How To Make Concentrated Cannabis Oil

Making oil from Pre-decarbed bud using dehydrator

A couple weeks ago in the Oilers Lounge I posted about method I saw online that used an evaporator. I've made 3 batches and I'm very pleased with the final results in spite of initial difficulties.

The overall process is to decarb the herb first to avoid having to do this in the final cookdown over high heat.
The quick wash is next.
Then recovery of alcohol in still.
Final step is to evaporate the remaining alcohol at low temperature in a modified food dehydrator.
Actually final step is to get finished oil into container where I can mix it up into biobomb capsules, a task that almost made me give up on this method after the first batch.

The first batch came out so thick I could barely mix it with the flax seed oil. It took several remixings over several days to get it to keep from separating. And it had this foam film that would not mix in at all. In hindsight I think it's plant wax that I didn't filter out properly during wash.
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The second batch went much better up to the evaporation step. The decarbed buds were better quality than first batch and didn't disintegrate completely into mud during wash. I refined my filtration process so it went more smoothly. I also added step of freezing overnight and filtering again to remove more waxes and plant matter.
I just added a ring of cardboard to create enough room for the oil container. I tried to save a step by evaporating in measuring cup that I use to mix up for capsules, same as I used with hot oil bath method.
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Extraction reduced from 50 to 25 grams overnight, 21 grams after another 24 hours and would not reduce any further. I was confused because a) I didn't believe it possible to get 5 grams per ounce of bud, and b) this oil flowed at room temperature, something none of my previous oils did. Out of frustration I put it in hot water bath to finish. I got a few decarb bubbles briefly but no alcohol boiling off. Finally figured out it must be water in it. Chilled oil and was able to pour out water. Down to 18 grams or 4 gr/oz. Still didn't believe I had 18 gr of pure oil, but the capsules I made with it proved I did. They are as potent as double doses of previous batch.
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The third batch made with 185 grams of White Widow, 160 grams after decarb in turkey bag, 110 minutes at 230 degrees.
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My quick wash set up: standard jars, funnels, strainers and coffee filters with plenty of spares ready to swap out. Also used a fine mesh strainer as prefilter to catch fine plant matter. This kept filters from clogging as quickly. Last item is potato ricer I use to squeeze last drops out of buds.
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I swapped out clogged filters to keep extraction flowing through. Basic process is to pick up clogged filter like a sack and slowly twist it to squeeze last of extraction through into a new filter.
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End result of two washes, 3 liters from 1st wash and 1.5 liters from 2nd wash. In the two bottles on right you can see difference in color. Smaller bottle with 2nd wash is actually darker than bigger bottle with 1st wash.
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After running through still I lost about 900 ml out of 4.5 liters between washes, recovery and alcohol left in the final reduction.
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I processed the two washes separately to see how much each extracted. I used trays instead of measuring cup to increase evaporation rate. 2nd wash in smaller tray reduced overnight (temp set to 145) to thick but movable oil, about 5 grams. 20% of 2nd wash was actually alcohol left with buds from 1st wash, so only 3-4 grams. If I had done 3rd wash I might have gotten another gram, but with all the impurities I don't think it would be worth it.
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And the 1st wash in the larger tray that just fits in dehydrator. Set temp to 95, extraction reduced in only 4 hours to 12 grams of oil that flows at room temp. That's about 4 times as much as from 2nd wash and better quality.
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About 1 hour in oil was already separating from alcohol.
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Final product scraped easily into container to mix into biobomb capsules.
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Next step will be to try evaporator with non-decarbed buds to try making Grow Goddess's ND sap. I hate not recovering the alcohol, but to keep temps low throughout process I may have to skip the still.
 
Nice step by step KingstonRabbi :Namaste:

Lots of ways to make CCO and this one looks very safe as long as you have some air extraction for the alcohol fumes :cheesygrinsmiley:

Always a good read when you post Kingston, thank you :adore:

Are you using 151 proof?

:love::cco::Namaste:
 
I use 190. Good news is that it's now available in Washington. Bad news is that we still have the highest liquor taxes (and cannabis taxes) in the US.

As for vapor, the evaporation is slow and volume of air high, so concentration never gets close to minimum needed for combustion. Kitchen is well ventilated too. Even if all the ethanol evaporated at once and kitchen was sealed it would still be only 0.5%. 3.3% is minimum for combustion, so I'm safe.
 
A wonderful step-by-step KR. I look forward to seeing what you do with Gigi's method. I think I'm going to do a run of that when I get back from Jamaica. I'm anticipating the potentiating the natural decarb will bring.

You alluded to this method increasing the potency. Was that the case? If so, do you have any theories as to why this might be?
 
It wasn't the extraction method. It was the buds for that batch. All my other batches have been from my first grow. The 18 gram batch included buds from my SOG experiment which yielded small but top shelf quality buds. I just didn't believe the buds were that good, or that the 18 grams was all CCO. I expected the pills I made to be weaker. It's nice to be wrong sometimes. :)
 
Thanks for the reply KingstonRabbi :Namaste:
 
It wasn't the extraction method. It was the buds for that batch. All my other batches have been from my first grow. The 18 gram batch included buds from my SOG experiment which yielded small but top shelf quality buds. I just didn't believe the buds were that good, or that the 18 grams was all CCO. I expected the pills I made to be weaker. It's nice to be wrong sometimes. :)

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for clearing that up. Yes, it's very nice to be wrong like that. :cheesygrinsmiley:
 
Does any1 here know of a certain strain tht will work great to cure nausea?? I have really bad chronic nausea an its caused me to have massive weight loss n not be able 2 eat so I really need 2 find a strain tht will be gud for getting rid of it so if any1 has any info tht they cud pm me I wud be grateful :thanks: N :Namaste:
 
Does any1 here know of a certain strain tht will work great to cure nausea?? I have really bad chronic nausea an its caused me to have massive weight loss n not be able 2 eat so I really need 2 find a strain tht will be gud for getting rid of it so if any1 has any info tht they cud pm me I wud be grateful :thanks: N :Namaste:

I use Northern Lights which is a high THC version. any version will do.
Use one drop daily and "Tap" onto the gums.
If you have to work or drive I suggest you Tap the RSO at night sometime before you go to bed.
One reason I have difficulty loosing weight is I use RSO hemp oil drop every night. I rarely turn down any thing my wife puts in front of me.
A note of information; You will get dry/cotton mouth from a good strong Indica like Northern Lights.
For this I suggest you go to your Pharmacy and get a spray or rinse for DRY MOUTH. Don't bother with the "moisturizing spray", it sucks and does not work.
 
I use Northern Lights which is a high THC version. any version will do.
Use one drop daily and "Tap" onto the gums.
If you have to work or drive I suggest you Tap the RSO at night sometime before you go to bed.
One reason I have difficulty loosing weight is I use RSO hemp oil drop every night. I rarely turn down any thing my wife puts in front of me.
A note of information; You will get dry/cotton mouth from a good strong Indica like Northern Lights.
For this I suggest you go to your Pharmacy and get a spray or rinse for DRY MOUTH. Don't bother with the "moisturizing spray", it sucks and does not work.

You mentioned dry mouth. It is interesting that dry mouth is a common side effect of cannabis and not fun.
I have been making edibles for a friend of mine that has als. I recently switched strains to northern lights, because he was having problems sleeping.
One problem with als is the inability to control saliva. I freaked out when I noticed that his drooling had a remarkable improvement!! I am looking for strains that will cause me the worst cotton mouth so I can share with him.
Cannabis may not cure als, but there are parts of it that can eliminate negative symptoms of the disease.
It is crazy that I have often looked at dry eyes, cotton mouth or the munchies as negative side effects of cannabis, but now I am opening my eyes and seeing so many benefits from this wonderful plant.
I do appreciate all of the dialogue and shared information. Thanks to everyone's input and shared info.
 
You mentioned dry mouth. It is interesting that dry mouth is a common side effect of cannabis and not fun.
I have been making edibles for a friend of mine that has als. I recently switched strains to northern lights, because he was having problems sleeping.
One problem with als is the inability to control saliva. I freaked out when I noticed that his drooling had a remarkable improvement!! I am looking for strains that will cause me the worst cotton mouth so I can share with him.
Cannabis may not cure als, but there are parts of it that can eliminate negative symptoms of the disease.
It is crazy that I have often looked at dry eyes, cotton mouth or the munchies as negative side effects of cannabis, but now I am opening my eyes and seeing so many benefits from this wonderful plant.
I do appreciate all of the dialogue and shared information. Thanks to everyone's input and shared info.

Thank you Diggler, for sharing that morsel of information. It truely is a blessing to be part of such an open community.
 
Back to the kitchen laboratory.

I took the process I documented a few weeks ago 1 step further, maybe 2, in quest to make CCO with NO heating to make naturally decarbed oil. Can't call it SAP like Gigi's, small batch turned out much thicker than prior large batch.

Changes from last time:
>buds were not decarbed in oven first
>1st wash processed without still so temp never above 71 degrees.

Started with 39 gr of Black Cherry Soda that's been curing for over 3 months.
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I did 3 washes this time and processed each separately. Color doesn't show well in photo, but 1st wash (left jar) is golden, 2nd and 3rd washes very green. Each wash was 750 ml. First 2 with chilled alcohol, 3rd with room temp. 3rd was unplanned, but inspecting buds after 2nd wash I still saw little bits of trichomes, so added 3rd wash. After 3rd wash I still found stubs that may have contained more oil, but I doubt there was much medicine in them. Trichs are made of cell like any other part of plant, just clear so it looks like pure oil. I would expect there to be a remnant of cells and that's what I think I saw. Also, according to what I've read the medicine is produced in the heads. The heads were all gone after 1st wash, so I think most of the good stuff was in 1st wash also.
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1st wash chilled overnight to 5 degrees and filtered 2 more times to remove waxes. Did that for other washes too. They got clearer but no less green.
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1 fifth of everclear about to go up to the angels. Other 2 washes were processed in still to reclaim most of solvent, but 1st wash all went into evaporator without heat. Still heated others to about 170 degrees, 1st wash stayed at 71 degrees throughout 8 hours 'cooking' down.
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Almost done, CCO starting to separate out.
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Final yields from each wash in order: 4 gr, 1+gr, <1 gr. That's more than I expected for 3rd wash, but as I explained above I don't think it has same concentration of cannabinoids or terpenoids. We'll find out in a few months when decarbing is done.

p.s.: I have been searching for published data on natural decarb rates at room temp. Can't find any other than with heat. If you see anything please share. Thanks.
 
You mentioned dry mouth. It is interesting that dry mouth is a common side effect of cannabis and not fun.
I have been making edibles for a friend of mine that has als. I recently switched strains to northern lights, because he was having problems sleeping.
One problem with als is the inability to control saliva. I freaked out when I noticed that his drooling had a remarkable improvement!! I am looking for strains that will cause me the worst cotton mouth so I can share with him.
Cannabis may not cure als, but there are parts of it that can eliminate negative symptoms of the disease.
It is crazy that I have often looked at dry eyes, cotton mouth or the munchies as negative side effects of cannabis, but now I am opening my eyes and seeing so many benefits from this wonderful plant.
I do appreciate all of the dialogue and shared information. Thanks to everyone's input and shared info.

This is the kind of information that is collected from experience and spreads to us all. A perfect example of thinking outside of the box. Turning a side effect into an effective treatment for someone in need. I hope that some day society will accept what we have been experiencing as fact and stop this persecution.
 
Wow wish I could get this in Scotland for arthritis

We wish you could too soapy. Can you grow?

And :welcome: to the :420: community. Is there anything we can help you with?
 
I use Northern Lights which is a high THC version. any version will do.
Use one drop daily and "Tap" onto the gums.
If you have to work or drive I suggest you Tap the RSO at night sometime before you go to bed.
One reason I have difficulty loosing weight is I use RSO hemp oil drop every night. I rarely turn down any thing my wife puts in front of me.
A note of information; You will get dry/cotton mouth from a good strong Indica like Northern Lights.
For this I suggest you go to your Pharmacy and get a spray or rinse for DRY MOUTH. Don't bother with the "moisturizing spray", it sucks and does not work.
Thank u so much man i really appreciate it

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using 420 Magazine Mobile App
 
hi
need some advice as I'm a newbie but am determined to try all cures before giving up.
I recently made my first batch of oil and am very pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.
I used high grade material but did not have sufficient alcohol to wash so ended up only washing half the material but got back a very sticky very dark oil that is insanely strong.
my question is how to administer the dosage and if I should be diluting the oil with anything as I'm afraid of over dosage.
 
hi
need some advice as I'm a newbie but am determined to try all cures before giving up.
I recently made my first batch of oil and am very pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.
I used high grade material but did not have sufficient alcohol to wash so ended up only washing half the material but got back a very sticky very dark oil that is insanely strong.
my question is how to administer the dosage and if I should be diluting the oil with anything as I'm afraid of over dosage.

Congratulations! I've been following this thread for a year and haven't done it yet :)


This thread is focussed on how to MAKE Concentrated Cannabis Oil(cco). For using CCO try:

General CCO use here ==> Cannabis Oil Users Cafe & Lounge
Ideas about cooking here ==> The Cannabis Kitchen - Cooking With Cannabis
Cancer treatment with CCO here ==> A Base Treatment Regimen for Cancer
How to 'tack' with CCO (medicinal) here ==> Cannabis Oil Dosing Tutorial - Tacking Method

:cco:
 
hi
need some advice as I'm a newbie but am determined to try all cures before giving up.
I recently made my first batch of oil and am very pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.
I used high grade material but did not have sufficient alcohol to wash so ended up only washing half the material but got back a very sticky very dark oil that is insanely strong.
my question is how to administer the dosage and if I should be diluting the oil with anything as I'm afraid of over dosage.

Hi ksasha, welcome!

Another good thread to post on is SweetSue's Cannabis Oil Study Hall. Link below is to recipe for what we call the BioBomb. It makes the cannabis oil more effective and will help with controlling dosage. It's confusing at first, but post your question on her thread along with a few more details on what you're using it for and we can walk you through the process.
SweetSue's Cannabis Oil Study Hall

And congrats on making your first batch!
 
hi
need some advice as I'm a newbie but am determined to try all cures before giving up.
I recently made my first batch of oil and am very pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.
I used high grade material but did not have sufficient alcohol to wash so ended up only washing half the material but got back a very sticky very dark oil that is insanely strong.
my question is how to administer the dosage and if I should be diluting the oil with anything as I'm afraid of over dosage.

:woohoo: ksasha. Well done. Most of us found we had a mad compulsion to do another run of oil-making as soon as possible. :laughtwo: The process of making oil is its own addiction, akin to growing. I see the guys have given you all the proper directions to additional threads. Do stop in at the study hall. That BioBomb adaptation is so simple to do, and it'll increase the bioavailability from around 12% to upwards of 90%. Greater effectiveness for less oil. You save money and resources and get accelerated healing.

It's satisfying to find another member courageous enough to take the healing power back. Let the natural wellness continue to progress.

:hug: :love:
 
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