Does an extract taste different if you use trims vs buds?
Because the fat from the butter takes everything with it including chlorophyll. I've tasted some green cannabutter the green flavor was there and somewhat stays with the edible at the end of the cooking.
I'm not saying I don't like the taste but I want to make the edibles/drinks with the least amount of weed taste so everyone enjoy them...think candy, gummy bears etc
ChiefRunningPhist do you have a link to your ice water extraction? I'm curious to see how it's done as a primary step.
Thanks for the ideas guys.
Btw nice community here, very knowledgeable.
If your familiar with bubble bags, that's the process I'm referring to.
A series of mesh bags varying in size is stacked in order from finest to coursest and used to filter a cold slurry consisting of material (which was previously frozen to make the trichome heads more brittle and break off more easily with agitation) and ice water. This cold slurry is poured through the mesh bags, descending in order of mesh size, only after its been agitated by hand or machine to mechanically break off the cold brittle trichome heads.
The plant material stays floating at the top and the trich's sink to the bottom.
The different mesh bags catch different sizes of particulate. The 190/220 will catch all your garbage, and the quality will be from 45 - 120, with 90 being the best, IMO.
Sativa's generally have smaller trich heads (45-90) by genetics, and indica's have larger (90-120).
Here's my process...
Needed:
- (2) 5gal buckets
- (1) saw or drill
- (2) different mesh sizes (minimum)
- (1) 20lb bag ice
- (1) spatula or whisk or egg beater, ect.
Prep:
1. Freeze (wet or dry) material.
2. Cut off bottom of bucket (1) or drill multiple holes in it for easy drainage. Bucket (1) will serve as the structure that the ice water & material slurry will be poured through using the different meshes lining the inside.
3. Line your structure bucket with your mesh sizes. I use 45 and 160 (or 190). That way I capture the 120 to the 45 which is all the good, not too much bad. Many people use multiple layers in between the 45 and 160 because as each different mesh size filters different particulate, the different meshes will also be different qualities.
Out of the 3 best meshes for quality, I would rank them in order from best to worst as 90, 45/120. Sometimes the 45 can be kill, but sometimes the 120 is bomb too, but the 90 is always legit.
I've used 5gal fine mesh paint strainer bags as my top course filter and Wal-Mart white/cream nylon fabric (sold by the yd2 - cheap) as my fine mesh. But now I use 'bubble bags' (Google em).
*its tempting, but don't fold your bags over the sides of the bucket, keep them straight up. They get tight after the weight of water ect and they become a pain in the grass to get off then, especially if you're using more than 2 bags.
4. Put ice in bucket (2).
5. Fill bucket (2) with water 2/3 full. You don't want a bunch splashing out when your mixing.
Procedure:
6. Add frozen material ontop of ice water in bucket (2).
7. Agitate material & ice water for 20min.
(Or whatever time you'd like)
I beat the hell out of mine.. And because I do I get a lot of small pieces of leaf and stuff I don't want that has been broken down fine enough by my rough agitation to pass through the course mesh and contaminate my fine mesh product.
When I say beat the hell out of mine, I'm talking about duration (20min) and speed and force. Most people do multiple runs of only 5-12min. The less time the higher the quality but the lower the yield.
I just want to reduce material so I can later further refine. So I do it the fastest easiest way possible which is 1 long-ass and aggressive wash. If I want some good stuff ill agitate for 5min first, collect the goods, and then aggressively agitate for 20 or so min again using same material with an egg beater to get the rest, or to do my 'bulk crap' run.
You can use a spatula to agitate (for quality runs), or a drill with a paint stirring attachment, or an egg beater, or a whisk, anything that will break frozen trichome heads off their stalks, and the stalks off the plant. The softer you agitate the less leaf pieces and higher the quality.
8. Pour agitated slurry from bucket (2) into mesh lined structure bucket (1).
9. Run a little water over the top of the course mesh after the slurry has drained to release and capture any last remaining trichs trapped in the material in the course mesh.
10. Pull top course mesh and place in freezer to keep cold in the meantime if doing multiple runs. I put a big bowl or pot in the freezer to contain any dripping water. If only doing one run dump spent material in trash and don't worry about the freezer.
Drying:
11. Spoon fine mesh material onto parchment paper to dry.
If the material is sticky, and difficult to spoon from the fine mesh, add a little water and it becomes scoopable again.
I put my parchment on top of old pizza boxes as the cardboard does a good job soaking excess moisture while the parchment allows for easy manipulation when dried or if sticky at any time.
12. Chop the drying fine mesh material often (every 20min for first hour or so) to break up clumps and mitigate mold.
I use a razor blade but any thin card type of object will work, a credit card or ID or something works too.
The finer the material, ie the better chopped it is, the more surface area it has and the quicker it will dry. If you chop it to at least sand size before going to bed, when you wake up it should be dry enough to work.
Pressing:
13. Once the outside is crispy and dry you are going to press it.
(You don't have to, and many don't press it, non pressed is easier to further refine with solvents than pressed, if you press it you will have the opportunity to make lesser grade better)
With your fingers form and push the sand together. It may take awhile for it to start to want to stick together, but it will eventually. Once it's in its own shape and one piece you want to warm it with the heat emanating from your hands to make it more moldable.
Just hold it in your palm for a min or so. Then just start twisting it and folding it back onto itself. Compress it, pull it, fold it, twist it, whatever. What this is doing is breaking down the stalks and trichome head casings so that the oil inside the trichome head casing can be easily interacted with. Its trapped inside until we break down the structures and release it. That's what all the warming, twisting, folding, compressing is for.
Once its easy to squish and manipulate your good. You've got bubble. The more you work it the better it will taste and smoke. If you start with good stuff though, pressing will have less an effect as its already pretty good. If you start with crap (20min egg beater runs) pressing will have more of an effect.
There are many sites with info, but skunkpharmresearch is a great source of extraction knowledge.
https://skunkpharmresearch.com/qwet-extraction/
EDIT: A lot of people use just 1 bucket w/ no holes --> agitate slurry in the bucket lined with bags for awhile --> pull bags and dump bucket.
I typically do bigger runs and the bags take up space and make it harder to agitate if using an egg beater or drill. The bigger runs are easier to process in a whole bucket than one cluttered with bags. But if doing small runs I use 1 bucket sometimes.
