Comfrey Salve

Ingredient List

 3 C Dried Comfrey

1/2 C Comfrey Root, If you have available

2 C Coconut Oil, melted

3 oz. (by weight) Bees Wax, grated

Essential Oils, optional

So I recent did a post about the wonderful healing properties of Comfrey! I am going to share with you how I make a comfrey salve. It will make it easier to rub on the spots that hurt and also how to use the left over leaves from making the salve! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLANT!!!

WARNING!!!! Making this salve can be a bit messy, to say the least. So before you start you will want to be prepared for the mess! Please don’t let this discourage you from trying to make your own.

NOTE- I doubled the recipe in my pictures. I figured DIVE in and MAKE A BUNCH!!!

BE SURE YOU ARE USING ALL STERILIZED TOOLS AND JARS AND LIDS AND RINGS!!!

First you will want to take your DRIED Comfrey and crumble it up. It is VERY important to use DRIED Comfrey. The water content in the plant is very high and to make good quality oil you will need to make sure it is dried. I used my food processor to grind the plant.  Since I was making an oil i used the leaves and the stem. (The stems do not like to grind up so if you just want to use the leaves, go right on ahead)

Now you will want to melt your coconut oil and pour it into the comfrey. I chose to use coconut oil because 1- it won’t go rancid like olive oil and 2- it has so many beneficial properties in it. Leave about a 1inch head space on top of the oil. Take a knife and be sure to mix the oil into the comfrey. You want to make sure all the comfrey is well covered in the oil. This step also helps with getting the bubbles out of the jars.

I then took the lids and rings and placed them on snug. You may be able to tell that I used old lids. I figure since they aren’t going to be stored for a long time, and as long as everything sterile, go ahead and use old lids!

Now take a CLEAN and STERILE crock pot and place dry clean wash cloth or towel in the bottom. Place the jars on top of them. This step is important to make sure the jars don’t break under the prolonged heat.

I then put water in the crock pot. You don’t need to cover the jars. You need to fill the crock pot most of the way. You then cover the pot and turn the crock pot on HIGH for 2 hours to get the temperature up and then switch to LOW for the remainder of the time. You will want to keep the temperature HOT but not even simmering. Keep an eye on the water level and make sure the jars get a full 24 hours to extract the oils from the plant.

After the 24 hours are up. I allow to jars to cool just a little bit. Then you will take a fine mesh strainer and line it with a piece of cheese cloth. Place it over a CLEAN bowl and pour the contents of the jar into the strainer. Be sure to scrape as much of the oil from the jars as possible. Allow the comfrey to drain.

Now you will want to SQUEEZE all the oil out of the cheese cloth over the strainer. Be ready to rub all that oil that is all over your hands on your aches and pains. And have the rest of the family ready and waiting. We were all covered with the oil that was on my hands from squeezing the cheese cloth. Repeat this step every time with all the jars of comfrey oil. Be sure to wash your hands after rubbing down yourself and the family. Always start with clean hands when squeezing the oil.

I will save the jars and use the oil that is left in them until it is all used up. I found that no matter HOW MUCH YOU SCRAPE, you will always have some left in the jar. So don’t wash that green gold away… use it up!

The cheese cloth with the comfrey plant in them get placed into individual bags and will be froze. They will become comfrey infused ice packs. Great thing to have ready for the next sprang ankle or pulled muscle. When using as an ice pack, remove the cheese cloth from the plastic bag. You will want all those comfrey oils to be able to get into the skin to heal.

Don’t throw out the water that the jars brewed in. I will remove the washcloths and freeze them for the ice pack idea and then I will use the rest of the water/oil and take a nice long soak with the water, adding it to my bath water. A full body soak!

I ended up with 4 cups of comfrey oil! ISN’T IT BEAUTIFUL!?!

Once the oil has been drained, put it in a pot with the wax and mix until the wax is fully melted. Keep the heat on the stove to a LOW! You don’t want to boil or burn your oil or wax.

While the wax and oil are melting together, set up a work space. Make sure you jars are glass and sterilized! I place foil under the jars that way if there is any spills, there won’t be a mess on my counters.

Once the wax and oil are completely one, you can remove from the heat and add essential oils. I did Wintergreen and Peppermint. There is no exact measurement. Just add enough for your liking. Stir the oils in and then pour very carefully into the jars. Allow the salve to cool completely before putting the lids on the jars.

Once the jars are cooled, ripe off the jars and place the lids on tight.

This is great for aches and pains. I highly recommend putting the essential oils in them. One it will boost the comfrey salve and two- it helps it smell better!

 NOTE- Try this out on a small spot to make sure you are not allergic to the comfrey!