Iso Extractions by _oakley_

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
So this is my guide and attempt to clear up a lot of the confusing circling around about how to make oil with isopropyl/isopropanol. Hopefully this thread will explain in detail on a proper method to process with these solvents and answer any questions that may remain.


Step 1; Material and Material Preperation.

The quality of your material is of the UTMOST importance. If you start with something thats not very good, your going to end up with something thats not very good. Personally i like to use sugar leaf/bud/bottom of the bag stuff.
The quality of your material will determine how much you should grind your material up. For this demonstration we will be using medium quality bud.

Here you can see the bud i started with, 1oz dried.
The bud is frozen for approximately 1-2 weeks before hand, this does 2 things, accelerates the breakdown of chlorophyll, and locks what chlorophyll that remains in the plant matter in place. Since the material is of medium quality it is ground up as such, not extremely fine, but a mix of what would be good for a joint, and chunks that are just a little to large to roll...

Step 2; Iso quality's and prep.
do not, and i cannot stress this enough DO NOT use iso that is below 90% concentration, it is a waste of time and will leave you with a slimey disgusting mess. this is NOT what you want!

Quantity of iso to use is under great debate, for med-> high quality materials i like to keep the ratio around 1L of iso to 1oz of bud/sugar leaf, this assures the highest possible cannabinoid recovery.

So now you have acquired your isopropyl/isopropanol of greater than 90% concentration, personally i recommend nothing but 99% but that is not available in all areas. If you have to use anything But 99%, there will be some changes in the cooking process.

DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.
Freeze your iso!! deep freezer is best but a kitchen freezer works just fine as well, make sure its as cold as the freezer can get it... will usually take between 3-5 days to accomplish this.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Step 3; Processing materials and filters.

This step is open to a little bit of interpretation, but the filtering process is essential, the containers are not... but i recommend them as they are extremely cheap, durable. and effective!

I use 2L pop bottles, cut like so to create a large cup and funnel. You will also notice in the attached picture, reuseable coffee filters, these are the basic plastic ones with the mesh insert <--- very important! there is also some regular cone style coffee filters with no holes (or flavor pores as they list them on package) you just want the regular old typical coffee filter. and finally youll want something to clean up little spills, wipe your utensils/tools down with, i find good old ass wipe works best. spray a lil iso, wipe, done.


Step 4; Processing your material.

all your iso/bud should remain in freezer until the very last moment.

When your setup like so;


filter in place over the cut 2L
Take your bud, and put it in your filters.



Dump your iso over.... you will notice it practically just Falls through, this step shouldnt take more than a few seconds. lift the filter and shake it down abit to get the remaining large drops out.

Take the filter with the iso'd material, and quickly dump its contents back into the bag in which you dumped it out of. Push the material to corner of bag, and cut the corner of the bag, replace the filter overtop of the 2L, and squeeze the remaining iso out of the material into the reusable filter on top of the 2L. Time is of the essence... do this QUICKLY things warm up fast and start to strip chlorophyll faster than you would think. Personally i can do my runs, and squeeze remaining iso out of material in under a minute.


Step 5; Post filtering.

after all this work you should end up with a 2L full of cloudy iso that somewhat resembles this...

this is Excellent! But we arent done yet.
grab your other 2L's and set the cut off 2L top on top of the 2L like you did the reusable coffee filter, and place one of the regular coffee filters in place.
this filtering process can take upto an hour or more, BE PATIENT DO NOT RUSH IT!!!!!!

take your 2L with your cloudy iso, and pour it through the coffee filters you have setup. the reason for this is the iso is cloudy because of a suspension of trichomes that are in it... this can be A lot ;) As can be seen in the attached photos.


As you can see its quite significant what this step removes!
after completing this filtering process, you will notice the color of your iso has changed from a cloudy color, to a more consistent clear color
from->mid filter -> filterd ->


Step 6; Cooking!

Use a pyrex/borosilicate dish.
i like to use a hot plate to heat my iso...

Try not to boil your iso when cooking as this can lead to degradation of your (boiling in itself will not cause damage, but is a clear indication of temperature, Iso will boil around 70-80c the problem is once its starts boiling you are unable to tell if your mixture is getting TOO hot) cannabinoids. There is an exception to this... if you are using anything less than 99% you will NEED to boil your mixture for a certain amount of time. The reason behind this is the other remaining % of your solvent, is actually water... since iso cooks down in a short period of time, you will be left with a pool of water in your oil, this will most definitely not be pleasant, by achieving boiling for a short time, say 5-10min you are aiding in the evaporation of this excess water content.

Cooking is an Art form.. im sorry to say but up until this point there is science in how i make my oil. at this point... its quite simply experience... over cooking your oil will destroy the consistency and very much change the high. Properly cooked iso based oil, should be gel like... eg when i grab a dab of oil, it will pull a tail, then pull the tail back up under its own viscosity.

May this guide be of use to you all and serve you all well... for those of you who would like to dispute my methods well...



argue with that.
-this document is fiction and any attempts to reproduce its contents may or may not be illegal and i will and shall not be held accountable for what you do with it :)
 

kindnugz

Active Member
Do you pour the iso over the bud in the coffee filters multiple times? How do you know you have pulled the maximum trichomes off the bud?

Also, can I pre-boil my iso to remove the water before infuding it with thc? I have 90% pure from the pharmacy.

Thx!!
 
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cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Do you pour the iso over the bud in the coffee filters multiple times? How do you know you have pulled the maximum trichomes off the bud?

Also, can I pre-boil my iso to remove the water before infuding it with thc? I have 90% pure from the pharmacy.

Thx!!
Isopropanol forms an azeotrope (constant-boiling mixture) with water. That azeotrope is 91% 2-propanol and 9% water. Distillation at standard pressure will not improve that ratio. It also explains why 91% is a typical article of commerce. cn
 

gioua

Well-Known Member
Excellent post.. As you know from my PM today I do the exact same thing.. However I do not use that much ISO usually just fill above the med.
I shake mine for 10-20 secs. You pour ISO over a filter which has the pot in it then use the ziploc like I did. You use a heat plate and burn off the iso I was using air/fan blow dryer.

I plan on trying your method ASAP but have a ?

does using a full liter to an oz really do more for you then when you used just above the rim of the weed like in a mason jar? From what I read you do not shake whatsoever? it seems amazing your able to pull that much trics just by doing what you did.

Also the jar of oil looks like liquid?
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
Do you pour the iso over the bud in the coffee filters multiple times? How do you know you have pulled the maximum trichomes off the bud?

Also, can I pre-boil my iso to remove the water before infuding it with thc? I have 90% pure from the pharmacy.

Thx!!

only pour the iso over once. that is all that is needed.

if you follow my ratio of solvent to material, you will maximize your yields.

pre boiling your iso is counter productive you will boil off the very solvent you wish to use.
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
Excellent post.. As you know from my PM today I do the exact same thing.. However I do not use that much ISO usually just fill above the med.
I shake mine for 10-20 secs. You pour ISO over a filter which has the pot in it then use the ziploc like I did. You use a heat plate and burn off the iso I was using air/fan blow dryer.

I plan on trying your method ASAP but have a ?

does using a full liter to an oz really do more for you then when you used just above the rim of the weed like in a mason jar? From what I read you do not shake whatsoever? it seems amazing your able to pull that much trics just by doing what you did.

Also the jar of oil looks like liquid?

lol the pictures are in front of you :) yes i really do pull that many trichs off my material doing it in this method. And no there is zero shaking in this method, shaking will only lead to increasing your temperatures faster and stripping chlorophyll, both of these are counter productive.
the jar of oil "looks" like liquid to you because it doesnt contain impurities.... impurities are what gives oil its "solid" color... like i said, following this guide and learning to cook proper, you can make a gel that is 100% transluscent, eg.. spread flat you could read through it with ease.
 

fisch28

Well-Known Member
Awesome, I will be giving this method a shot next week. I've only been through 2 batches of ISO which has come out about as expected given my experience. Everything you said here seems to make perfect sense, hopefully I can get some oil like yours!
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
just for everyone, dont ever get discouraged by poor results / compare to mine...
ive been cooking oil with iso for a little over 12 years now... i messed up ALOT over that time ;)
tried more ways than most of you can imagine lol
 

gioua

Well-Known Member
Okie dokie Oakley.. I am trying this first thing in the am..
I have plenty of material however you choose the strain you think will do the best in this method I have
Orange Crush
Hindu Skunk
Bubba Kush
3 unknowns.. seems to be a purple of some sorts..
I will post and add pics once it's done.. lemme know what strain you think would be best?
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
sativas/sativa dominats will yield a more yellowish amber gel
while indica and indica dominants will yield a reddish gel

go for a sativa if you wanna fly high
go for an indica if you wanna fade into the couch haha
 

DJapeshit

Active Member
That oil looks delicious. The stuff I make doesnt even look smoke able compared to that. Im gonna have to try it your way.....usually i water cure my buds and trim before hand. Should i skip this step due to the freezing?
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
That oil looks delicious. The stuff I make doesnt even look smoke able compared to that. Im gonna have to try it your way.....usually i water cure my buds and trim before hand. Should i skip this step due to the freezing?

cured dry material only, do not use fresh/wet
 

DJapeshit

Active Member
its cured. Just not jar cured. I save that for me buds. For my hash i water cure cause it only takes a week and pretty much strips the weed in a sence of everything but the thc. It looks like poo and doesn't smell at all. But next to no chlorophyll and other contaminants. There's a lot of thigs i can start doing like freezing buds and ISO, and getting higher grade. Ill hae to try it soon. My Budd has been bringing trash bags full of lower end nugs buy for me to hash out. Do you mess with butane at all??
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
yeah i can make quality bho as well, see attached pic....
like i said, your material determines your final quality.... would you take a joints worth of that stuff roll it up and smoke it as is?
im not saying you cant make oil from it... but you probably wont get that translucent gel i speak of... lower end nugs work great... i use em all the time, even good quality trim can produce amazing oil
the pic of bud attached is what ive been cooking with lately. nothing special... but obviously not "brick weed"
 

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gioua

Well-Known Member
So I spent the day pretty much smoking the hash I have and debating all day to try this method.. I was not able to get motivated to do much today. Damn Bubba Kush is making me sleepy
 

DJapeshit

Active Member
I would smoke a j of that stuff, and have cause the thc is untouched seeing as its not water soluble. The point of water curing is to get super clean buds. Not unsmokable. Id try it sometime if you haven't. Its just one week!
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
That oil looks delicious. The stuff I make doesnt even look smoke able compared to that. Im gonna have to try it your way.....usually i water cure my buds and trim before hand. Should i skip this step due to the freezing?

so did you ever try this method out?
 

gioua

Well-Known Member
I know you did not ask me... but.. I did try it with about 1/8th and about 2 -3 iso tho I saw and noticed little difference in shaking for a few secs and this method I did not follow the dirs 100% I used a mason jar less bud less ISO.

I am going to try your method next.. but as of right now I am happy with the dry keif way I am making my edibles and well what works.. stick with it huh
 

oakley1984

Well-Known Member
I know you did not ask me... but.. I did try it with about 1/8th and about 2 -3 iso tho I saw and noticed little difference in shaking for a few secs and this method I did not follow the dirs 100% I used a mason jar less bud less ISO.

I am going to try your method next.. but as of right now I am happy with the dry keif way I am making my edibles and well what works.. stick with it huh

oh hey sorry! yeah mason jar will kill the results pretty quick unless you freeze them as well, glass is an insulater and being at room temp would QUICKLY raise the temp of your iso
its also going to be really difficult to see results only from an 1/8th.... ive processed a garbage bag of material using this method lol
 

CdnBud

Well-Known Member
Hey Oakley...great info. I have a few questions. What is the ratio of iso to weed?... Where can I find 90+% of iso in Canada
 
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