What all can one macerate musk in?

[Mr.P]

Have anyone tried musk maceration in myrrh essential oil?

if you give this a try please share your results here!

 

[Saudalhajri]

if you give this a try please share your results here!

I might do this alongside Omani frankincense EO.
I have Somalian Myrrh EO as well.
I’ll run two test 1g each with Yakutia musk. 10%.

I’m expecting it to mature very quickly

 

[Mr.P]

I might do this alongside Omani frankincense EO.
I have Somalian Myrrh EO as well.
I’ll run two test 1g each with Yakutia musk. 10%.

I’m expecting it to mature very quickly

Why very quickly?

 

[Saudalhajri]

Why very quickly?

You could probably find a better scientific explanation, but from my experience lighter, more mobile, and volatile oils require a shorter maceration time with Animalics. Something about faster internal circulation, higher saturation capacity, better surface area for interaction. Thicker oils are heated during maceration to quicken the process with heat itself first, and to make the oil more mobile. Frankincense essential oil in particular is VERY volatile, in the bottle it looks closer to alcohol than any oil, or even to water.

 

[Mr.P]

You could probably find a better scientific explanation, but from my experience lighter, more mobile, and volatile oils require a shorter maceration time with Animalics. Something about faster internal circulation, higher saturation capacity, better surface area for interaction. Thicker oils are heated during maceration to quicken the process with heat itself first, and to make the oil more mobile. Frankincense essential oil in particular is VERY volatile, in the bottle it looks closer to alcohol than any oil, or even to water.

that's why I was wondering... in my experience myrrh tends yield a thick oil, and I imagine it would be slow to infuse, like sandalwood. My very thickest myrrh oils are almost solid!

 

[Mr.P]

You could probably find a better scientific explanation, but from my experience lighter, more mobile, and volatile oils require a shorter maceration time with Animalics. Something about faster internal circulation, higher saturation capacity, better surface area for interaction. Thicker oils are heated during maceration to quicken the process with heat itself first, and to make the oil more mobile. Frankincense essential oil in particular is VERY volatile, in the bottle it looks closer to alcohol than any oil, or even to water.

I agree that frankincense can be very mobile almost like WD-40 and would likely be a very rapidly permeating solvent and would extract quickly compared to something like sandalwood (

 

[Eleusis]

I would like to know if someone tried to pass the macerations in a ultrasonic bath? Does it help with maceration time? And my myrrh essential oil is really thick so yes, i think it could take some more time . I have a pod that should be there in a week.

 

[DubOudh]

I would like to know if someone tried to pass the macerations in a ultrasonic bath? Does it help with maceration time? And my myrrh essential oil is really thick so yes, i think it could take some more time . I have a pod that should be there in a week.

Stand it in some warm water to loosen the bonds open in the myrrh. It can help in the initial development.

 

[Saudalhajri]

that's why I was wondering... in my experience myrrh tends yield a thick oil, and I imagine it would be slow to infuse, like sandalwood. My very thickest myrrh oils are almost solid!

I have a Kenyan myrrh EO from Mellifluence from the UK , I don’t know the extraction parameters but it’s quite mobile. And I have a myrrh absolute that’s very very thick and hard to work with. So idk about that. Perhaps heat during distillation changes the consistency? Or different fractions?

I would like to know if someone tried to pass the macerations in an ultrasonic bath? Does it help with maceration time? And my myrrh essential oil is really thick so yes, i think it could take some more time . I have a pod that should be there in a week.

One of the odd things with musk is it actually makes thick oils thinner and more mobile, not by much but slightly. Give it some heat during the first month then leave it to do its thing.

 

[Shiningrobes]

My experience with frankincense is that’s its a fast maceration. Rose too but frankincense is much faster. I just figured it was something to do with the chemistry of it.

 

[FrankH]

I would like to know if someone tried to pass the macerations in a ultrasonic bath? Does it help with maceration time? And my myrrh essential oil is really thick so yes, i think it could take some more time . I have a pod that should be there in a week.

I'm a lurker here and have not yet made any oud perfumes or attars at all. However, on a fine perfumery forum of which I'm a member, at least one perfumer suggests using the sonicator (ultrasonic bath) to break down lumpy crystalline materials into a fine powder. The mechanism is to generate ultrasound waves which create hot spots of both pressure and temperature (via cavitation) within the medium. So while it may assist with the maceration of your blend, be advised that sonication could also treat your precious liquid materials roughly at the molecular level. I can't say flatly that it will affect the aromatic qualities of your maceration, but it's worth considering the risk.

A mechanical lab shaker/vortex mixer on low power in a warm water bath could do what you want more safely. If you don't want to deal with the noise or energy cost of running the shaker all the time, you could program one to shake for, say, an hour or two a day at a convenient time over the weeks or months of your maceration process. Whichever method you choose, I hope this helps you get the results you want - good luck.

 

[Eleusis]

I would better use a vortex than a sonicator, it's true that it is a bit too expensive to use that machine with energetuc cavitation.

 

[Ahmed113]

I remember I have considered the option of using vortex shakers in accelrating oud musk maceration instead of manual shaking.

However, after looking more into it and the risk of glass shattering due to either a defect in the bottle (existence of a small air bubble inside the glass) or a repeated exposure to shaking I have decided not to risk it. Of course this can mitigated by transferring the mixture/maceration to new bottle every once in a a while but it comes with the risk of losing some materials stuck to the old bottle especially if it is a musk maceration.

I think if you are enthusiast that do not sell out Attars, macerations or anything that benefit from this machine. Then there is no point in taking the risk as time is not an issue.

 

[MaxFromHolland]

What about putting the myrrh + grains + sterilized water in a small jar on a magnetic stirrer? The water makes the whole mix mobile enough to actually stir and such a stirrer doesn't use much energy.
The constant movement, i expect, would cause the maceration to be completed in a matter of weeks. Then stop stirring and let it settle a day or 2. Put it in the fridge so you can comfortably scoop off the near solid myrrh. Quicky dab it with paper towel and put it in a bottle.
Musk grains should be at the bottom of the jar with the water.
Just a thought, never tried it..

 

[Saudalhajri]

What about putting the myrrh + grains + sterilized water in a small jar on a magnetic stirrer? The water makes the whole mix mobile enough to actually stir and such a stirrer doesn't use much energy.
The constant movement, i expect, would cause the maceration to be completed in a matter of weeks. Then stop stirring and let it settle a day or 2. Put it in the fridge so you can comfortably scoop off the near solid myrrh. Quicky dab it with paper towel and put it in a bottle.
Musk grains should be at the bottom of the jar with the water.
Just a thought, never tried it..

Wait I think you might be onto something here

 

[MaxFromHolland]

Wait I think you might be onto something here

I know zip about musk grains other than that they are fatty. My assumption is that that the water-oil mix, being a suspension while stirred, will cause some floating drops of oil to temporarily encapsulate the floating grains, fall apart again in a never ending cycle.
You may want to stir just enough to keep everything in suspension and no faster to optimize the whole proces. Some parts of the grains will be water soluble, but when released, likely prefer bonding with a passing oil droplet.

 

[Eleusis]

On my way to make the myrrh oil and musk maceration. One step at a time. First, distilling the myrrh, and next step is musk pod surgery.

 

[Mr.P]

On my way to make the myrrh oil and musk maceration. One step at a time. First, distilling the myrrh, and next step is musk pod surgery.

very nice… First time I've seen someone mentioning a fresh distilled myrrh oil! looks like nice resin, what kind of yield did you get?

 

[Eleusis]

The resin smell nicke but i think it is an old qtock from the seller, i will try to grab a fresh harvest for next time. I did not wheight it yet. I distilled 350g and i harvested 16g of oil so 4,5% but it still have to dry a little.

I still have 500g to distill. I just wanted to see if i had to lodify the receiving glass. I saw that some myrrh produce an on that is heavier than water so you have to add a glass tube in the receiver to catch both pirtions of the oil.

 

[Shiningrobes]

Rose and musk! Inspired by the old Mesoud rose/musk and the Yusa ambergris/musk. This time with the same Kashan rose from Yusa. Early days (next day really), but literally overnight the rose completely opened up. It’s more like a rose absolute now. Powdery, lilting, peppery. No color yet but the change is unmistakable. I have really high hopes for this. And since the bottle was basically gathering dust it won’t be a disaster if I have to add sandalwood, or oud or saffron. I didn’t do any grinding since the grains I used were already lightly ground with the tiniest bit of sandalwood. I wonder if that little bit of processing gave the musk a boost or a if this oil is just that volatile.