Minimum Alcohol % Needed to Dissolve Cannabinoids

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
Lol I remember Johnny Cab.

My dad is retired from electrical engineering. He did broadband digital telecom before it was cool.
So, he was pioneer...
He laid real cable and had a real tool belt!
Unlike the "plug and play" "tech" that is considered "engineering" today...
The guys today just need a pair of scissors to open the packages of pre-metered...everything...

I love when I hear current engineers bitch about how difficult their jobs are...

Yeah, really?
How about back in the day when you couldn't just order the tools you needed, you had to make them...
And I am not talking 1880, I am talking 1990's...

Makes me laugh...
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
So, he was pioneer...
He laid real cable and had a real tool belt!
Unlike the "plug and play" "tech" that is considered "engineering" today...
The guys today just need a pair of scissors to open the packages of pre-metered...everything...

I love when I hear current engineers bitch about how difficult their jobs are...

Yeah, really?
How about back in the day when you couldn't just order the tools you needed, you had to make them...
And I am not talking 1880, I am talking 1990's...

Makes me laugh...
My son is a Ph.D. EE he does mathematics, nothing else. At that end of the game the Ph.D.'s mostly design and research.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
So, he was pioneer...
He laid real cable and had a real tool belt!
Unlike the "plug and play" "tech" that is considered "engineering" today...
The guys today just need a pair of scissors to open the packages of pre-metered...everything...

I love when I hear current engineers bitch about how difficult their jobs are...

Yeah, really?
How about back in the day when you couldn't just order the tools you needed, you had to make them...
And I am not talking 1880, I am talking 1990's...

Makes me laugh...
Yah my dad had quite the tool collection, and he knows how to use them.

When I was a grad student in chemistry I encountered physical chemistry grad students. Their Ph.D tended to be five years of building the equipment, then a few climactic months of data gathering and evaluation.
I chose organic. The flask is a mature technology.
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
My son is a Ph.D. EE he does mathematics, nothing else. At that end of the game the Ph.D.'s mostly design and research.
I wish your son the best, I truly do!
In a lot of fields these days a PhD actually hurts you...
I knew a lady who worked very hard to get her PhD (civil engineering) and it actually made her ineligible for jobs because companies were unwilling to pay her what she was worth. Most cities civil departments are outsourced, so there were no direct government jobs.
So they would rather get some bachelor student fresh out school who will do anything and pay them as little as possible, or worse, this new trick they are pulling with the unpaid internships, which just end and a new crop of green in-debt up to their gills kids come in thinking they are going to do something that sets them apart and lands them a permanent position.
But it rarely happens...

It's a sad cycle to be honest.
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
My favourite tincture, far above alcohol, is simply steeping in kosher vegetable glycerin.
This melts off all the thc without ripping the molecules apart as alcohol does.
It can be done in an evening in a crockpot, or slowly over weeks or months for a superior product.
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
Yah my dad had quite the tool collection, and he knows how to use them.

When I was a grad student in chemistry I encountered physical chemistry grad students. Their Ph.D tended to be five years of building the equipment, then a few climactic months of data gathering and evaluation.
I chose organic. The flask is a mature technology.
I have always had a sweet spot for organic chemistry (and microbiology) myself.

There is something special about looking through a microscope, to me it's kind of like looking up at the stars, it puts a lot things into perspective and makes one realize just how insignificant we really are in the big scheme of things.

Your dad should check out the YouTube Channel MrPete222, he has some cool stuff on his channel.
I like watching his "mystery tool" series.
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
My favourite tincture, far above alcohol, is simply steeping in kosher vegetable glycerin.
This melts off all the thc without ripping the molecules apart as alcohol does.
It can be done in an evening in a crockpot, or slowly over weeks or months for a superior product.
Kind of like how MCT is used.
Though there seems to be some back and forth about the safety of vaping MCT oil and it's effect on the lungs.
Though if you're not vaping it, I suppose it's totally fine.

My only issue with the vegetable glycerine is that it is probably made from GMO soy, which is heavily sprayed with glyphosate and the last thing I want is for there to be concentrated Round-Up in my extracts.
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
Get proper high-quality kosher VG. Amazon sells it in giant bottles.
It is of very high purity. I reckon it is much less harmful to the body than alcohol.

It is ideal for mixing into other things as it loses the dislike for water. It mixes into water or water-based recipes real easy.
I also use it as a topical to treat sensitive skin.
 

OPfarmer

Well-Known Member
Never used VG. Like oils, i suppose you must concentrate your cannabis first, because it can't be done afterward?
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
Get proper high-quality kosher VG. Amazon sells it in giant bottles.
It is of very high purity. I reckon it is much less harmful to the body than alcohol.

It is ideal for mixing into other things as it loses the dislike for water. It mixes into water or water-based recipes real easy.
I also use it as a topical to treat sensitive skin.
@ANC,
Do you have any references about how well VG extracts?
Good tip on the Kosher VG, thanks.

However the Kosher version doesn't necessarily stop the use of glyphosate.

Farmers use it as a descant, which is sprayed on the soybeans pre-harvest, to help the plants dry faster in the fields.
There are other options but glyphosate is the cheapest. This is why foods like oats have such high glyphosate amounts, it's not from use while the oats are growing, it's because they drench the shit out of the oats pre-harvest because oats are so prone to mold. This is why oats are typically sold "triple washed" in an attempt to try and wash off the glyphosate that is on the surface, but it leaves a lot behind.

A while back there was a lot of people who swore by oil extraction (olive, coconut, etc) but all the papers I have read on it say that it extracts less than 10% of the cannabinoids and that's with prolonged "steeping" so I am curious how much VG extracts.
As long as you aren't smoking it, I guess the VG is ok, despite "cloud" chasers adding extra VG which they don't realize is setting their lungs up for issues down the road, but whatever, it's their life...


Never used VG. Like oils, i suppose you must concentrate your cannabis first, because it can't be done afterward?
Like @OPfarmer said, I have always extracted the oils, removed the alcohol, then put them in whatever base I intend to use them in.
This way I know exactly what I am getting and I can dilute it properly.
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
so I am curious how much VG extracts.
Certainly less than harsher methods. But the method itself is more accessible and palatable to most people.
Plus, it tastes fucking awesome. My main problem is not getting too knackered from licking off spoons and what not while working with it.

If how much it extracts is your only aim, I'd use sunflower or canola oil.
 

OPfarmer

Well-Known Member
Certainly less than harsher methods. But the method itself is more accessible and palatable to most people.
Plus, it tastes fucking awesome. My main problem is not getting too knackered from licking off spoons and what not while working with it.

If how much it extracts is your only aim, I'd use sunflower or canola oil.
How are you knowing your dosage?

I know ethanol wash and then evaporate all fluid is not 100% accurate because I have contaminants that make it through coffee filters, like chloriphil. But I kinda know my concerntration level.

I am just putting 1 gram concentrate with 12 grams ethonol as a flexible storage media.

I could evaporate the ethonol and and a more palitable carrier like glycerin.

So far,. gummies and Altoids.

Exploring some heavy honey Port wine\cherry "cough medicine" with CBN and CBD for sleep.

I can try dissolving the alcohol concentrate into gycerine for better flavor when not making som thing "special"

One good thing about alcohol is it is fast sublingual. Don't gotta wait for liver like with oils
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
alcohol extract oil lingers in the mouth for a while... not my favourite experience. I have Aspergers so I don't do well with odd sensations.
Dosage is when it is enough I guess. about a teaspoon full in the morning sets your day up right.
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
Certainly less than harsher methods. But the method itself is more accessible and palatable to most people.
Plus, it tastes fucking awesome. My main problem is not getting too knackered from licking off spoons and what not while working with it.

If how much it extracts is your only aim, I'd use sunflower or canola oil.
@ANC,
For me it's not about "maximum yield", it's about knowing the yield.
I am fine with using VG, or MCT, I just want to know how much cannabis oil is in the VG, that's all...

I am not a fan of surprises.

So, I would be more apt to extracting the oil, then adding a given quantity to some VG or MCT, then I know how much I am getting.

Speaking of getting "too knackered from licking off spoons..."; been there, lol...
Let's just say that RSO can be tasty and a little goes a very long way...
 

OPfarmer

Well-Known Member
I have an abused liver. Even the same dose effects me different each time

Alcohol, based under.toung, is quick and reliable,for me.

Yes I have licked too many spoons myself. Spending the day in comotos
 

Chris Edward

Well-Known Member
I have an abused liver. Even the same dose effects me different each time

Alcohol, based under.toung, is quick and reliable,for me.

Yes I have licked too many spoons myself. Spending the day in comotos
@OPfarmer,
Only a day?
You haven't lived until it's been like 3 or 4 days!!!
Just kidding, a 3 day trip is not a fun "ride"...

Sorry to hear about your liver, I hope you are still at a point where the tissue can rebuild.
 
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