This plantain slave recipe features an easy crock pot method. I am not a salve expert, but I do like to use plants on my property to make homemade remedies. Most of the recipes I’ve found require multiple pots, a double boiler, several days, etc. I made this recipe so that it uses minimal kitchenware, energy, and time.
Easy Crock Pot Plantain Salve
Easiest salve recipe ever! One pot, one measuring cup, one spoon, one day! Easy clean up. Simple directions and easy to follow.
Gather your plantain
Wash it
Dry it
Cook in crock pot with oil
Strain
Add beeswax
Add essential oils if desired. Pour in jars!
What you need:
plantain leaves
avocado oil, olive oil, or coconut oil (or any combination)
beeswax (1 oz per 4 oz of oil)
vitamin E oil (optional)
essential oils (optional)
What you do:
Gather as much plantain as you want. In this recipe I gathered about 70-80 pieces. You can pull it (it’s kinda stringy and fun to pull. Or cut with kitchen shears.)
Wash it off with the garden hose or in the kitchen sink.
Lay it out in the sun to dry. I put it on cooling racks but you can also just lie it directly on the grass.
It doesn’t need to be dried out, but it does need to be dry, as in no water on it. Water makes the oil go rancid. I usually gather the leaves around 9am and then go back out and get them around 11 or 12.
Cut the leaves with kitchen shears over the crock pot and drop them in.
Add several spoonfuls of coconut oil. Or pour in another kind of oil. How many jars do you want to fill? My recipe made 16 oz so that was three 6 oz jars almost full. I didn’t measure the oil, but that means I probably did a cup of coconut and a cup of avocado oil.
Stir the oil until all the leaves are evenly coated.
Set slow cooker on low and leave for about 4 hours. Some recipes say you can soak for a day or two and get more medicinal properties out of the leaves. My crock pot is hot, even on low, so if I did that it would burn. So I just do about 3 hours. But feel free to leave it on low or keep warm for as long as you want.
Strain the oil into a glass Pyrex measuring cup. Discard the leaves. (But don’t put by your garden because deer are attracted to the fruity smell.)
Turn slow cooker on high. Put a small glass plate in the freezer.
Put 1 oz of beeswax per 4 oz of oil into the slower cooker and melt. This recipe made 16 oz of oil so I used 4 oz of beeswax. I buy this 16 oz package and it can make 4 recipes.
Add the oil back into the slow cooker while the beeswax is melting. Stir together for a few minutes.
Add a few drops of vitamin E oil for additional healing properties. You can also add any essential oils you like. Stir.
Do the cold plate test to see if the salve is done: Drip a few drops of the oil onto the cold plate. Wait 2 seconds until it’s cool enough to touch. Touch it and see if it will run into a creamy, salve/lotion type texture. If it doesn’t, cook a few more minutes or add more beeswax. If it does, then it’s ready!
Pour into clean, dry jars.
Watch the oil harden as it turns into salve. This part is so fascinating! My kids love watching it and so do I. It takes about 25 minutes in a 75 degree house.
Let cool over night and then you can put the lids on in the morning.
From leaves to salve!
Plantain salve is great for sunburn, bug bites, bee stings, poison ivy and other rashes, cuts, and burns. Make it today and feel the healing properties for yourself!
Check out the video to see these steps in action!!
