Suburban Herbalism - Warm infusing oils

Step one to making an herbal oil is to realize that the guy is coming to cut your grass OMG RIGHT NOW.
Step two is to pick plantain behind the bushes and almost get runned over with a lawnmower.
For herbs that are to be used topically, an oil is an excellent first step. From there you can apply the oil as is or use it as a base or ingredient in a salve or lotion.
An herbal oil can be done by either a warm or cool infusion. For the majority of dried herbs a cool infusion is going to be the way to go. Roots or barks and fresh herbs typically need a warm infusion. Why warm for fresh? Because typically the water content of the fresh herb can cause the oil to go rancid in the time it takes to infuse. A warm infusion is done quickly, 8-10 hours max, and a cool will take weeks.
Today I made a warm plantain oil. Plantain is a skin soothing, anti-itch herb found in almost everyone's backyard. I blogged about here.
You'll want to use herbs as dry as possible. Knock off as much debris as you can but don't wash unless you absolutely need to. Only use unsprayed, untreated herbs and try to pick a few days out from the last rain.
Technique is simple and straightforward.
Chop or tear your herbs into small pieces to fit into your jar of choice, cover with oil of choice. Keep plant matter below the surface of the oil. Leave for 8-10 hours.
I typically use olive oil as it is readily available, stays liquid at room temp, and I can buy a whole bunch of it at Costco organic for not a whole bunch of money. Other choices include coconut, sweet almond, avocado, or jojoba. Whichever oil you prefer is typically fine.  For a heat source you can opt for the stove, a heating blanket or a crockpot. You need something that will maintain a low heat for a long time. You don't necessarily want this to get super hot as it can damage the volatile oils in the herb. Low and slow is the way to go here.

I like to use my crock pot as I can set it and go on about my life and not have to fuss with it too much and I can do more than one oil at a time. Place your prepared jar with herbs in oil in the crock pot and fill with water around the jars. Leave it for 8-10 hours. I've done it for more and I've done it for less and it hasn't seemed to affect the quality of the oil too much. Leave it for 6 hours at least. When the oil is done infusing, strain through a sieve or cheesecloth. I like to use cheesecloth so that I can pour it all in there and really squeeze to get all that good oil out of the plant material before composting. Let the oil sit and settle for a little bit, then strain again through a coffee filter to get all the plant particulates out. Leaving those in there isn't going to affect the potency of the oil but it will affect it's shelf life and quality.
So now you have a good infused oil that can either be used alone or as an ingredient in a salve or lotion! GO YOU!! We've all gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes the last few days and I rubbed this oil all over my babies when they got out the tub tonight to help with itching.

I maintain a collection of random small things that will fit inside jars.

herbs, oil, jar, water, crockpot

the top wouldn't fit!

strain it and then strain it again.