Innovating the Journey, The BHO(W) Log
- Thread starter MinnesotaHomegrown303
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Fadedawg
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MinnesotaHomegrown303
Active Member
Try as I might, the material remains somewhat sticky. After several more hours pouring through threads I found what I believe to be the main issue. The trim I have thus far been running is amazing. It's closer to cured than dry through and still squishes in my hands. I have found that when looking for a harder or shatter like consistency, it is essential to have your material very dry. It also increases yield and decreases the amount of plant matter the solvent will pull. I have a dehydrator but looked further into it and found that terps degrade even at room temp, dehydrating your material will speed the process but also change the smell of your final product(due to loss of terps as most dehydrators run between 95-140). I have found an excellent alternative to this in my vacuum chamber! Put a few ounces in, pull 25-29 for as long as it takes, usually only an hour or two. This preserves more of those precious terps and eliminates the need for a dehydrator. I also changed my set up. My chamber will sit in a silica sand bath on my griddle or hot plate, oil temp will be tested @ 90 first. I will run full vac in 20-30 minute intervals degassing the chamber in between. I plan to flip the slab once and do those cycles for 3-5 hours(longer if needed). I will also test different runs in 10 degree increments to show what happens at each temperature. Is it ok to add a coffee filter under my 50 micron screen in my CLS? I wonder also if 50 micron lets many of the sticky lipids and waxes through. My original failure I used a 50 micron screen and didn't see the tiny holes until after I believe that is another factor that determined the consistency of that extract. Anyways my point is, do not be naïve like me and overlook such a simple aspect. I felt it was dry but did not want to loose taste and failed to see the logic in moist material equaling moist extract.
MinnesotaHomegrown303
Active Member
holy crap! Upon review of my system I found that the mesh is 150 micron! From what I understand you want the micron to be low(smaller #) to avoid letting the fats and waxes through. Am I correct in wanting to add the coffee fiter(s)?
MinnesotaHomegrown303
Active Member
Dehydrating my material with the chamber is the best thing I have so far done! I have done a few pulls in between returning the chamber to atmospheric pressure and I can literally feel the moisture and heat from evaporation. As I said the next trim I will run is already bone dry but I believe moisture in my starting material caused my extract to be very sap like(although not very runny and among several other factors including extremely incorrect extraction and use of way too much solvent). I don't think the extra heat I have given it at multiple stages in hopes of "drying" it out into a stable form have not helped.
MinnesotaHomegrown303
Active Member
After using silicon to seal the lid of the gauge more securely I feel my chamber is ready for another go. I will be running extremely dry material when I wake up. About 240gs of ISS, Bubble Gum, and Cali O and an ounce of 220 dry sift(which is mixed in prior to dehydration). The tentative game plan is to fill my solvent chamber, then put on dry ice to minimize the waxes extracted, pull the vacuum on the collection base and tube and also put that on dry ice during the process. On the last run I did not use a scale to measure if my reclaim tank was empty and the collection tank was bathed in 110 degree water for one hour. This time I will weigh it and degas the last ounce or two(obviously outside) as well as use a less warm water bath for less time. The extracted material will then be put into my chamber at 88 degrees and pulled to 20inHg. After most reaction stops I will pull the rest of the way, close the chamber, and leave it until the reaction stops. I will flip and repeat this process in 30-1 hour intervals allowing the chamber to degas in between. I hope to achieve shatter. Is it recommended to leave the pump pulling for the entirety of the process or just to get up to desired pressure? Also I find purging times varying greatly from 3 hours to 72+ with parties on both sides swearing to their product. It does not seem to me that they would even be in the same ballpark as thc is boiled out at full vac even with no heat. Are the people purging that long doing insanely thick slabs? I'm left to believe that half of the people are pulling way too many terpenes and the other half are leaving way too much solvent. Is there a happy medium? I cannot wait to make an updated thread once I have a solid grasp on everything.
lio lacidem
Well-Known Member
The time of purge varies due to several reasons. Thickness of patty, amount being purged, and temp purging at.
Fadedawg
Well-Known Member
I suggest packing the coffee filters between the screen and the plant material, using the screen to simply support the filters.
Besides residual solvents, and water, another thing that loosens up shatter, so that it isn't brittle at room temperature, is monoterpenes.
Monoterpenes are alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, esters, and carboxylic acids, typically with high vapor pressure even at ambient, which is how they stink up a room right through double baggies so easily, even though they are significantly below their boiling points.
They are easy to extract if they are still there after drying and curing, and the most common stumbling block is holding on to them while purging residual solvent. All moot of course if they are lost during drying and curing.
The easiest way I've found to produce pristine double gorgeous museum quality bragging rights shatter for photographs, is use fully cured material.
The easiest way I've found to produce aromatic tasty concentrates, is not get caught up in fads or semantics, and consider shatter to include pull and snap. Pull and snap is what you get when you have a pristine double gorgeous museum quality bragging rights shatter with more residual monoterpenes remaining and acting as a solvent.
One of the charms of pull and snap, is that besides having more bouquet and flavor, and being just as gorgeous to cast our eyes upon as brittle shatter, it is not as prone to send shards flying about the room when you are trying to part off a piece with a cold dabbing tool.
Fadedawg
Well-Known Member
A 50 or even a 20 micron filter don't stop the fats, lipids, and waxes, because they are in solution when they pass through it, unless the solution has been chilled (sub zeroed) long enough for them to precipitate out of solution.