everclear wash help

[chris 71]

ok so i just attempted my first everclear extraction, wondering if anybody can help me out a bit.
my material was some good bud that i had cured for 5 months cured in a mason jar very carefully.
i put my buds and everclear in freezer (different containers) over night.
i did a three min wash swirling and putting back if freezer on the minute for the first 2 min, then dumping through a steel strainer into a unbleached coffee filter into a pyrex pan.

there was no visiable color at all to the liquid. i had put the buds back in the mason jar in the freezer for a second wash.
i was gonna let them dry before my second wash but then just thought screw it and did a long second wash right away this time for 5 min swirling on the minute and putting back in freezer each time.
so anyway im evaping right now and its almost done the first wash has considerable more in the pan then the second and none of it is green at all.
i looked at the buds under my scope and most of the globes on the trics are gone but the stalks are still there and a few globes still there.
so im wondering is it just the globes ( tricomb tops ) that we are wanting to remove is this right?
and also why after the long 5 min maybe more even wash is there no green is the because the buds had been cured for the 5 months and maybe the chlorophyll is already gone ?
thanks for any help

 

[CrazyDiamond]

What you want removed is dependent on what goal you have for your medicine (wash times, aggressiveness of shake/swirl, etc). There is no green probably because you kept everything so cold as the chlorophyll was locked in. I will defer to @herbivore21 as he is the qwet king.

 

[chris 71]

thanks crazydiamond this was really just an experiment. i never tried making an oil before.
i was really surprised at how fast the alcohol evaporated it only took a couple hours in a hot water bath. after all the alcohol was visibly gone i used a hair dryer on it for a while.
there were little bubbles on the surface.
i used the corner of a razor blade to break them while heating with the hair dryer.
i may have made a mistake though after i scraped it all up i thought i would put it in one of those little fiver viles like i used to get green oil in years ago. but this stuff is soo thick its like a piece of plastic or something.
i heated the stuff up on the razor blade with a lighter and it dropped in the vile.
trying to get it all to melt into the bottom i heated the vile with a lighter just like we used to, but this stuff is sooo thick as it heated it bubbled like crazy. for a minute i wondered if there was still alcohol in it or something, i think it was just soo thick that as it cooled the bubbles got intrapped in it ? , still wondering though if maybe i was a little impatient and maybe there was still alcohol in it?
anyway what i did was boil some water and put the vile in it just deep enough to heat the oil and i stirred it with a big pin at the same time.
this worked and the bubbles came out and i now have a little bit of amber super thick oil.
so im wondering is there a way to know if there was any alcohol in it? and if there was being that it was everclear that i used would it still be safe to smoke or vape ?
. also i noticed it doesnt really have a smell, the green oil i used to get had a smell is it because its just soo thick that it doesnt smell ? i burned a little bit on a pin and it smell supper good though
any advice or thoughts i imagine that this stuff will be much much more powerful then the grenn oil i got back in the day. thanks

 

[StickyShisha2]

very close to my tech. i think you did a good job.
i would suggest some slight changes to your next run:
shorten the first wash to closer to a minute. i'm down to 45 seconds.
and add a wait time of at least a few hours after it is dried up with the hair drier before scraping. I cover it for a day and then warm it up a bit to scrape. If i don't add that pause, the oil tends to "auto-budder" in a few days, which i think is from insufficient purging. If i try to speed it up with extra purging instead, i end up with shatter that has lost most of its taste.

also, check out the thread for the SS fine micron filters. the 10 micron has upped my game.

 

[CrazyDiamond]

What @StickyShisha said about the screens...I'm about to hit up that site for those screens. @chris 71 here's what I do (this will be after wash as I use iso right now and will switch to the KX soon), pour alcohol/flower solution through normal kitchen mesh strainer (big holes...want the liquid out of the flower as fast as possible) into a glass measuring cup. I then take that and pour through a permanent coffee filter into a glass measuring cup. I then take that solution and pour through unbleached coffee filter that's been affixed to a mason jar so a can just pour and not hold anything. After that drains through, I pour into a pyrex pie plate. The pie plate goes onto a double boiler setup on an induction cooktop. I never let it get past 105*F and I let it go until almost all the liquid is gone. I remove from heat and let it sit for a while with a mesh screen over it. I will then scrape it all up into the center; put it on a little bit of heat just so it gets to a consistency that I can spread thin. The spreading thin and letting sit afterwards is what will really get all the alcohol out imho.
The changes I will be making are the following:
1. Replace unbleached coffee filter step with 10 micron screen.
2. No more double boiler setup for me...I got one of these...

off of the bay for a little over $100 (I've seen them at some websites for about $100 more)...these things retail at about $1100! Link to mfr site http://www.torreypinesscientific.com/products/digital-hot-plates/echotherm-hp30-and-hs30
So ya, I could do the magnet bar stir thing if I wanted as I've heard movement of the solution is a good thing, although I think having a fan blowing down into it gives it enough movement. By having this apparatus, I can put an 8"x8" square pyrex directly in contact with the square, white plate shown in the picture (plate just happens to be 8x8 also). I will be able to precisely control the temperature to within a degree...no more double boiler set-up. I also got this just in case of a purchase of a vac in the future.
3. Instead of pouring the liquid straight into the pyrex, I will line the pyrex with an oil slick pad....NO SCRAPPING anymore!

 

[215z]

Dude nice hot plate

 

[farscaper]

thanks crazydiamond this was really just an experiment. i never tried making an oil before.
i was really surprised at how fast the alcohol evaporated it only took a couple hours in a hot water bath. after all the alcohol was visibly gone i used a hair dryer on it for a while.
there were little bubbles on the surface.
i used the corner of a razor blade to break them while heating with the hair dryer.
i may have made a mistake though after i scraped it all up i thought i would put it in one of those little fiver viles like i used to get green oil in years ago. but this stuff is soo thick its like a piece of plastic or something.
i heated the stuff up on the razor blade with a lighter and it dropped in the vile.
trying to get it all to melt into the bottom i heated the vile with a lighter just like we used to, but this stuff is sooo thick as it heated it bubbled like crazy. for a minute i wondered if there was still alcohol in it or something, i think it was just soo thick that as it cooled the bubbles got intrapped in it ? , still wondering though if maybe i was a little impatient and maybe there was still alcohol in it?
anyway what i did was boil some water and put the vile in it just deep enough to heat the oil and i stirred it with a big pin at the same time.
this worked and the bubbles came out and i now have a little bit of amber super thick oil.
so im wondering is there a way to know if there was any alcohol in it? and if there was being that it was everclear that i used would it still be safe to smoke or vape ?
. also i noticed it doesnt really have a smell, the green oil i used to get had a smell is it because its just soo thick that it doesnt smell ? i burned a little bit on a pin and it smell supper good though
any advice or thoughts i imagine that this stuff will be much much more powerful then the grenn oil i got back in the day. thanks

if there is alcohol in it you will taste it. it has a very distinct flavor...

secondly I suggest storing in parchment or something a little easier to work with. glass vial are so messy...

3rd... the bubbles you saw when heating the vial were most likely actives being decarboxylated... However if the vial was hot enough you may have boiled off terpenes and some thc... this is why I suggested the parchment. no flame required.

 

[2clicker]

this stuff is soo thick its like a piece of plastic or something.

sounds like you did it right! thats called shatter. if you bend it quickly it will break into shards like glass. bend it slowly and it just bends. pull it and it will stretch like caramel but snap before too long. so if thats what ya got id say your first run was a success.

the SS mesh filters are a must. also check out the slick pads and slick sheet products available. lots of silicone and teflon products for storage. parchment paper works also.

store that shit in one chunk and just snap "dabs" off of it as you use it. try to keep high heat away from it to keep from losing tastey terps and other actives.

oh and enjoy! start slow it can be a horse at first.

 

[farscaper]

sounds like you did it right! thats called shatter. if you bend it quickly it will break into shards like glass. bend it slowly and it just bends. pull it and it will stretch like caramel but snap before too long. so if thats what ya got id say your first run was a success.

the SS mesh filters are a must. also check out the slick pads and slick sheet products available. lots of silicone and teflon products for storage. parchment paper works also.

store that shit in one chunk and just snap "dabs" off of it as you use it. try to keep high heat away from it to keep from losing tastey terps and other actives.

oh and enjoy! start slow it can be a horse at first.

word

 

[chris 71]

thanks for the responses everyone, yep i figured out why its called shatter , when i was scraping it and pushed a little too hard as it was cooling it busted into pieces right of the razor and flew across the room lol this was with the second wash .
also i now realize i shouldnt have melted it into the fiver vile, woulda been better to put it in there in pieces and then just pulled pieces out when needed. i thought it would have better shelf life in the vile then the parchment oh well next time. i also mixed the two washes together because they both were a nice amber color. i still havent even tried any yet lol

 

[CrazyDiamond]

Yup you did it right then as @2clicker said. And you now know that you should just keep it that way and store in parchment...I just keep mine in those little silicone containers as I never have enough for long term storage, lol.

 

[chris 71]

heres another question, maybe im being a little paranoid. but does the strainer for straining into the coffee filter have to be stainless steel ? can the alcohol strip any thing unhealthy from a metal strainer that isint stainless steel ? i used two strainers one too dump from the mason jar to the coffee filter, and one that held the coffee filter .
i have no idea if either are actully stainless or not and im guessing the one i used to hold the coffee filter wasnt as it had some minute signs of rust around the top.
anybody have any thoughts on this or know for sure
thanks again chris..

 

[farscaper]

no they dont have to be. contact time is do limited it doesnt matter. you would have to leave it soak overnight in ethanol to even get steel to rust a bit.

but if its a metal kitchen strainer its probaby stainless steel... they usually are these days

 

[CrazyDiamond]

Agree with @farscaper...the amount of time the alcohol is in contact with the medium is probably inconsequential. The permanent coffee filter and the big strainer I use, I have no idea if they are stainless...but so far I haven't grown a third eye or anything bad yet...yet, lol.
@farscaper I tried the hot plate I told you about last night...freakin thing is awesome bro. I definitely have to play with temps and such...I started too low...I then brought the temp of the plate way up...started seeing liquid temps slowly creeping up...as soon as I hit 95*F in the liquid, I started decreasing temp. With the IR temp gun, I monitored and adjusted the hot plate temp down all the way until the liquid was gone while maintaining 95-98*F in the oil. I guess I need to start a thread or should I post the pics here? (I don't want to thread jack @chris 71)

 

[chris 71]

thats great, thanks again guys. and it wont bother me at all crazydiamond.

 

[farscaper]

Agree with @farscaper...the amount of time the alcohol is in contact with the medium is probably inconsequential. The permanent coffee filter and the big strainer I use, I have no idea if they are stainless...but so far I haven't grown a third eye or anything bad yet...yet, lol.
@farscaper I tried the hot plate I told you about last night...freakin thing is awesome bro. I definitely have to play with temps and such...I started too low...I then brought the temp of the plate way up...started seeing liquid temps slowly creeping up...as soon as I hit 95*F in the liquid, I started decreasing temp. With the IR temp gun, I monitored and adjusted the hot plate temp down all the way until the liquid was gone while maintaining 95-98*F in the oil. I guess I need to start a thread or should I post the pics here? (I don't want to thread jack @chris 71)

drop em in the artists thread for sure! see that hot plate in action.

 

[CrazyDiamond]

Ok, I'll get them on here tonight for sure...or maybe in a little while...I need mu iphone usb adapter...I'll go home for lunch and get it...give me a couple hours guys and you'll have some pics of what I did last night (get your minds out of the gutter! hehe, j/k)

 

[CrazyDiamond]

Ok I'll post them here and in the artist's thread...here first.

Funny how the oil formed an "F" pattern...wish it was big enough for the "C"! Anyways. I explained how I got this above...solution was poured directly into what you above....no scrapping! It's been sitting under my bed, in the dark, covered with the mesh screen you see in one of the pics above. This was the first time I went directly to oil slick and no scrapping.