Use et from the beggining. No need to defat or wax because there isnt any.
Or any polar solvent really.
Extraction with co2 is nothing new. It was being used to make other, non cannabis related products long before the California medical Marijuana act changed how we use and understand cannabis forever.some really smart people saw an open door to put their technology to work and grab a big slice of this multi billion dollar industry. They had a lucritive answer for what to do with these mountains of excess trim that were now being produced and invested much interest into convincing the market that non poloar supercritical extraction and the fatty waxy byproduct their machines spewed out like ice cream wad the best, no the only way to extract cannabis concentrate. Since this is to expensive for the do it yourselfer to afford they were more than happy to process your trim, for a fee. In come the butane distributors but thats another story.
look at this problem as if you didnt have the internet. Its mostly bad info being perpetuated by the ignorant .
When I first was asked to extract from cannabis i did not have google. Lol, anyone remember bulliten board systems? Probably not. Im old
I had to look at it like any other chemist or pharmacist would have for centuries before me.
What do you want to extract?whats the paitent need? Test and analyze the sample. How much of what is in there?
There is tons of compounds and alkaloids in that amazing plant, which ones do you want?
I like thc terpenes cbd cbc myself.Whats the polarities of these molecules i want?
Whats the stuff i don't want to extract look like on a molecular leval?
Now im ready to choose a solvent and method. While looking at the solvent properties table i have taped on my wall, and now in my brain, I'm probably going to steer away from the non or low polarity solutions as my patient does not like to consume candles but rather, asked for a strong concentrate of thc and terpene oils. Going to have to move up the scale a bit. Theres always good ol h20 in liquid or steam form at the top.
Of couse availability of solvents their toxicity and my equipment capabilities will have to factor in. Perhaps i dont want to use a solvent at all. People have been making cannabis concentrates for centuries numerous ways that use no solvents and simple technology. Most of them would produce a product that fits the order.
But maybe I was given specific percentages of certain compounds that had to be in this concentrate. Maybe the age old rosin pressing trick just wont give the paintent the milligrams thc they require
