BHO: My Experiences

What would be the benefit to this method?

Getting little bits of ice in your mix due to the temperature that butane boils at?

I don't know that I would consider it a benefit, however...
 
Update from me.

I've done probably about another 4-5 runs since my last post on here. No pics, sorry but I really feel I've gotten things down really well.

I feel the smaller the tube the better, around a half inch diameter seems great. The reason is when you get up to 1" and higher, I believe, that the butane doesn't fully drench the entire product in said tube. With smaller tubes you know that its drenching the walls thus soaking the product very well. Summary: smaller tube = better yield.

I usually only go with half can in my half ounce capable tube.

I prefer glass over stainless steel tubes just because it's cooler to actually see what's going on in the tube, for me anyway. I feel so left in the dark with the stainless steel.

Unbleached coffee filters work really well, I'd say 90-120 are the best micron screens to use, 50 is great if you only want 100% personal for potency. However, with 90-120, if you heat purge well and vacuum purge you should be getting superb quality (considering you're using quality product).

I usually do 20-5 second intervals, 20 seconds running the can, 5 seconds pause. Just to prevent any blow-back, things compress in the tube when your keeping pressure going. This is more of a safety procedure, not 100% necessary, but worth it IMO.

Another little secret is to run the tube directly over parchment paper that is in your pyrex dish. This prevents you from having to scrape the BHO off the pyrex with the razors, which I find to be a bitch and always end up losing some product (only 1% or less). Then just heat purge with the parchment directly in the dish, works great. The paper is meant for baking and can withstand 420 degrees (no joke, coincidence), so if your doing a hot water bath, you're fine.

Finally, I did a run last night with kief. It's awesome. I had 8 grams of kief, and 5 grams of bud. My highest return was 17% before last night. I pulled 3 grams of wax from the 13 gram total, which is 24% return. So my first run with kief I increased production by 7%.

That's all for now! Hope some of this helps others, as it took me a while to gain all this insight. :Namaste:
 
Very useful stuff JJ :bravo: But I have a few questions for you... Last time I made oil I used sugary trim, I have a glass tube I use with a micron screen, and last time it worked out to be pretty good, but the first run got to the point of almost feeling like wax? It was very odd, and also when I am using trim, since you suggest not grinding up your nugs, should I bunch the trim together and try band make it more compact or leave it looser?
 
If you're using trim, not much can be done in regards to methods on using nugs. You should be fine, just pack the tube well, not too tight, not too loose.

I've found that usually you'll get more of an earwax substance when you leave it on the pyrex dish to heat purge for long periods of time. When it's no longer bubbling at all and just looks like a hardened paste.

If you don't like the wax and prefer more of a amber glass to jolly rancher substance, try removing it from the dish sooner while everything is still liquid.

My last run I blasted straight onto the parchment as mentioned above and my paper was a little too small, so some leaked onto the pyrex glass. Which was a good mistake as I was left with the same run but two different methods, in a sense. The parchment paper came out as small yellow/white crystal jolly rancher looking stuff. The stuff that leaked on the glass turned into a yellow/orange wax substance. Both heat very well, and taste amazing.
 
JJ:::great post,,,but if you want to get more out of your bho...I would do this first...
DRY ICE:::Break it up in small pieces and put it in your food processer...co2 will not explode but does leave a big mess if not done right...

Cover bho tube with dry ice,,,let sit for 24hrs than do bho...
 
JJ:::great post,,,but if you want to get more out of your bho...I would do this first...
DRY ICE:::Break it up in small pieces and put it in your food processer...co2 will not explode but does leave a big mess if not done right...

Cover bho tube with dry ice,,,let sit for 24hrs than do bho...

Funny you mention this, I have a friend who I saw does this as well. It's known as pre-freezing, the belief is it preps the trichomes to fall off easier, thus increasing potency and yield.

Thanks for sharing, I will have to give this a try.
 
I have learned a few more tricks of the trade that I would like to share with some members interested. Some people think it's wrong to share information because then their "secrets" are exposed and they lose money. But the way I look at it is that the more people doing things right the more healthy medicine for all.

When you vacuum purge, you want to be sure you keep a heat source. Going from a hot water bath or skillet to a cold vacuum purge is not good.

Most people agree, if you're doing large batches you need to use a vacuum oven for best, cleanliest results.

Different strains can handle different heat, overall stick to 100F-120F or you will burn terpenes.

Crackling dabs are not always butane, they can be water/moisture trapped inside.

Happy Dabbin'!
 
JJ, nice job! Do you have any pictures of your BHO tube rig?
 
Some more info:

I've found that shatter seems to be the best overall, I have a friend who's a professional and he's the one who got me going this direction.

Getting your BHO stable is ideal, meaning it breaks easily, isn't overly sticky (if at all), and is basically transparent. Of course with great smell and taste.

When you vacuum purge your material you want to keep it as warm as it was during your warm water bath (100F - 120F H2O). You don't want to take your pyrex or parchment paper and go from the warm to a cold vacuum purge.

Also I prefer blasting on pyrex these days, then scraping onto parchment. I do not like blasting onto parchment paper anymore.

If you're going to be doing large runs, like ounces at a time, it's ideal to invest in a vacuum oven, in order to purge the best and get the closest to purity and no butane left.
 
Thanks for the advice! I'm hope you don't take offense to my questions, I'm not trying to challenge you, just trying to find common-sense answers to some questions as to why people say "this is the best way", or "that way doesn'tSauronBlue,

work". I don't understand why leaving buds whole(with trichomes and thc stuck in the center of the bud, that"s not getting much exposure to the liquid butane) would be beneficial - but not everything that works makes sense, or is easily explainable. I just happened upon a friend getting rid of some hash, so I grabbed a couple grams. I ordered some vector, and plan on trying my hand at making some honey myself.



Once again, are you saying you lose a lot of keif? And if so, can't you just empty that from the grinder into the extraction tube?



Is this due to the larger particles getting though the average bubble hash process, or are you saying that even BH made with a 50 micron screen would be better than BHO? If so, why? Once again, I have never tried BHO, so I'm just trying to get your opinion so that I can learn. A friend just told me that he makes an oil from just soaking the leaves in oil, heating, and straining. I know nothing about oil, BH or BHO, so I'm just trying to learn what others like and why, so that I can try to decide what makes the most sense for me. If only consumer Reports would come out with a "Cannabis medicating and cultivation products" guide, then I wouldn't have to bug you!lol
@SauronBlue, you are correct. There is no way that increasing surface area reduces yield. That’s not how extraction works. I am a chemist and greater surface area and smaller particle size ALWAYS increases yield. It’s basic chemistry. There must be something else going on that we are not aware of that is responsible for a reduced yield.
 
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