KingstonRabbi
Well-Known Member
Making oil from Pre-decarbed bud using dehydrator
A couple weeks ago in the Oilers Lounge I posted about method I saw online that used an evaporator. I've made 3 batches and I'm very pleased with the final results in spite of initial difficulties.
The overall process is to decarb the herb first to avoid having to do this in the final cookdown over high heat.
The quick wash is next.
Then recovery of alcohol in still.
Final step is to evaporate the remaining alcohol at low temperature in a modified food dehydrator.
Actually final step is to get finished oil into container where I can mix it up into biobomb capsules, a task that almost made me give up on this method after the first batch.
The first batch came out so thick I could barely mix it with the flax seed oil. It took several remixings over several days to get it to keep from separating. And it had this foam film that would not mix in at all. In hindsight I think it's plant wax that I didn't filter out properly during wash.
The second batch went much better up to the evaporation step. The decarbed buds were better quality than first batch and didn't disintegrate completely into mud during wash. I refined my filtration process so it went more smoothly. I also added step of freezing overnight and filtering again to remove more waxes and plant matter.
I just added a ring of cardboard to create enough room for the oil container. I tried to save a step by evaporating in measuring cup that I use to mix up for capsules, same as I used with hot oil bath method.
Extraction reduced from 50 to 25 grams overnight, 21 grams after another 24 hours and would not reduce any further. I was confused because a) I didn't believe it possible to get 5 grams per ounce of bud, and b) this oil flowed at room temperature, something none of my previous oils did. Out of frustration I put it in hot water bath to finish. I got a few decarb bubbles briefly but no alcohol boiling off. Finally figured out it must be water in it. Chilled oil and was able to pour out water. Down to 18 grams or 4 gr/oz. Still didn't believe I had 18 gr of pure oil, but the capsules I made with it proved I did. They are as potent as double doses of previous batch.
The third batch made with 185 grams of White Widow, 160 grams after decarb in turkey bag, 110 minutes at 230 degrees.
My quick wash set up: standard jars, funnels, strainers and coffee filters with plenty of spares ready to swap out. Also used a fine mesh strainer as prefilter to catch fine plant matter. This kept filters from clogging as quickly. Last item is potato ricer I use to squeeze last drops out of buds.
I swapped out clogged filters to keep extraction flowing through. Basic process is to pick up clogged filter like a sack and slowly twist it to squeeze last of extraction through into a new filter.
End result of two washes, 3 liters from 1st wash and 1.5 liters from 2nd wash. In the two bottles on right you can see difference in color. Smaller bottle with 2nd wash is actually darker than bigger bottle with 1st wash.
After running through still I lost about 900 ml out of 4.5 liters between washes, recovery and alcohol left in the final reduction.
I processed the two washes separately to see how much each extracted. I used trays instead of measuring cup to increase evaporation rate. 2nd wash in smaller tray reduced overnight (temp set to 145) to thick but movable oil, about 5 grams. 20% of 2nd wash was actually alcohol left with buds from 1st wash, so only 3-4 grams. If I had done 3rd wash I might have gotten another gram, but with all the impurities I don't think it would be worth it.
And the 1st wash in the larger tray that just fits in dehydrator. Set temp to 95, extraction reduced in only 4 hours to 12 grams of oil that flows at room temp. That's about 4 times as much as from 2nd wash and better quality.
About 1 hour in oil was already separating from alcohol.
Final product scraped easily into container to mix into biobomb capsules.
Next step will be to try evaporator with non-decarbed buds to try making Grow Goddess's ND sap. I hate not recovering the alcohol, but to keep temps low throughout process I may have to skip the still.
A couple weeks ago in the Oilers Lounge I posted about method I saw online that used an evaporator. I've made 3 batches and I'm very pleased with the final results in spite of initial difficulties.
The overall process is to decarb the herb first to avoid having to do this in the final cookdown over high heat.
The quick wash is next.
Then recovery of alcohol in still.
Final step is to evaporate the remaining alcohol at low temperature in a modified food dehydrator.
Actually final step is to get finished oil into container where I can mix it up into biobomb capsules, a task that almost made me give up on this method after the first batch.
The first batch came out so thick I could barely mix it with the flax seed oil. It took several remixings over several days to get it to keep from separating. And it had this foam film that would not mix in at all. In hindsight I think it's plant wax that I didn't filter out properly during wash.
The second batch went much better up to the evaporation step. The decarbed buds were better quality than first batch and didn't disintegrate completely into mud during wash. I refined my filtration process so it went more smoothly. I also added step of freezing overnight and filtering again to remove more waxes and plant matter.
I just added a ring of cardboard to create enough room for the oil container. I tried to save a step by evaporating in measuring cup that I use to mix up for capsules, same as I used with hot oil bath method.
Extraction reduced from 50 to 25 grams overnight, 21 grams after another 24 hours and would not reduce any further. I was confused because a) I didn't believe it possible to get 5 grams per ounce of bud, and b) this oil flowed at room temperature, something none of my previous oils did. Out of frustration I put it in hot water bath to finish. I got a few decarb bubbles briefly but no alcohol boiling off. Finally figured out it must be water in it. Chilled oil and was able to pour out water. Down to 18 grams or 4 gr/oz. Still didn't believe I had 18 gr of pure oil, but the capsules I made with it proved I did. They are as potent as double doses of previous batch.
The third batch made with 185 grams of White Widow, 160 grams after decarb in turkey bag, 110 minutes at 230 degrees.
My quick wash set up: standard jars, funnels, strainers and coffee filters with plenty of spares ready to swap out. Also used a fine mesh strainer as prefilter to catch fine plant matter. This kept filters from clogging as quickly. Last item is potato ricer I use to squeeze last drops out of buds.
I swapped out clogged filters to keep extraction flowing through. Basic process is to pick up clogged filter like a sack and slowly twist it to squeeze last of extraction through into a new filter.
End result of two washes, 3 liters from 1st wash and 1.5 liters from 2nd wash. In the two bottles on right you can see difference in color. Smaller bottle with 2nd wash is actually darker than bigger bottle with 1st wash.
After running through still I lost about 900 ml out of 4.5 liters between washes, recovery and alcohol left in the final reduction.
I processed the two washes separately to see how much each extracted. I used trays instead of measuring cup to increase evaporation rate. 2nd wash in smaller tray reduced overnight (temp set to 145) to thick but movable oil, about 5 grams. 20% of 2nd wash was actually alcohol left with buds from 1st wash, so only 3-4 grams. If I had done 3rd wash I might have gotten another gram, but with all the impurities I don't think it would be worth it.
And the 1st wash in the larger tray that just fits in dehydrator. Set temp to 95, extraction reduced in only 4 hours to 12 grams of oil that flows at room temp. That's about 4 times as much as from 2nd wash and better quality.
About 1 hour in oil was already separating from alcohol.
Final product scraped easily into container to mix into biobomb capsules.
Next step will be to try evaporator with non-decarbed buds to try making Grow Goddess's ND sap. I hate not recovering the alcohol, but to keep temps low throughout process I may have to skip the still.
N 
to the 
community. Is there anything we can help you with?
ksasha. Well done. Most of us found we had a mad compulsion to do another run of oil-making as soon as possible. 
The process of making oil is its own addiction, akin to growing. I see the guys have given you all the proper directions to additional threads. Do stop in at the study hall. That BioBomb adaptation is so simple to do, and it'll increase the bioavailability from around 12% to upwards of 90%. Greater effectiveness for less oil. You save money and resources and get accelerated healing. 