First time making Oil I have a couple of Questions

[Poppa]

Questions first they concern plant mater and the last 2nd to last picture. This question maybe premature the oil I collected in 7th pic seems loose or liquidy. How do you judge when to stop the extraction or is just some thing learned by repeating process over and over. It is in fridge at moment. Second question I did two 20 minute washes and then buchner filtration of the plant mater once the residual alcohol evaporates can it be used for any thing? On to pictures 1st is of is of 1/2 of the 1st wash after going through the buchner funnel using the 3 filters in picture 2. Pic 3 are from left to right pint jar with what I was able to filter from the plant mater after the washes. Fourth was taken as first 1/2 of the first wash started. Fifth pic is what was left in bottle after the 2 washes, sixth is what level was after 1st wash was extracted and added back, seventh is what was collected from the first wash extraction. And lastly what I couldn't quite suck up with the syringe and ended up wasting I let it set to long before trying to get it out with a spatula had to clean it out with alcohol and dawn so crucible is ready to do second was tomorrow.

 

[Puglover1]

I don't have your equipment (wish I did). I do quick washes, few minutes. I put the syringe in the freezer to winterize, it won't be as loose. Your crucible? Could you have set some hot water under it to loosen it back up, or add a bit of warm EverClear? I hate to see that nice old get wasted. You can incorporate the oil into many things - gummies, butter, cooking oils, etc - as needed. Looks like 6 ml, how much weed did you use? Just curious. I think others who use a Source have an good idea when to stop it, I'm sure they'll weigh in. That thrice filtered beaker solution looks really nice.

 

[Poppa]

There is 3 ml in the syringe if I get comparable amount from second wash I'll end up with 6ml. I used 30.5 grams of larfy buds from one of my spring harvests. That being said I should mention when I was breaking it up to get good working consistency in my trim bin I harvested 2 grams of kief that was added to my jar of kief not the oil I'm sure that affected amount I will get once done with this run. I thought of just pouring some of the second wash into the crucible this morning. Then anytime I passed through the kitchen this morning while doing my normal routine giving it a little stir to dissolve it into the second extraction. But watching or reading some of the extract craft info it said adding new to old in crucible could cause splattering or popping creating a mess in the extractor. Each wash is more than the crucible can hold so i am doing 1/2 of it then pouring into jar jar with second run of same wash mixing it up good and do the second run it seemed to go smoothly.

 

[Ckbrew]

Nice job Poppa . When to stop the extraction. Are you trying to avoid all ethanol in the oil? Then it needs further concentration. If ethanol being present is not a problem then It is up to you. As the ethanol leaves, the oil will become thicker and harder to manipulate. A little bit of ethanol goes a long way to making it easier to use. If you need ethanol free, put your concentrate in a stainless steel measuring cup. Measure and record the tare weight first. Then I use a candle warmer to gently warm the oil. You will be able to smell the ethanol coming off. Continue until vapors are no longer being gassed off. The oil will be very stiff now think cold molasses. Silicone containers and tools help manipulate that.

If you did your extract correctly, there is little left worth fussing over in the leftover plant material. Let it dry and do a smoke test. It may be harsh, but see if it still gives a buzz. I usually do 3 washes of 5 minutes each as cold as the freezer will get it, about 20*F. Make sure there is no ethanol in it before you try and light it up lol.

Did you freeze your ethanol, bud, wash vessel, before extraction? Goal is to keep everything as cold as possible until it is separated from the plant. Did you decarb before extraction? Not sure how you intend to use this.

Why are there 3 filter papers? 3 different filter runs? Don't understand. You should be able to use the one paper in the buchner for all wash filtering during a lab session. I use a stainless kitchen drain strainer to pre strain the ethanol wash before sending to the buchner. Are you pre-wetting the filter paper with solvent before you start the filtration process? Doing this lets the paper relax and stick to the buchner plate.

The crucible is part of your extractor machine I take it. Don't waste that. Wash out with warm ethanol. It will not take much. Save this, put in freezer, then add to your next batch. Just toss it in the buchner and have it part of next batch. If you are particular about mixing strains of extract, then wash as described and start a saved wash jar of ethanol and what ever you washed out. Save it up and when you get enough concentrate it down. Call it mixed bag oil.

It looks like you have not completed your concentrations for all your washes. It will be interesting to see what your ethanol consumption is for the 30.5gm you started with. I'm talking process consumption, not licking the bowl. My process consumes about 150ml. processing a 30gm batch with a 60ml final volume for tincture.

The small jar in picture 3 is what? Did you press the plant material to get that out? If it is the "third wash" there might be something in it worth saving. Are you combining your washes or product of washes or keeping them separate?

I'm not familiar with the machine you are using. What is it? The spattering or popping you refer to is probably what is called bumping. That is when your solvent gets to a temperature higher than the boiling point but does not vaporize. This condition builds up energy until something has to give, then you get a sudden vaporization of solvent that pushes any liquid solvent out of it's way, hence the term bumping. It can cause mayhem in a system like I have. There are procedures to take to prevent bumping in systems like introducing nucleation sites with boiling chips or agitation. This can happen with most volatile organic solvents if precautions are not taken. Don't know if they are able to be applied in your evaporator, not familiar with the machine. I suspect solvent from a new wash might get under or mixed with the thicker oil in the crucible and cause this to happen. If the wash is used to completely dissolve any prior residue in the crucible you should be able to avoid this just like you did when you cleaned it. Clean it with then new wash. Use your own judgement.

Did I help you or confuse you? Feel free to ask more questions.

 

[Poppa]

Thanks Ckbrew Have the silicon tools need to to get some silicon containers still. As for thickness of oil I did the second wash combined with the liquid from the pint jar that I was able to extract from the plant mater after the washes with the buchner funnel. My freezer on fridge is about -10f I put both the plant material and ever clear in freezer over night and yes I did decarb. I understand the 3 grades of filters and am prewetting them with alcohol to set them before filtering. I just took some liquor and silicon tool to clear what I could remove from the crucible and will add it to my next washes before filtering. As for how much alcohol it took for these 2 washes of the 30 grams I'm doing a post of today after I answer you it will have picture of how much I did not put back in bottle. I will be combining these washes with the washes from 6 more jars. So I'll end up with a quantity to work with that once dosing is determined I can figure out what I want to make with it and know how much of it needs to be consumed for my uses.

 

[Poppa]

Extracted the second wash today in the first pic you can see level of liquor from what was returned form extraction of 1st wash 2nd pic shows was level is after second wash with a sealed bottles level to show what was consumed by the process, a small spillage and of course me licking the outsides of the jars. Third pic shows the close to 2ml I was able to collect from second washes extraction. It was much thicker so I now have a better concept of what to look for to get consistency I'm looking for. I've decided to put oil I collect from doing the 2 washes and extractions of the 7 jars together in the pint jar in 3rd pic to work with once its all processed. In 4th pic are to jars I broke up today while doing the extraction and and then did the decarb this evening its in freezer for doing washes and extractions tomorrow. Last pic is just 44 more jars I still need to break up.

 

[Puglover1]

44 more jars ... Poppa I think you need to rest and try out your new medicine. I wish I could rent a Source, lol. I was spending a lot on EverClear last winter but not that much.

 

[Ckbrew]

You have 44 more jars to process? The first run is always the most uncharted process. As you continue this you will find that your process requirements will become clearer and more intuitive. Keep on extracting.

 

[Poppa]

Sorry should be 4 more jars to process. Puglover1 Ckbrew

 

[Poppa]

I payed 203 for the case of Ever Clear and 40 in gas that works out to just over 40 per bottle. Puglover1 I'd say a rough estimate by using the extractor to reclaim the alcohol I may have spent 5 or I could say I saved 35 on what was used to do 1st 2 washes. In the long run I foresee the Source will pay for it's self in just a couple of years or less if I get more efficient at transferring between containers.

 

[Puglover1]

Poppa - I haven't made oil for almost 6 months. I was using nature's subzero temps in February to do fast, beautiful washes. I have a photographic kind of memory, I was trying to picture myself making oil (using the double boiler method to reduce). I remember putting filtered solutions into a Pyrex measuring cup, I didn't really have much drippage to be licking. Darn it. But I still mopped up anything with a gummy or bread. If I had the inventory you do I can see the Source paying for itself, maybe someday for me. My EverClear was ~ $35/bottle, no gas costs to add so about the same. Phew, glad it was 4 not 44, lol.

 

[Poppa]

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​ Was able to get about 7ml today. We have 6 or 7 more days of hot humid weather and my happy ass is going to stay inside making oil for 5 or 6 of them.

 

[Ckbrew]

Well then, after 5-6 days you should be well oiled.

 

[Poppa]

Started doing today's extraction as soon as I had a cup of coffee in hand around 8:20 was done had it collected and everything cleaned up by 5:30. I also finished breaking up last of the 4 jars I still need to decarb wash and filter. I'll decarb them this evening after the kids and grandkids leave. Then I can do the washes of those 4 tomorrow leaving me just the extractions to do the first 3 or 4 days of the week. With out trying I managed to add another 5 grams of kief to my stash from those 4 jars and collected a little over 6ml of oil. I screwed up and poured the alcohol from cleaning up residual oil in the crucible into the Ever Clear bottle not pint jar I had been using so its now Golden Clear. Thought I'd add a pic of what I've collected so far.

 

[Ckbrew]

Are you doing decarb before extraction and are you doing it in the mason jars or a different method. Or decarb the oil at the end ?

 

[Puglover1]

Golden Clear, lol. I guess it'll all come out in the wash.

(I didn't weigh my kief. Looking at yours and thinking about Blow, guessing I should have ~4 grams.)

 

[grouchyoldman]

Ckbrew, is there a reason not to decarb hash/kief before extraction?

It seems to me that the less "Handling" the better with sticky hash so I prefer to collect it in the jar I intend to decarb and later do the QWET extract in. So it really only touches one surface from dust to tincture.

By the way, I'm still probing the saturation limits of QWET, and after the third icy Everclear wash, my two grams of bubble hash is still giving up a potent (30-40 mg/ml) tincture after each run.

I think that means that the first two volumes of alcohol couldn't get all the THC. First wash was 30ml, 2nd & 3rd wash 15 ml each. That's a little over two ounces of high test tincture with zero alcohol waste. Very efficient use of hash and Everclear I reckon.

 

[Poppa]

I do the decarb before extraction Ckbrew . I did the 30.5 grams for 1st run in my magic decarb box but found the finger hash from breaking it up sticks to inside of box. The other 6 jars I have done the decarb in their jars so if the finger hash sticks to the jar it gets dissolved while doing the washes. To me it seems like it could be dangerous to do the decarb after extraction unless I took it to point of being a wax to assure all the everclear was removed with how flammable it is.

 

[Ckbrew]

Decarb before or after is a dealer's choice thing. Depends on intended use. Decarb before extraction makes the rest of the process a little easier but adds a step before extraction. Some people believe you may loose some terpines that way. Decarb after means you have to heat your oil to about 123*C and hold it there for about 30 minutes or until the small co2 bubbles stop. I think imo this method may loose some terps also. This will leave you with a very thick oil and if you like it thinner may have to add a touch of ethanol back in. If combining the concentrate with glycerine you can decarb in the glycerine very easily as you can heat it to 123*C and it does not boil. If the intent is to make an oil that will be dabbed or vaped, then no decarb is needed as this will happen in the heating element when dabbing or vaping. I have heard of decarbing in a sealed mason jar in an oven, then doing the wash in the same jar. This is supposed to preserve the terps. All that being said, decarb happens all the time but the rate is dependent on temperature. The THC gets heated during the ethanol evaporation so that will always contribute to decarb. Running your system for ethanol evaporation under vacuum allows for ethanol vaporization at a lower temperature which will help to preserve terpines also.

 

[Poppa]

Got the washes done yesterday so back to extractions today and was able to collect another 5ml. With 3 more jars left to extract I should end up with around 35ml when all's said and done.