3 Liters (12 cups) of water to the canner.

Next, I placed the jar dividing plate on top of the canning jars.

After weighing my hyssop on my handy dandy digital kitchen scale to make sure I had around ten ounces of fresh hyssop, I crushed and rolled the hyssop between my hands a bit. You want to "activate" any herb you distill by crushing and abusing it a bit before you steam it.

After herbal crushicide was achieved. I placed the small glass bowl I was using to catch my distillate onto the top of the metal plate in the canner. I then placed the bruised and battered hyssop all around the bowl.

Finally I placed the canner lid on upside down. You are now ready to began processing your hydrosol!

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Now you want to allow around three hours for this process. I always have something to do, so it's no big thing to have some hydrosol creating action going on while I water, weed, and do all manner of GK things!

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Place your canner onto a stove burner and bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. There is always a little gratitude moment at this juncture, for I am blessed to have a stove outside in my carport that I use for summer canning and hydrosol production. No steamy house for this Kat! I always throw some ice on top of the inverted lid for better condensation action, and after a couple of hours of simmering your little glass bowl will be full of some of the most magical smelling floral water, er hydrosol, er herbal distillate ever!!!

Pour your hydrosol into a container (I use mason jars or amber glass jars) and store in a cool, dark place. The fridge is a fantastic place to keep your floral water and will lengthen its shelf life.

Uses:

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Perfumes, body sprays, air fresheners, aromatherapy, and cleaning products are a few uses of floral water that come to mind. I use a lot of my hydrosol in homemade skin care products, especially things like oil free moisturizers and toners. Hydrosols are like a less intense version of essential oils, and are fairly simple and enjoyable to produce!

Happy Hydrosoling!!!

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And as always, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's hyssop-scented, steam covered iPhone.

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