How to steam distill essential oil at home and how to fail at that distillation. Beginners guide!

For the first science experiment in my new she shed laboratory, I am attempting to distill essential oil out of roses and basil plants.
This video shows how I set up the still, a few precautions to take and some I didnt take and ultimately shows my catastrophic failure.
This was my first attempt at distilling; I bought the cheap kit from ebay that comes with an electric burner but I swapped that out for a turkey frier, which I think was the beginning of my downfall..
This video was shot on my Sony Alpha a6600 sitting atop a DJI Ronin SC gimbal.

[dubsnip]

Your problem is caused by the type of condensor they sold you with this set. This is a Graham type which is not very suitable for water and easily clogged building up pressure. Replace it by a Dimroth or better Friedrich type and you will have no pressure problems and a lot of fun with this hobby. This has nothing to do with propane vs electric just wrong condensor type for application.

[teatimewithcbnw]

It was way HOT! This is a slow process my friend. 6-8 hours slow for some plants (slower for others and faster for some). I have this system myself and it works great.
You cant speed up the process because 1) stuff will explode
2) the essential oil will burn and turn very bad (hint: thats why your basil smelled bad)
3) electric heat is softer than fire heat and thats why they send the electric bunsen burner.
Try again and just be patient with it. You will have amazing oils come out.
Oh next time you extract rose again, save the water its great for skin and hair care.
You just put it on the skin or hair like a rinse.
Better luck next time.

[cyberspider]

I believe this is greatest video where host has frankly shown how he failed !! This is very useful and will prevent many accidents. Definitely a great help to safety of To-Be chemist (psst! Alchemist)...🙂. In industrial setup, condenser when condenses gas also produce vacuum and which in turn help evacuating the vapor. One of the reason for the blast at last could be noncondensing vapour due to insufficient cooling. So even if your condenser tube is clean but cooling is inadequate you will not have any vacuum at condenser end and hence vapour will not evacuate hence your flask will pressurise and hence ka !!

[niklausgumm]

Running at lower temperature and placing a piece of cotton just underneath your plant material will help with the distillation and hopefully prevent some explosions

[enriquearlequin]

Man i'm about to start steam distilling and I just want to say thank you for this video lmfaoooo. I learned from your mistakes, a mistake which i could have easily made so thank you!

[MavsFanPlano]

Just bought this system and I am glad I came here to watch the video! You educated more by showing pitfalls. Thanks!

[ITWUT]

Never heat a closed system, the 2nd neck should NOT have a keck clip. There is nothing wrong with your glassware set, and it does in fact contain the correct and appropriate condenser. Never let flame make direct contact with your glass, and since your reservoir has a round bottom, suspend it in an oil bath..over an electric heat source

[TheFreedomCast]

I have that same set up and It works fine. You're using too much heat. You're supposed to control the temperature and not let it go through an aggressive boil because all You're doing is cooking the basil in the top flask and that smell gets transferred into your oil and hydrosol. This is a slow deliberate process if you want to get the results you want with your oils.

[thecleverunicorn]

Using the hot plate insures that your temp stays at a constant heat, steaming at high temps is dangerous and being impatient isn’t going to give you the maximum yield of the plant. It’s a slow process and needs to be done delicately. It can take up to 9 hours to extract just a small bit, that is why pure essential oils are so expensive. With pure oils you only need 1 to 4 drops vs 15 to 22 drops of diluted oils.

[patmcbride]

You can heat the water by putting a pot on a better hotplate and filling the pot with oil to transfer the heat.
Also, using a temperature controller with a thermal probe can regulate how hot the hotplate gets, so you don't have to constantly watch.

[TishaCasida]

This is very helpful and I appreciate the natural explosions :D

[nickhayley]

Well that was utterly ENTERTAINING!!! I'm a science grad, but the last thing I came here to do was to give you annoying internet advice. Love the video. Came here for distillation, stayed for the excitement and your calm voice.

Yay for quality content!

All the best,
Nick

[llama]

This is an excellent "what not to do" video, thanks.

[JoeyVX]

You have a close system, I knew that was going to happen. You can just include a vacuum adapter in between the funnel and the condenser. It’s straight and has ground joint on both ends but has a vacuum hose adapter sticking out in the middle which will relieve pressure. No need to attach a hose just leave as is. It’s cheap and you won’t have to change condensers.

[RahulMulchandanirmm]

As well as the condenser restricting the flow of steam and building pressure I think you need to also trun down your heat as this will also reduce the risk of overpresurising your system.
I wouldbalso suggest trying a bigger pump and pumping it to the top outlet in the condenser. This way your pump doesn't need to push through the spiral and gravity will help drain the liquid back into your water bucket.
Make sure your pipes are s short as possible as any excess will increase the strain on your pump.
Entertaining video.
Makes me want to try this at home.

[sjackson]

Is the heat to powerful? My guess would be a set high temperature over a longer period of time! But it's actually great to see under what circumstances things can go wrong too. Either way any information is good in this case! Thanks for the video! I just bought a new 500ml set. Then realized my round bottom flask will not heat sufficiently at 6hrs. I am waiting for a heating Mantle that fits the round glass to heat it more evenly. My guess would be to get a higher temp flat plate for a flat flask, and a heating Mantle to fit the round Flask into a curved apparatus for even heat distribution.

[Saprodome]

How many watts is your fish pump? I've got the same distillation set, but it came with a flat bottom double neck 2000ml flask.

[Fin_Likes_Mofongo]

Thanks for the video, been meaning to level up my booze skills and wanted to see oil extraction for infusions and other fun stuff. I agree with other watchers, you were over boiling it. Cant rush perfection. Brewing and any type of chemistry is about patience. Making “fun” stuff can be dangerous also. Glass rigs aren’t as strong as metal distills but u can make many “mischief-ull” concoction’s at a lower budget.

[ronalddaub]

We did that in 8 the grade only their condenser was on a slant I was always amazed at how much cooling water it took for one gallon

[mandystarr]

this was fun now i know what not to do (also why didn't he add boiling chips?)