Levo II-Herbal Infusing Machine tutorial
Are you interested in learning another way to make infused herbal oils for your medicines or skincare products?
Then look no further, this is the blog post for you!
Infused Medicinal oil with a LEVO II herbal infusing machine
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This is the second tutorial I have on how you can make your own medicinally infused oils. The first method is the double boiler or stove top method which you can read HERE.
The point of all these tutorial blog posts & videos I’ve been putting up lately is to build a foundation of basic recipes that you can customize to your particular needs & desires. However, once we have a base foundation I am going to be sharing recipes for specific ailments or home & body products you can make, so please be sure to stay tuned for those as they will be coming up in the new year.
Today's tutorial is a bit different as we’re going to be using an herbal infusing machine, called a LEVO II. If you aren’t familiar with this little lady she is a machine that makes artisan small batch infusions. We say small batch because we can only work with a maximum of 2 cups of oil.
With this machine you can infuse roots, petals, seeds, herbs, vegetables & cannabis into an oil such as glycerin, MCT, avocado, corn, grapeseed, sesame, canola, almond coconut oils as well as butter, ghee (clarified butter) & even milk or honey.
The reason why you might want to use a machine rather than the stovetop method is because this machine allows you to have complete control over the temperature of the infusion. Sometimes the stovetop method can get too hot & end up burning our delicate herbs. Another benefit is the timer function, this machine is programmable up to 10 hours, so you can set it & go about your business while the LEVO does all the work.
This machine comes with a reservoir container that holds up to 2 cups of oil & a power pod that can hold up to ½ cup of herb or up to 7 grams of cannabis. It also comes with a stirrer or agitator that keeps the oils moving at all times. I do have a hack I am going to share with you shortly about how you can make your infusions stronger.
Let’s talk about the cycles we can work with:
Dry- This is the cycle you would use if you wanted to dry an herb.
Let’s say you grew an herb garden with the intention of filling up your spice jars in the pantry. Certain herbs that are drier in nature like oregano, rosemary & thyme would do alright on their own to air dry. However, moister herbs such as basil, tarragon & mint might end up molding before they dry out.
The heat range in this cycle is 105F or 40C to 175F or 80C & the programmable cycle can last up to 10 hours.
Activate/Decarboxylation- this is the cycle you would use only if you were making cannabis infusions such as an infused butter.
Just touching briefly on this cycle, the activate cycle converts tetrahydrocannabinol-Acid or THCA into something your body can actually interact with known as THC. Basically, if you were to make a cannabis infusion without activating or decarbing it, it would not have the psychoactive properties you might be expecting from an edible.
There are so many benefits to this plant then the psychoactive properties that I could share if there was enough interest. Comment down below & let me know if this is something you are interested in.
The heat range is 200F or 93C to 275F or 135C & the programmable cycle can last up to 10 hours.
Infused Medicinal oil with a LEVO II herbal infusing machine
Infuse- This is the cycle to use once your herbs are prepared (dried or activated) & are ready to infuse. This company has a handy calculator that you can find HERE. Also it’s worth mentioning this machine does come with some default settings but you have complete control over the settings.
I prefer a low & slow method which means a lower temperature for a longer amount of time, but you are free to infuse for the time & at the temperature you see fit.
This is what your machine should look like once it’s ready to use.
The lid is only off the power pod so you can see the herbs are completely covered. Put the lid back on before use.
So those are the cycles we have to work with, now how do you use it?
Coarsely grind your chosen herbs & place them in the power pod. We want the oil to cover as much surface area of the herbs as possible without the herbs escaping through the holes in the pod.
Put the pod in the reservoir & add oil to cover the herbs completely. If you took the lid off the power pod to make sure the herbs are covered, put it back on now.
Close the lid & choose the appropriate cycle
Set the desired temperature & time
Start the machine & go about your business until the timer goes off
Once the cycle is complete put a container under the reservoir & push the drop button to dispense your infusion. Your infused oil is now ready to use as it is, as the base for a body product or medicine.
So what happens if you want to infuse more than ½ cup of herbs or 7 grams of cannabis? You have two options here. One is to purchase another power pod & use two in your infusions.
The second option & my personal favorite is to not even use the power pod but rather get the filter from a tea press as it is the same size as the reservoir. Then all you have to do is put the agitator in the middle & coarsely ground herb or cannabis directly over the tea press filter. Proceed as normal & choose the appropriate cycle then set the desired temperature & time.
I hope you found this tutorial helpful or at the very least interesting.
If you’re going to get your own machine, which you can do HERE.
What is the first infusion you are going to make? If you already are a proud owner of this lovely machine, let me know what infusions do you like to make with it?
To watch the video & tutorial HERE!