Not sure why but a couple of weeks ago I developed a huge craving for oranges and thought that I would save the peels instead of throwing them in the compost pile. Well, I have about 15 small ziploc baggies in the freezer with orange peels in them and I have no idea where to start. I did a search and saw that one person fermented their materials for a week. I am wondering if I can shred the peels into tiny pieces and boil them to accelerate this process?

Any suggestions??
Christina

I also save all my orange peels in a lager baggie in the freezer. When I get a big bunch, I run them thru a food processor to grind them up. Then I boil them in a big pot of water. I pick out the peels, let them cool and add to the compost pile. The water that remains, orange oil, I let cool and pour into 1/2 galon plastic bottles and into the frig. Since it is not very strong, I use the most for cleaning, but I have also added it to 20% vinegar to make a drench for fire ant hills. It seems to work pretty well.
Also, when I till my garden patch, in the spring, I spread a couple of handfuls out across the dirt then till it in. It seems to stop grubs. Don't use to much because it will harm the worms and other beneficial bugs in the soil. Just my 2 cents worth.

_________________
Greg...
Converting one person at a time to Organics, the only way to go!! [ ME ]

Greg, thank you very much. I am going to attempt to boil my first batch on Monday when the hubby and kids are off to work/school so that if it stinks up the house only I will be embarassed by it. Then again, if it smells good I will have it all for myself.

Hugs, Christina

I have been wanting to do this too. How much water do you boil them in? I'd like to get something fairly concentrated to add to vinegar for a weed killer.

I had also heard of someone grinding them up into a clear container of water and letting it sit in the sun (when its >90 degrees) for a couple of days.

Well, i didn't have very much luck. I shredded the orange peels first and then boiled them for about eight hours. After that I strained out the solids and blended them to try and get out any last little bit of oils. Anyways, I boiled them in a huge pot with tons of water and only got a teensy weensy bit of oil. So as far as the pure oil for foliar sprays and cleaning I am going to bite the bullet and purchase some oil. However, for the ant drenches I will most certainly use this method as it does work I found out.

Another problem I ran into was the collection of the oil. I think if I would have had a kitchen gadget this would have been much easier. Perhaps you have seen them - they are advertised for low fat cooking. It is a cup with a spout on it so that you can pour the chicken/turkey/whatever stock into your dish while keeping the fat in the container. If I find one of these I may try to make some again.

Good luck to you.
Christina

It's hard to get a good quantity of peel oil from home processing of orange rinds. Peel oil content probably is less than 10 liters per 1000 kg of fruit, or less than 8.5 kg of oil per 1000 kg of fruit. A typical yield from a cold press process is around 0.3% - 0.5% on a weight basis, and a vacuum distillation process can improve some on that. It takes a lot of peel to generate a substantial quantity of oil extract, but it still might be a worthwhile job if a person has a press. About 90% of orange peel oil is d-Limonene. On a weight basis, orange peel has more calcium, potassium, vitamin A, thiamine, niacin, and iron than does orange juice, but of course we wouldn't eat 8 oz. of peel like we might drink 8 oz. of juice. I believe the peel oil content of grapefruit is about double that of oranges. As for lemons, cold pressing a ton of fresh fruit might yield about 7 pounds of lemon peel oil.

_________________
In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they aren't -- lament of the synthetic lifestyle.

That ought to just about snuff out many people's hopes of DIY d-limonine at home. At least anything approaching the quality of commercially available products. Would love to see a facility/press operation where they do distill it though.

~Dave

I have been making my own orange oil for years, the process is a very simple one I peel about 10 oranges and boil the peels in a large saucepan for about 5 to 8 minutes. Let the mixture cool remove the peels and store the liguid in a plastic container and place in the refrigerator until I am ready to use it. Thats all there is to it. It does not stink up the house, it is a great deodorizer and this mixture is quite effective for all the killing purposes you need it for, it will kill everything from fire ants to grasshoppers to fleas and ticks on a dog. I clean with it as well. There is nothing complicated or scientific about making your own orange oil.
I have also been experimenting with boiling the branches from rosemary plants and found that this too is a strong pesticide brew I do it much the same way I boil the orange peels. Two drawbacks have been is does have an overpowering smell and it can stain carpet etc. but as far as the killing power it exceeds any thing I have tried before. Keep it simple organics work. Good luck