How Do You Extract Oil From Flowers?
Flower oils, or essences, are used in making perfume and other scented products. If you have a garden full of scented flowers such as roses, lavender, honeysuckle, jasmine, gardenias or carnations, you can make your own flower oils without the need to distill the essences. This process is called enfleurage. In a heavy pan, melt the lard. Be very careful during this step as lard is highly flammable and can cause bad burns. Pour the lard into pairs of paper plates to a depth of about 1/2 inch or until the plate is full. Let the lard cool and solidify. (You will need two lard-filled paper plates for each kind of oil you want to make.) Score the lard with a knife in a crisscross pattern. This is done so the scent can better penetrate the lard. Put petals on one of each pair of lard-covered plates. Be careful to make sure that all the petals stay on the lard and not the exposed edges of the plates. If they are not on the lard, they will rot and spoil. Until you learn what scents the various
