How to make pine salve

    Pine salve is a traditional drawing salve, that draws infections, slivers, and inflammation out of the body.  It reduces pain and swelling, helping the body heal itself.  One way it works is by increasing peripheral circulation by counter irritation.  While you could make pure pine salve with just pine , beeswax, and oil, this recipe uses infused oils to work reducing pain and inflammation. Pine is broadly antimicrobial.  It is warming, stimulating, and increases blood flow.  It is valuable as a chest rub for chest congestion.  It can help with localized pain, inflammation, and infection.  It’s also beneficial for old injuries and chronic inflammation.  It is safe to take internally for sore throat and congestion.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Pine oleoresin, rendered
• ¼ cup Beewax 
• ¼ cup Calendula infused oil
• 2 tbsp. St. John’s Wort infused oil
• 2 tbsp. comfrey leaf infused oil
• ½ cup of a mixture of Yarrow, self-heal, chickweed, and plantain in an infused oil
• 20 drops tea tree essential oil
• 20 drops frankincense essential oil

Gather the raw resin from pine trees anytime from early spring till fall.

The jars you use to render pine resin should be reserved for rendering pine resin.  Use heavy glass jars with lids for this but not your best canning jars.  The jars will be pretty sticky when you are done.Once the pine resin is enclosed in the jar, you can use your slow cooker or double boiler to render the pine resin without fear of making a sticky mess on your other cookware.Fill the glass jars with pine resin.  Place the lid on to hold in the terpinene vapours Place the jars in your slow cooker with water and turn on medium heat.  Simmer the water in the slow cooker. Leave the jars to render overnight or as long as necessary to turn the pine resin to liquid.  Any crud in the resin will sink to the bottom of the jar.  The clean pine oleoresin will be on top. 

Pour the clean oleoresin into another strong glass jar being careful to only transfer the clean oleoresin.  Leave any crud in the original cleaning jar.  Set aside what is left of the crude oleoresin.  You can render more raw pine resin in that same jar.  In the new jar that has the rendered oleoresin, add the beeswax and infused oils.  Place the jar back in the slow cooker or another double boiler, and simmer on low heat until the beeswax melts.  Stir together well so that the consistency of the salve is uniform.  Remove from the heat.   Add the essential oils.  Pour into tins or glass jars.  Label and date.