QUISO method refinement

[brainiac]

Got a bunch of trim still hanging about from last year's grow. Most of it's earmarked for edibles but decided to use some for QWISO. I've done it before and ended up with brown goo. It's OK if you're not too fussy (and I'm not ) but thought I'd try to do better this time.

Read a lot on the technique both here and elsewhere. Most people advise putting considerable effort into keeping everything very cold whilst the ISO's in contact with the herb. Ice cubes and partially frozen salty water. Well, I think I've found a better way. I bought a half litre vacuum flask, half filled it with about 12g of trim and put it in the freezer overnight. A bottle of ISO also went in the freezer. Today I took out the flask, added about a quater litre of the ISO, gently shook for 30 seconds then emptied it, through a sieve, into a glass jug. It then got filtered through an unbreached coffee filter into a second glass jug.

Quick, simple and no mess.

The vacuum flask also helps with the job of evaporating the ISO off. Fill the flask with boiling water from the kettle. Put some infused ISO in your pre-warmed evaporation dish and place the dish on top of the open flask. Little of the heat will escape without going through the ISO.

That's a small bowl but it fits the mouth of the flask really well. I'm refilling it about once an hour.
It's next to an open window - well away from any plugs/switches that could spark.

Hope someone finds this tech refinement useful.

I should add - it's just possible that I read this idea somewhere, forgot it, then remembered it again and assumed it was my own. Don't think I did but if so my apologies.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

Glad to see an extraction post. Working on a similar problem with QWET right now.

I bought a half litre vacuum flask, half filled it with about 12g of trim and put it in the freezer overnight. A bottle of ISO also went in the freezer. Today I took out the flask, added about a quater litre of the ISO, gently shook for 30 seconds then emptied it, through a sieve, into a glass jug. It then got filtered through an unbreached coffee filter into a second glass jug.

Sorry, but how does this differ from the standard quick wash method?

Regarding polishing QWET extract (ethanol rather than isopropanol), the second and even third washes can give a significant yield. With shatter made from them, the effects are pleasantly sedating, but the flavor isn't so pleasant.

First, tried winterizing and concentrating. Winterizing seems silly, because if you're washing with cold ethanol, you should never pick up anything that will precipitate in cold ethanol. But that might not be quite true. For one thing, you're using a relatively large volume. Decreasing the volume means the wash can hold fewer waxes, etc. Also, after the first wash, there's a little ethanol left in contact with the plant material that's been depleted of trichomes. That ethanol might pick up undesirables from this enriched source while you're pouring off the first wash.

Concentrated to about 5:1 (ethanol:expected concentrate yield), placed in the bottom of a chest freezer for a week, then filtered through a vacuum flask that was left in the freezer. Saw no precipitate on the filter paper.

The second wash also picks up a little chlorophyll, so left the filtered wash under the grow light overnight. A little dark precipitate unexpectedly settled, so filtered through a syringe filter.

Now, vacuum purging at a relatively high temperature - 140F. This means that the concentrate stays liquid so the solvent bubbles can break, releasing the ethanol vapor. There are no terpenes left to lose at this point, so why not? It's still taking days to fully purge, if it ever happens.

Don't expect much improvement, the shatter still looks dark and sappy. Next try will be a heptane wash. Tried before with hexane, without much success, but it's worth another go. Otherwise, decarb and make tincture, unless someone has a better idea.

 

[brainiac]

Sorry, but how does this differ from the standard quick wash method?

The aim of my post was not to reinvent the standard QWISO method.
It's purpost was to offer a simpler means of keeping the ISO/herb mix temperature at a minimum without resorting to half frozen salty water and lots of ice cubes. It also outlines a sllghtly better method of evaporating the ISO wthout the direct use of an electrical appliance.

I've never tried QWET so unfortunately am not qualified to comment on the rest of your post - but good luck with it anyway.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

I've never tried QWET so unfortunately am not qualified to comment on the rest of your post - but good luck with it anyway.

Thanks! Switching to ethanol might also help you, if you have access to it. It's a less aggressive solvent than isopropanol. It's also less toxic, although trace ISO shouldn't be an issue.

Have always done QWET much the way you describe - in the freezer after letting everything get down to temperature. Except, evaporate with the same heating pad used for vacuum purging. The steam bath is certainly fine, if you don't have one, especially since you're probably not interested in preserving flavor with trim.

 

[brainiac]

Just an endnote on that QWISO run.
The vacuum flask purge works well. Good ventilation is, as always, required.

Well... brown goo again - but more on the amber side of brown, and more sticky than gooey

I'm happy with the quantity and the quality is excellent.
To vape this sticky dark amber I've gone back to my DIY halogen logs. They have the ideal heat
range for baking concentrates.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

I'm happy with the quantity and the quality is excellent.

Glad you managed to get something you can dab!

While the extra winterization step with second-run QWET produced no obvious precipitate, the end product was significantly improved - less unpleasant flavor and residue. It's probably worth doing with trim as well (have some in the freezer), but it's still not good enough to dab, IMO. It may be good enough to mix back into first run QWET at a lower concentration to increase yield.

It's easy enough to try. When your volume of alcohol is reduced to five or ten times the expected concentrate yield, just stick it in the freezer (preferably manual defrost) for a few days before you filter it.