QWET oil extraction

[Sour Deez]

So I've tried my hand at this processes, and I think I miss understood the wash part, and wonder if I'm fucked?

I've taken 25g dried bud material from an outdoor harvest, and put it into a mason jar. Than I added 200g of frozen Everclear (this is all I had in the freezer). I shook the jar for 3 mins, and filtered through a 220 1g bubble bag I have. I put the liquid in a stainless steel bowl, and threw it into the freezer.

So the liquid looks bright green. I'm guessing I shook things too long, and removed too much chlorophyll. When I move the liquid in the bowl by spinning it, I can notice a lighter mater underneath the bright green.

Am I on the right track? This is just a test run for me, got a lot of material to work with. Will I be able to filter off, or remove the bright green color by more wash's and filters?

220 micron is pretty big, try using a coffee filter.

 

[Gray Wolf]

So I've tried my hand at this processes, and I think I miss understood the wash part, and wonder if I'm fucked?

I've taken 25g dried bud material from an outdoor harvest, and put it into a mason jar. Than I added 200g of frozen Everclear (this is all I had in the freezer). I shook the jar for 3 mins, and filtered through a 220 1g bubble bag I have. I put the liquid in a stainless steel bowl, and threw it into the freezer.

So the liquid looks bright green. I'm guessing I shook things too long, and removed too much chlorophyll. When I move the liquid in the bowl by spinning it, I can notice a lighter mater underneath the bright green.

Am I on the right track? This is just a test run for me, got a lot of material to work with. Will I be able to filter off, or remove the bright green color by more wash's and filters?

I suggest freezing both the plant material and the alcohol, using a coffee filter instead of the 220 bag, and don't shake the mix so heavily.

You can break down some of the green chlorophyl by setting the jar of green alcohol in strong sunlight or under a grow lamp for a few hours.

 

[Gray Wolf]

What about hexane?

Hexane is non polar and works well, but is harder to purge than alcohol and I understand that Chloroform is actually a better solvent for cannabis exctraction, though I haven't tried it yet.

I have extracted with hexane, but we use hexane more for cleaning up extractions and for alchemy, than raw extractions, because HLPC grade is expensive and purging it afterwards costs some of the turpenoids that we try to preserve.

Any of ya'll organic chemists care to comment on the ultimate extraction solvent?

 

[a6grow]

Hey Gray Wolf, I have made tincture a couple times and was real excited to stumble across your thread. I was planning to use some BHO for some potent tincture but then decided to go with QWET oil to keep it all ethanol based for food grade purposes. I was wondering if you could help clarify some info.

We dry our cured material even further by spreading it on a cookie sheet and baking it in a 200F oven until just frangible when rolled between the finger and thumb. Just frangible does not mean powder dry and still has some moisture content that we will control by freezing. If the material is too dry and frangible, it will break up and add color.

When decarbing the buds, how long do you usually leave it baking at 200F? When it starts to smoke/vapor, would that be considered too dry?

When they have both stabilized at about 0F, pour the alcohol into the jar of plant material, so that it is at least an inch above the material, and shake it gently a few times to make sure everything is wet. Place back in the freezer.

How long does it usually take to stabilize at 0F? Also, when placing back in the freezer and before the 3 minute wash, how long should the ethanol/bud mix be left in the freezer?

Regarding the reduction, is a water bath ok as opposed to an oil bath? For the second/last reduction, once the ethanol is reduced to a similar state like the last picture (qwet.jpg) in your first post, I am assuming it is still in a minimal liquid state? Or does it need to be reduced until it is sort of like resin-y oil left on the container? How should it be collected and then stored? If I wanted to make tincture with it, would I just dump it into some alcohol?

 

[Gray Wolf]

Hey Gray Wolf, I have made tincture a couple times and was real excited to stumble across your thread. I was planning to use some BHO for some potent tincture but then decided to go with QWET oil to keep it all ethanol based for food grade purposes. I was wondering if you could help clarify some info.



When decarbing the buds, how long do you usually leave it baking at 200F? When it starts to smoke/vapor, would that be considered too dry?



How long does it usually take to stabilize at 0F? Also, when placing back in the freezer and before the 3 minute wash, how long should the ethanol/bud mix be left in the freezer?

Regarding the reduction, is a water bath ok as opposed to an oil bath? For the second/last reduction, once the ethanol is reduced to a similar state like the last picture (qwet.jpg) in your first post, I am assuming it is still in a minimal liquid state? Or does it need to be reduced until it is sort of like resin-y oil left on the container? How should it be collected and then stored? If I wanted to make tincture with it, would I just dump it into some alcohol?

I don't decarboxylate the material at 200F, only reduce the moisture content. If you look at a decarboxylation graph, after an hour at temperature, only about a third of the potential THCA was converted and at the rate it was also producing CBN from the existing THC, it is never going to rise much higher.

Since you can never really tell how much decarboxylation has already taken place due to time, age, and temperature, I decarboxylate after I have extracted the oil, because I can tell from the CO2 bubbles what is going on.

I only bake to the point of frangibility, because material that has zero water presents new problems, given the number of hard to filter fines that it generates. Any smoke or vapor from the material in the 200F oven, tells you that you are long past time to take it out.

I tell it is frangible, by rolling it between my finger and thumb. When it just breaks up, it is ready. Reaching that point is more critical when reducing the material through a screen for packing in a column, but for soaking in frozen alcohol in a large mouth fruit jar, I don't usually reduce the material beyond coarsely breaking up the buds.

Smell is a good way to keep alarm tabs however, because the moment it stops smelling like drying cannabis and starts smelling like turpenoids, you have passed the critical point.

As far as time in the freezer, I keep my freezer at 0F and normally soak for at least a couple of days, but have successfully run in within 8 hours.

A hot water bath will not get hot enough to achieve optimal decarboxylation temperatures. Using simple Canola oil in a pan with a few fruit jar lid rings in the bottom of the pan for spacers, is really easy.

I keep an electric fondue pot full of oil sitting on the back of the stove at all times, but you can use a funnel to save the oil in the original container and continue to use it indefinitely.

For a QWET tincture, simply stop reducing the alcohol level, when it reaches the state that you desire. If you are starting out with QWET oleoresin, just pour boiling ethanol in it and stir, or heat the cannabis oil up to 180F and add ethanol, stir well. If you just mix the two at ambient temperatures and shake it long enough, it will also be dissolved and in solution.

I store tinctures in a blue bottle in the refrigerator, but as long as it is cool and dark, it will last for years. I can testify to at least four, from some of my samples that are still potent.

 

[2000pm]

Is there any real point to trying to get that 5% water out of everclear (mole sieve, rock salt, whatever) or is it too little to really bother with?

Just ran out and I need to run another batch!

 

[Gray Wolf]

Is there any real point to trying to get that 5% water out of everclear (mole sieve, rock salt, whatever) or is it too little to really bother with?

Just ran out and I need to run another batch!

Not worth bothering with if you are using frozen quick wash techniques.

 

[a6grow]

Thanks for the clarifications, however I did have one last question:

When they have both stabilized at about 0F, pour the alcohol into the jar of plant material, so that it is at least an inch above the material, and shake it gently a few times to make sure everything is wet. Place back in the freezer.

Remove and gently shake twice more until the material has soaked for 3 minutes, and then dump it through a wire strainer to drain quickly.

After pouring the alcohol into the jar and placing it back in the freezer, how long should it be left in the freezer before removing and the 3 minute soak?

 

[Gray Wolf]

Thanks for the clarifications, however I did have one last question:



After pouring the alcohol into the jar and placing it back in the freezer, how long should it be left in the freezer before removing and the 3 minute soak?

Not sure I understand the question.

The plant material and the alcohol are placed in the freezer separately for as long as it takes to reach -32C/0F, usually over night.

The alcohol is poured into the plant material jar, shaken lightly, and returned to the freezer for 3 minutes.

It is then removed and drained.

 

[Anti]

I used your QWET method mixed with your BHO pill method and made up a batch of 20 or so QWET pills. One 3/4 full pint jar of trim swallowed a 750 ml bottle of Everclear and after evaporation yielded a 2.2g hash ball. The hash was dissolved in 10ml of coconut oil in a shot glass inside of an oil bath that I had fiddled with for an hour to get the temps right before adding the hash.

I filled each of my 0/0 pills about half way and then capped 'em.

But it was hard working with such a small volume of coconut oil.

I'm going to make some more soon and I am curious as to whether adding coconut oil will have a negative impact on the potency.

For instance, what if I used twice as much oil and filled each pill ALL the way up instead of half way? Same dosage but with more coconut oil. Would it affect potency?

Thanks very much!

 

[Gray Wolf]

I used your QWET method mixed with your BHO pill method and made up a batch of 20 or so QWET pills. One 3/4 full pint jar of trim swallowed a 750 ml bottle of Everclear and after evaporation yielded a 2.2g hash ball. The hash was dissolved in 10ml of coconut oil in a shot glass inside of an oil bath that I had fiddled with for an hour to get the temps right before adding the hash.

I filled each of my 0/0 pills about half way and then capped 'em.

But it was hard working with such a small volume of coconut oil.

I'm going to make some more soon and I am curious as to whether adding coconut oil will have a negative impact on the potency.

For instance, what if I used twice as much oil and filled each pill ALL the way up instead of half way? Same dosage but with more coconut oil. Would it affect potency?

Thanks very much!

It will work fine with more coconut oil. It is just more dilute and will require more volume of cornstarch as well. The key is how many milligrams of cannabis oil per cap.

 

[2000pm]

SSSDH QWET, beautiful as always. Thanks GW!

 

[Mia]

Good choice on the coco oil.
Healthy fats ftw.
Avocado, olive, and macadmaia oils are all good choices as well wrt health.

 

[E.L.patient11]

SSSDH QWET, beautiful as always. Thanks GW!

what are you showing off more, the dish or the QWET?! they are both beautiful!!!!

 

[Gray Wolf]

SSSDH QWET, beautiful as always. Thanks GW!

Nice color and clarity!

 

[Good_KarmA]

GW, how would you approach a second wash if you were looking for quality over quantity?

 

[eloquentsoution]

GW, how would you approach a second wash if you were looking for quality over quantity?

understand that you will not get the same effects in the second extraction, which will be more sedative despite it's "quality", as you have already removed much of the psychoactive component in your first extraction. dry it out first then pack it in a tube and do a butane extraction.

do give it a try. though effects are strain dependent, do test it at night when you do not have to leave the house... in case you fall asleep. have fun.

 

[Gray Wolf]

GW, how would you approach a second wash if you were looking for quality over quantity?

What ES said. Dry and refreeze it before extraction and expect a medication with different properties.

 

[Good_KarmA]

Yep, just wondering if you had any extra tips off the top of your head. I do it ASAP (after refreezing) so the alcohol has less time to sit on the buds and strip off waxes. Also I cut the down the wash time to 2 mins on the second run (I like to do about 2:30 on the first.)


Additionally I NEVER press down or attempt to squeeze ethanol out when straining. I allow it to strain for about 1:30/2 mins and then move it to another bowl. I can see a clear difference in color when I do this between the two. (I do a third run where I then squeeze to get to really sedative medicine)


I haven't logged on in a while but I want to say thank you again GW. Thanks to you I am making some beautiful, safe, honey colored ethanol oil now!

 

[Gray Wolf]

Yep, just wondering if you had any extra tips off the top of your head. I do it ASAP (after refreezing) so the alcohol has less time to sit on the buds and strip off waxes. Also I cut the down the wash time to 2 mins on the second run (I like to do about 2:30 on the first.)


Additionally I NEVER press down or attempt to squeeze ethanol out when straining. I allow it to strain for about 1:30/2 mins and then move it to another bowl. I can see a clear difference in color when I do this between the two. (I do a third run where I then squeeze to get to really sedative medicine)


I haven't logged on in a while but I want to say thank you again GW. Thanks to you I am making some beautiful, safe, honey colored ethanol oil now!

The proof is always in the pudding! Sounds to me like you are refining your process pretty well! Congratulations on having the initiative to do some hands on experimenting!

How is the flavor?