@@kiki-kanoe That is a great question! I am by no means an expert. However, I’ve been thinking about this question and here’s my best guess. I think heating a product will likely diminish some of the beneficial elements, especially at high heat. For example cooking vegetables at high heat takes away some of the nutritional value. I can see it would be similar. In this salve recipe, we are heating the oil and pitch at a very low temperature. The water in the water bath never boils. We are only heating the pitch enough to be able to dissolve it in the oil. Low and slow is intentional in order to preserve as many healing properties as possible. I imagine though if you were to have a cut, for example, and could harvest running pitch directly off the tree and apply it to the wound that it would heal more rapidly than with a salve. It would be fresh, at its peak and be more concentrated. However, as salve can be easily stored, it’s a practical and readily available alternative. This salve definitely still helps to heal cuts and soothe rashes! I can attest to that! If anyone reading this has any expertise in this area, please weigh in!
Doesn't the heating process destroy the beneficial elements of the spruce pitch?
@@kiki-kanoe That is a great question! I am by no means an expert. However, I’ve been thinking about this question and here’s my best guess. I think heating a product will likely diminish some of the beneficial elements, especially at high heat. For example cooking vegetables at high heat takes away some of the nutritional value. I can see it would be similar. In this salve recipe, we are heating the oil and pitch at a very low temperature. The water in the water bath never boils. We are only heating the pitch enough to be able to dissolve it in the oil. Low and slow is intentional in order to preserve as many healing properties as possible. I imagine though if you were to have a cut, for example, and could harvest running pitch directly off the tree and apply it to the wound that it would heal more rapidly than with a salve. It would be fresh, at its peak and be more concentrated. However, as salve can be easily stored, it’s a practical and readily available alternative. This salve definitely still helps to heal cuts and soothe rashes! I can attest to that! If anyone reading this has any expertise in this area, please weigh in!