Hands on Distillation Workshop 9/29/12

We were pleased to have 16 participants at our Hands on Distillation Workshop today, at the Boutique Distillery.
We discussed distillation and extraction.  Utilizing four different types of essential oil stills.
100 gallon stainless steel steam distiller, 35 gallon stainless steel water/steam distiller Rotating column 40 liter copper Alembic and a 15 gallon copper water/steam distiller.
We had an eclectic and interesting group of participants.  Some folks already had apparatus, some were thinking about getting into essential oil distillation, while others also had an interest in distilling spirits.
Photos can be found on The Essential Oil Company's Facebook Page

Bitter Orange Essential Oil Extraction

Bitter Orange Oil is extracted from the peel of Citrus aurantium amara.  It's a "cold" process.  A thin layer is scraped from the peel in the extractor.  The extractor is like a rotating cheese grater.  The oil is separated from the peel,waxes and water in a centrifuge.
View the photos

Making Charcoal

One of my favorite non-timber forest products, is charcoal.

You will find photos of charcoal manufacture, from Eucalyptus citriodora wood in Brazil here

Burning wood in the absence of oxygen results in incomplete combustion, thus creating charcoal.  In addition to charcoal, which is sold packaged in the marketplace, tars are also recovered during the process.