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I feel stupid in conversations like this. I have made both BHO and Qwiso many times and still do not understand what makes one better than the other.
I just ran a small sstb of BHO this morning yet, I always come back to qwiso as it is as simple as freeze, soak, evap.
What are you guys using as your baseline to determine which is "better"? Is it worth it to aquire 5 or 7x online, have to blast outside and still have to vac purge? Is BHO better or QWISO? It seems a simple question, yet I cannot wrap my head around it.
Lots of differing opinions. I won't tell anyone there are no risks w/ any method. I have never had an alcohol based product (iso or everclear) that didn't taste 'off' to me so I avoid them. I've tried co2 extractions a couple of times, and it seemed almost flavorless. I've tried many vac purges and they just don't compete w/the flavor/potency of bho - I will not argue that they are not healthier. I've also tried 6-12 water/ice extractions and it was like mj light. Obvious generalizations, and not true of every cook.
In
theory, I believe butane (w/o funky additives) to provide a safer end product (definitely not the process) because it is a supercritical gas - meaning it boils off at room temp. W/ proper heating methods it will evaporate easily. Alcohol needs time to fully dissipate (disclaimer: not liking the end products, I am less familiar w/ this extraction process). If done properly, I wouldn't think that there is enough trace material left to cause probs w/ either method.
Noone has really done long term research on the effects of smoking/vaping substances other than tobacco over long periods of time. I would almost consider vaping questionable substances more dangerous as living organisms more readily absorb/uptake smaller particles (why true aeroponics is so effective). I am a lot more worried about the leftover nutes people use on their flowers in the growing process than I am about any minor traces of butane.
Just like growing, there can be a lot of variables when making concentrates. Some strains automatically wax up - these are usually good potency wise. The best batches I have made turn a peanut butter/seafoam consistency before going almost totally clear again after a few more minutes of heating.
Not sure if the 'Which is better" refers to iso vs butane, refinement level of butane or quality of end product - so I attempted to answer all. While I think it is always worth getting refined butane (5x, 7x), I've never really noticed much difference in end results from using 4x -10x. I base end product quality on my tolerance (which is pretty high) and flavor. I use 2-4 oz's/month of flowers not including concentrates.
I don't winterize or vac purge. If health concerns dictate otherwise, it would make sense for someone to do both. Tofu is healthier than ribeye, but it probably won't be the ribeye that gets me. I realize that people are very passionate about this issue and these are just my personal preferences. I am not advocating that anyone risk their health on my opinion.
dhbill - if you are equally as pleased w/ your results whether making qwiso or bho, there isn't any sense in performing a more dangerous and expensive extraction using tane.
edit: Oscar - if you had 3 apples and 2 bananas in one hand, and took away 2 bananas - would you have 5 apples in that hand? Not saying you didn't see that somewhere, but it doesn't make sense to me. The 'by weight' is throwing my comprehension off a little, but let's say an oz had 2 grams of thc and 1 gram of terps, taking away the terps shouldn't affect the weight of the thc. You would now have a 27 gram bag w/ 2 grams of thc and no terps, right? Maybe I'm missing something? it wouldn't be a 1st.