If you missed our first post in this extraction series, get all caught up! BHO (Butane Hash Oil) Basics
How it’s made:
- Cured, hand-broken flower is added to the material chamber
- Chilled nitrogen is added to the system to create pressure, pushing liquid butane into the material chamber. When the pressure inside the extractor is significantly higher than outside, the butane will start pouring into the material column.
- The butane enters the material column, and makes contact with the flower. As it makes its way through the material, the resins containing the majority of the plant’s psychoactive compounds, start to dissolve. This oil contains high amounts of THCa, plus a variety of cannabinoids and terpenes and is referred to as concentrate.
- We then must dissolve the waxy outer layer of trichomes in order to get to the ‘good stuff’. The solvent is moved to an independent dewaxing vessel that is jacketed in order to chill the concentrate and coagulate the majority of the fats and lipids. We use a very high quality chilling unit capable of going to -80 celsius hooked up to plumb cold liquid through the jacket. Filling the jacket with dry ice and alcohol is another option. The mother liquid will remain in the dewaxing vessel for a long period of time.
- We then separate the butane and oil. The collection base has an outer layer jacket that uses warm water recirculators to maintain a precise temperature. Once the butane is fully evaporated and condensed into the solvent tank, we’re left with the extracted concentrate!
- The platter containing the cannabis oil is carefully removed from the collection base. We then move onto the final steps.
