How to Prepare Essiac Liquid Extract

Essiac liquid extract is prepared by boiling Turkish rhubarb root, slippery elm bark, burdock root and sheep sorrel and steeping the mixture overnight. The extract takes its name from its inventor, Canadian nurse Rene Caisse. ("Essiac" is "Caisse" spelled backwards.) Caisse used the formula to treat cancer patients, but it can also be drunk for your general well-being. When preparing the extract, distilled water is required to keep the mixture free of impurities, and aluminum utensils cannot be used because the metal can adversely react to the herbs.

Things You'll Need

• 6 ½ cups of cut burdock root
• 1 lb. powdered sheep sorrel herb
• 1/4 lb. powdered slippery elm bark
• 1 oz. powdered Turkish rhubarb root
• Long-handled spoon
• Large mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• 2 gallons distilled water
• 2 4-gallon stew pots
• Stew pot lid
• Stove
• Large collander
• A person to assist you
• Funnel
• 17 16-oz. sterile glass canning jars with screw-on lids
• Ladle

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Instructions

• 1

  Blend all of the herbs together in a large mixing bowl with a long-handled spoon.

• 2

  Measure out 1 cup of the herbs.

• 3

  Place the remaining herbs in a 16-oz. glass jar with a lid and store them in a dry, dark place for later use.

• 4

  Pour two gallons of distilled water into a four-gallon stew pot.

• 5

  Put the pot on a stove burner with the heat set on high.

• 6

  Bring the water to a rolling boil.

• 7

  Put the cup of herbs in the water and put a lid on the pot.

• 8

  Boil the herbs on high for 10 minutes.

• 9

  Shut off the stove.

• 10

  Sit the stew pot on a cold burner and stir the contents with the long-handled spoon to keep them from sticking to the sides of the pot.

• 11

  Recover the herbs and let them sit overnight for 10 to 12 hours.

• 12

  Reheat the pot until the Essiac extract is steaming, but do not let it boil.

• 13

  Shut off the stove and sit the pot on a cold burner for a few minutes.

• 14

  Have someone hold a large colander over the top of an empty four-gallon stew pot.

• 15

  Pour the Essiac extract into a colander to strain it.

• 16

  Sit a funnel in the mouth of a sterilized 16oz glass canning jar.

• 17

  Use a ladle to transfer the extract from the stew pot into the glass jar.

• 18

  Sit the lid atop the jar but don't secure it.

• 19

  Repeat Step 17 and Step 18 until all 16 glass jars are filled.

• 20

  Let the jars sit and cool to room temperature

• 21

  Screw on the lids to all the jars.

• 22

  Store the jars in a dark, cool place.