Rose water

We are blessed to have three varieties of heirloom roses in our yard that smell heavenly. One is a lovely deep pink vintage bush that is over one hundred years old, another is a pale pink hedge rose that came from my grandfather's house, and the third is a wild vining cottage rose that has been passed from one family to another to another because it grows so rapidly.

One way to preserve the aroma of these beautiful flowers is to make your own rose water. The old method is quite effective and very easy to do.

You'll need:

2-3 quarts of rose petals (be sure they are pesticide and chemical free)

an old fashioned speckled granite canner with lid or a large kettle with a stainless bowl big enough to seal the top of the kettle.

a fire brick that will fit in the bottom

a heat resistant glass bowl

water

ice

Place the canner on the stove. Put the fire brick on the bottom of the canner.

Gently bruise your rose petals and scatter them loosely in the canner around the sides of the brick. Add water to barely cover the petals.

Place the glass bowl on top of the brick.

Invert the canner lid and put it on top of the canner. Bring the water to a boil and immediately reduce to simmering. Add 2-3 trays of ice to the top of the inverted canner lid to cause the rose water steam to condense on the bottom of the lid.

Because the inverted lid is curved down into the kettle, the condensation will drip into the glass bowl. What you are doing is essentially distilling the rose essence leaving you with rose water and possibly some rose essential oil in your bowl.
Here's a cut away sketch of what that looks like.  Read more about making herb waters or hydrosols in Herbal Medicine Chest - Lotions, Creams and Hydrosols
                                    
Continue to gently simmer for 30-40 minutes. Store your rose water in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge. Varying reports on the shelf life say that the rose water will keep from one month to one year. If it develops a sour smell or taste it's time to discard it and start fresh. Since rosewater you buy at the store is not refrigerated, I'd like to try sealing the hot water in a mason jar. My only fear is that it will spoil and I'll lose my precious batch for the year.

Rose water can be used in cooking and cosmetics. Besides the lovely aroma, rose water is mildly astringent making it a great facial freshener for dry or sensitive skin types. I've added it to moisturizers and cold creams with great results. If you have a good recipe for Turkish delight, you know that rose water is a traditional flavoring. I recently found a recipe for rose water shortbread cookies that I'm hoping to try out soon.

Sharing this link with Alphabe-Thursdays @ Jenny Matlock.