Curing before RSO?

[Dzp111]

I just harvested a plant dedicated for making has oil (RSO) and I have a few questions:

1) Rick Simpson uses only buds on his video. Are the bud trims effective for the process as well?

2) Rick uses ISO alcohohol. Why would I use 190 Proof as suggested in other recipes? Isn’t the final product the same?

3) Since I’m in no rush, is it beneficial to jar cure the buds for a while before making the oil?

and

4) What’s the difference between trichomes and resin?

Thanks.

[dphipps1020]

So I can answer a couple of those for you. I personally used a Colorado made version of Everclear when I did this previously. Either way you want food grade alcohol for it. You can use trim as well, it's just as effective you just may not get as much oil from it as the trim has less trichomes on it. No point in wasting either though right? I think the last one I did had a lot of the "hay" taste to it because I didn't cure it. May have harvested a bit early too. I would suggest curing but maybe someone with more experience can answer whether it's really necessary or not. I'll be trying it differently my next round but I'm using strictly trim for mine so I can enjoy my buds. If you don't smoke a lot and prefer oils, edibles, hash, etc. I would use more buds. It's really personal preference there. As far as #4, I'm not really sure there I'll have to look that up.

[dphipps1020]

https://www.rollitup.org/t/whats-the-difference-between-kief-resin-and-trichomes.859020/

[s62]

Great find, dphipps!

[GardenLady]

That was interesting....thanks dphipps😃

[Tersky]

Trichomes are in fact resin glands. I found an article about it that goes into more detail but basically most of the cannabinoids come from the trichomes (https://honestmarijuana.com/trichomes/). Trichome heads that break off (like what you see at the bottom of a grinder) and gathered together to create a kinda sticky sand looking substance is generally called kief, but is still resin. Hash is generally a processed (by heat and pressure usually) form of resin.

Unfortuantely i dont know enough about RSO but i have done iso quick washes before which basically washes the trichomes off whatever you are using then you evaporate the iso alcohol. If you use iso, be sure to use 99%, but from what i understand everclear or food grade high proof alcohol is preferred, but i have never used it so i cant give feedback on that. I think the idea is food grade alcohol has less stuff that could be harmful than iso alcohol. 99% iso is going to be the "cleanest" iso you can get but is still not safe for human consumption which is why people recommend stuff like everclear.

As far as using buds or trim, im like dphipps. I like to save my buds for smoking so i usually do trim and maybe some larf that i missed cleaning up before flower.

Oh and to cure or not to cure...thats a really good question and someone with experience with making rso it could give you better advice than me.

[alltatup]

I have to disagree, with all due respect, with dphipps1020 In my experience making oil and tinctures, there's a huge difference between bud product and trimmings product.

If you use a machine like ExtractCraft's The Source, you use a lot less heat. I always decarboxylate my material before making tincture, oil, or shatter.

[Tersky]

I'm curious and only slightly knowledgeable on extractions. I understand decarbing for oil and tincture but i've never seen it done for shatter. What does this do? I was under the impression that because you heat up shatter to use it it decarbs while smoking, much like regular bud does? Also dont you bake the extraction solvent out which would decarb as well? Honestly just trying to learn! I've watched some videos and read some articles but thats about it.

[dphipps1020]

Like I said I don't have a lot of experience with it so I'm glad you can be of better assistance

[Tersky]

I guess it depends on whether they just want to use the trimmings up or if their main goal is to make RSO. I agree with alltatup , buds are always better to use doing any extraction, but i read the question whether you can do it with bud trimmings or not. In that respect i agree with dphipps1020 . You can make RSO with trimmings but it wont be as good as doing it with buds and you wont get as much. If making RSO is your main goal then use buds. If you just want to do something with the trimmings then go for it!

[alltatup]

Totally agree. Medicinal oil should be made from bud, but I always make tincture with my trim. The difference between the trim tincture and bud tincture is that I have to remove a lot more Everclear from the trim tincture; it's just not as strong as the bud tincture.

[MeestaFeesha]

I have not done RSO, but qwISO (quick wash ISO). Looking up RSO, they seem to be the same. Tersky has got you covered it looks like! 🤘😎.

I'll add, my reasoning for buds over trim in a qwISO was that trim can be a bit on the harsher side. Doing RSO, since you're soaking the plant material with your solvent for so long, it pulls more chlorophyll out and into your final product. (At least how I was led to believe when doing qwISO runs roughly 10yrs ago)

[Tersky]

That is true. Ive seen a vid on ethanol extraction (basically same thing as RSO) and the trick this guy used was to let the chlorophyll filled solvent mixture sit in the sunlight for an hour in a jar with a cap. The sunlight will get rid of the green because science (something to do with chlorophyll disolving in sunlight but too stoned to want to look it up).

[alltatup]

Yes, true. QWISO is for making a vapable/smokable concentrate that you don't want ruined by the chlorophyl.

[Dzp111]

Thanks for your replies, I found it all very informative.

I failed to mention that I intend to make the RSO for oral (medicinal) consumption only. The reason I asked about bud/trims is because I thought that perhaps all trichomes on the same plant were created equal.

I’m a little confused about the decarb process. Truth be told I wouldn’t mind getting a little buzz after ingestion. Wouldn’t the rice cooker provide enough heat for this?

Thanks again.

[MeestaFeesha]

I am looking for a similar manner of ingestion, I found MCT oil. Although, I plan to be using concentrates, trim/shake/stems are first mentioned...let me shoot you a link.

Our very own GWE guide by Sirius, with credit given to Old Hippie

https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-caps

Specifically MCT Oil - VermontGrowCoach

https://vermontgrowcoach.com/cannabis-infused-oil/

^ the article I most recently read ^

Edited to add: Yes, I do believe a rice-cooker or crock pot will reach a temperature to decarb. Can't say for sure as I haven't tried yet, and am making an assumption from what I have read.

[Farmall]

Dzp111 you should take a look at extractcrafter.com and read a few of his posts on extraction. Additionally, the Source Turbo makes a simple task out of the Everclear extraction. Whether you decide on any of those processes, the knowledge of doing them can help to guide you through. I have read many controversial articles on making RSO with iso. But it’s your choice once you get started.

i once read a great book on making a still. The author noted “its illegal to build one but not illegal know how and that knowledge will steer you in a better direction for many other uses’’. That guy was right😉

[Toker1]

You want high proof ethanol for this type of extraction. Trim will work, but the best quality products will come from the buds themselves. Curing the buds will have little benefit to this type of final product (RSO). The reason being is you cure to develop terps. But for RSO you need to decarb. The trim or buds. So you lose terps in that process. I know alltatup has a decarb box that saves terps. Might make a difference in that case, but my experience has been with out.
Live resin and rosin are extracted trichomes that use heat and pressure to press the oil out.

[alltatup]

The Nova decarboxylator machine. https://ardentcannabis.com/product/nova-decarboxylator/

[Leathergal]

I make rso,medical grower. I only use everclear for my process. Never tried food grade alcohol. I grow one big girl and ditch the trim. Sugar leaves are left on to keep buds from drying out too much during drying. I always decarb the nugs. Cure in Mason jars for 30 days minimum. Gets out all gases to burp jars regularly. Decomposes the green chlorophyll hay taste. Only the ripened trichomes get you pain help or block the neuroreceptors for pain to brain which I really need. White trichomes and stems or amber starting is my preference. I use A ceramic crock pot outside on low with A steel bowl perched down in it like a double boiler. Can't afford A levo or any expensive chit. Works great. I've had 29 surgeries and crappy health,pain. Rso keeps me off strong narcotic drugs with A script. Love the chit.