Tincture to Infusion

Can't find any info on this but I was thinking of trying to convert an ethanol tincture to an MCT infusion because I'm always looking for a simpler method to get the same result.

I'm thinking that after a good extraction rate in ethanol that one may be able to merely add in an equal amount of MCT oil and let the ethanol evaporate and hopefully leave you with a droppable infusion for sublingual use rather than an ethanol burn under the tongue.

Anyone try this and can say if it works?

Yes it works. Evaporate the ethanol first to a thick syrup consistency then add your MCT or what ever. Make sure you decarb first.

Excellent! In a google search I found ethanol should mix with oil directly if no water is in between so it made sense, Game changer for my wife who's still having to do edibles. I also thought making this and throwing the overage in the freezer would let me keep it a lot longer than sitting at room temps.

Thank u sir!

If your going to be making a fair amount check out the exact craft source turbo. Pays for itself fairly quickly in ethanol cost.

Is that the one that's supposed to reclaim the ethanol? I think I watched a video from some dude explaining it. Someone also mentioned an ardent?

I don’t have the ardent or know anyone that does, so can’t really give an opinion. It is basically a magic butter machine that is supposed to decarb as well. I have just been doing a quick wash, put bud and ethanol in separate jars in freezer overnight, then mix, give a small shake, back in freezer for 5-10 minutes, small shake and strain. That will produce a very clean tasting amber colored oil when done. The leftover bud the goes in a butter machine for a long soak, and I’ll use that oil for edibles and such.

Did you choose the source turbo for the reclamation then?

Yes I just recently got one and think it is worth the price if you do a fair amount of extraction. I decarb with a sous vide, but I already had one for cooking so was a no brainer.

HibbityJibbity said:

Can't find any info on this but I was thinking of trying to convert an ethanol tincture to an MCT infusion because I'm always looking for a simpler method to get the same result.

I'm thinking that after a good extraction rate in ethanol that one may be able to merely add in an equal amount of MCT oil and let the ethanol evaporate and hopefully leave you with a droppable infusion for sublingual use rather than an ethanol burn under the tongue.

Anyone try this and can say if it works?

Click to expand...

Thats not too hard depending on your equipment. It amounts to just evaperation of ethonal.

It you have a hotplate with a stirrer just heat it up and watch for the bigger bubbles to end and very small bubbles may start to appear. This will happen at around 242F or 116C. The small bubbles are CO2 form any THCA left in the tinchure. If it was decarbed all the way there shouldn't be any small bubbles. At any rate, hold the temp at 242F for no more than 40 minutes OR untill the small bubbles stop.

I mixed 50% mct for a friend. That was WAY too much.

DancesWithWeeds

I have a "crock pot" that I can control the temp on to dial it in by 5 degree increments so I can green dragon this if that's what works best. Ill be using EC 190 to extract. So, DWWeeds, are you describing the green dragon method to infuse into the oil after all the ethanol is evaporated or no?

It seems like the method you mention may be doing a complete ethanol extract and then adding in the MCT and letting the heat evaporate the ethanol with the MCT in the heating container?

I can't find a forum post I saw before where someone was saying their local hydro store was telling them it's a waste to leave the mixture sit very long as it just pulls more chlorophyl into the finished product. I think they did it by freezing the bud and booze, mixing and shaking and letting it sit for something like 30 mins in the freezer then another shake and you're done, or you can pour off and add more and to it again for the rest.

If I did that I'd have a usable tincture but I'd have to evaporate all the alcohol off and then mix in the MCT. As I've never done any of this before, If for example, I use a quart jar, put in a lid of bud and fill it up with frozen EC, shake, repeat in the freezer and then pour it all off, if I just let it sit uncovered will I eventually be left with a tar that won't mix? The only exposure I've had to alcohol and bud was cleaning bongs and bowls. If you leave it long enough you just get a black spot on the bottom of the glass you have to scrape out, doesn't look like you could get that to mix with the oil.

Only equipment I have is a stove, a freezer, some jars and a controllable crock pot which should be enough from what I've read. I'm waiting to see some results from this before I buy into an extraction gadget.

Just evaporate the alcohol out until you have a honey like consistency, then add your oil. Anything will work, just don’t heat too hot and beware the fumes will be explosive so no flames, etc. There will be very little alcohol left and that will evaporate off as well in time. A crock pot or hot plate will work fine.

Excellent! So there's no issue with any leftover water from the original 5% left in the EC? Just checking if doing it this way causes any additional leftovers to get rid of or if an emulsifier is needed. Thanks again HD!

You don't need to get too fancy but you can make top shelf RSO easier than you might think. This is how I do it:

Make bubble hash from fresh weed, wash it with clear ice water, dry it, and cover it with EC. Shake it up really good for about half a minute and filter it.

I distill the EC but you can just boil it off - outside with double boiler and hotplate. Use meneral oil in the bottom of the double boiler, water won't get it hot enough. Use a candy thermeter and keep the temp at 242f until the pinhead size bubbles stop, really close to 40 minutes after 272f is reached. BTW, this seems to give a much better decarb than the oven because you can accually see what's going on.

This may sound like a lot of work but it is much easier and gives a far better product with MUCH less waste. The oil will look honey and have almost no taste. Since you are only working with the trichromes there won't be any of that nasty crud.

When you make edibles just weigh out how much you want.

DancesWithWeeds

Also, I meant to tell you there wont be any EC left over. It will be gone when the big bubbles stop.

DWW

Other than getting the highest quality oil it is not only easier but it's way faster with little waste.

When you infuse oil by cooking weed in it you get all the impurities,dirt, bugs and whatever that's in the budd. If you make it from kief all that goes in trichromes and that's where the bulk of the oil is.

If you don't have a vacuum filter a coffee filter works. Do the 242F thing I mentioned before and you will have fully decarbed oil that looks like honey.

DWW

Let me slow this down so I can understand what's happening there DWW. Oddly enough I do have a bubble run from some GDP I did a couple months ago. I wasn't super happy about the results in terms of quantity so it's still sitting in the freezer. I was going to try to hot bottle it and make a decent sized temple ball eventually. So in your method above you're making your infusion with bubble hash. Since I have some I can definitely try your method. I can see why it'd be basically tasteless as there's nothing to dissolve other than the trichome heads. I'll try your method with what I have in bubble and let you know. I don't have a vacuum filter so a coffee filter will have to do.

As far as doing this as a permanent method I would agree it's more work than I'd want to spend on it vs just making it with flower. I've only used the washing machine once, but after 5 runs through the material the return was pretty low for the bud I had. I burned through roughly a QP in the wash and have what looks like less than a eighth of a cup of bubble from it. Since the washing machine worked for me like it does for everyone else I can only conclude it was the strain that wasn't the best for making bubble, that or my grow methods didn't produce the best candidate. Either way, I doubt I'll be doing any more bubble until I have enough material from different strains to try it again.

The main reason for me to do this that my wife has never used herb in her life until our late age now, and the only reason she's willing is she has a lot of pain, but she still won't smoke or vape. So we did some edibles, again more work than just a drop under the tongue and now we have a few dozen brownies sitting in the freezer. It'd be so much easier just to keep a container in the freezer and keep one dropper bottle around for easy use. And the reason for the desire to get this into MCT oil or the like is that I know a dropper of EC under her tongue is going to bother her as well.

DWW I'll give the above method a try on my leftover bubble, can you post a top to bottom recipe for using flower to make an MCT oil? You may notice a theme with me on this, I'd like the best return for the amount of material used rather than less return but better result in terms of color and taste. That's why I was thinking of doing this with the EC off the flower to strip the most I can.

OK, I'll tell you all I know about this. That's not a whole lot but it makes good oil.

First, the only thing you really want is in the trichromes with a little thru the rest of the plant. What you don't want is the stuff that ccomes out with a heavy wash. Some people say they get these masave amounts of oil but what they are really getting is the same oil you would get plus all the stuff that makes your oil black and nasty. Anyhow, the most you will probably get is about 70% of oil no matter how you do it.

So, put the buble hash in a fairly small container and cover it with EC. Give it a good shake. There won't be any green in it because there's no clorifil in trics. When you strain it the "cuticuls" are easy to remove. When you strain it all you have left is a very strong, clear, amber EC tinture. Cover it a second time with EC and strain. Now it will be clear and a little amber.

By what ever means you use to heat this it needs to be brought up to 242f for about 40 minutes. A double boiler with oil in the bottom on a hotplateworks well. This is an out door job. As the temp comes up there will be big(er) bubbles. That is the EC. Near 242f you will see pinhead size bubbles. That's the CO2 leaving the acids. When the bubbles are finished is done. The nice thing about doing it this way is you watch it happen so you know it's right.

You mentioned "pain". I have a very good recipe for an external pain rub if you want it.

DWW

Alrighty then! Thanks for the clarification on the method. As it looks like I'm evaporating off all the EC I should likely only add enough to fully dissolve the hash and then start the heating. The heating method I was going to use was just a temperature controlled crock pot type of thing. I can adjust in 5 degree increments and I do have an infrared thermo to make sure the temps are good. With this method the booze is the quick large bubbles and the CO2 I don't want either is the small. I'm thinking the EC should boil off pretty quick as 242 is 30 over water boil where I live so I'm thinking I should see the EC start leaving before I hit 242.

As I'm heating to 242 for 40 mins am I correct to assume I don't have to decarb?

I'll try and pm you for that rub! That's greatly appreciated DWW. I'll let you know how the bubble/melt works out.

eh... not very obvious how to send a PM. Is that what a profile message is?

If it is already decarbed it doesn't have to be that hot. The EC will evaporate at around 170. You only go for the 242 if you want to decarb now. I find this to be better than decarbing the weed first because when you do it in the oven there is always a little dought.

The Pain Rub: So simple you won't believe it.

1 Cup of infused coconut oil - what ever % you like. I use 1 Gram of RSO per cup. This works well for sore joints. Use more or less depending on what you need.

1 TBS DSMO. The DMSO I use is 99.995% pure Pharma Grade 70%/30% loe vera gel. The Aloe acts as a subfacrent to help the DMSO mix with the coconut oil.

1 TBS Lecithin

Let the mixture come close to setting up in the frig and then whisk it to a smooth, creamy texture abd store in a cool place. It will probablly melt and just look like oil, but that's OK.


Important: BE CLEAN when you use DMSO. I carries the THC, CBD and oils into your skin. IT CAN ALSO CARRY BACTERIA.

This stuff works almost instantly, maybe 2 or 3 minutes at the most to start working. It's the best sore joints.

DWW