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Comment by kinleyd | Hacker News Reader

Hmm, seems like it's time to seriously consider extracting some THC and CBD. I'm looking at this: https://magicalbutter.com/. Anyone have some experience with this type of gear?

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I wouldn't waste my money on something like that when you can do something similar with a glass jar and a sous vide circulator.

http://www.sousweed.com/blog/2015/6/13/sous-vide-cannabis-bu... is a recipe I've followed with great results.

Edit: Plus now you can sous vide meats and whatever. It's a win-win.

Their marketing looks quite shady to me: no technical details, uses Facebook likes as a quality metric, defective link to the one third-party review. You definitely want to see a teardown and a proper review of something like this, before you buy it.

If I was going to experiment with a new extraction method, my choice would be to acquire a soxhlet extractor, and experiment with ethanol as a solvent, for producing budder. https://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/pdf/soxhlet4dummies.p..., page 2 shows a DIY version that doesn't require you to purchase glassware. I would recommend putting the whole setup in a larger pot of water, so that you can more easily control the temperature. You can use the same setup as a still, to extract ethanol from something like cheap vodka.

As for methods that I have actually tried, cold butane extraction produces spectacularly clear oil, which eventually dries to shatter. Do freeze the weed first, don't freeze your hand. Do leave the extract spread out in a thin layer to evaporate until it forms hard shatter, otherwise some very scary butane will remain in the product.

Yes, the emphasis on Facebook likes does make one wonder. Thanks for your feedback and suggestions.

> Hmm, seems like it's time to seriously consider extracting some THC and CBD

It's great if researchers can find new treatments, but I think people get over-enthusiastic with medical cannabis

> Anyone have some experience with this type of gear?

I would rather vaporize weed. Very simple and (likely) safe, effect is immediate and it's easier to adjust the quantity as you go.

I'm not sure about the gear but I cooked cannabis butter a few times (quite easy without special equipment). It's more difficult to control the quantity. You need to be careful to not ingest too much cannabis, because then it's too late and it can be very powerful. Conversely, if not enough, you have to wait for an hour or so to be sure. Another issue I had is that I ended up with a nice cake that I had to ration carefully as it was very psychoactive. I couldn't simply eat it whenever I felt like. Besides, the weed doesn't add a good taste (at best neutral, depending on the quantity).

I'm sure that these issues can be overcome with some experience but is it worth the trouble?

Take care, eaten is the only way I've ever seen anyone have a really bad experience ending in a trip to in an ambulance from the results of anxiety, although no long term physical damage was done, nonetheless this was an unpleasant experience and to be avoided if possible! If you are unfamiliar with the effects of cannabis / marijuana talk with someone who is about what to expect, if you or others you trust would classify you on the anxious end of the spectrum, the advice is doubly applied, paranoia is unpleasant enough, when coupled with the knowledge that the strength of the effect is going to get worse before it gets better can be very stressful.

Thanks for the suggestions. Your psychoactive cake sounds very intriguing!

Butter is okay but I highly recommend just making an extract you can vaporize. Most people don't realize that Delta-9-THC turns even more psychoactive when it undergoes a liver pass, converting into another delta analogue of the molecule.

Pure acetone (no colorants or scents added) and a hot plate is all you need. Acetone wash your ground material for 10 seconds, filter/strain through coffee filters onto a hot plate set at ~150F (make sure this is in a well-ventilated room) and let evaporate for an hour.

Done and ready to go. Far safer than most other extraction methods, which rely upon high gas pressures or even more highly-flammable (and explosive) substances.

One problem with acetone is it's pretty hygroscopic, so it will absorb water from the atmosphere or any plant material that's not bone dry. Then you're left with water in the extract when the acetone is boiled off. Alcohols are worse as they form azeotropes with water. Also the more polar things (basically anything other than -ane) tend to extract sugars, pigments, etc.

Saturated unsubstituted hydrocarbons (e.g. hexane) are really nice to work with, e.g. provide similar results to butane at room temperature/pressure. Heptane is nice because it can in principle be "natural" if sourced from Jeffrey pine oil, but I haven't seen that for sale...

"Then you're left with water in the extract when the acetone is boiled off."

This is why you've got it on the hot plate for an hour - at 150F the acetone's gone in 20 minutes, you need the other 40 minutes to purge the water from the extract.

Heptane is also about 6x the price of acetone.

I read a number of reviews of it while considering getting one. It seems to me the most error-prone part of extracting is the decarboxylation, and this device doesn't do that. (There apparently is a device that does that, but the name escapes me just now.) So it doesn't seem to provide a whole lot of value.

This seems like making your own wine. Fun, but less practical than going down to the store and choosing from a large variety of professionally produced products.

An older relative of mine uses a machine like that. He uses the butter to bake edibles for his dad. It's really helped with neuropathy and pain management.

Thank you. I think I will give it a try as well. We are running out of options for my father - perhaps this would be a good Hail Mary.

Just do your research on dosing and what your father will tolerate. It may be more beneficial to get one of the strands that gives no high. Good luck , I'm sure it's not easy.

Thank you. Yes, it is figuring out the dosing that concerns me.

To reiterate what someone else has already said, vaporizing is indisputably the way to go. When vaporizing, you can use a bit, wait 5-10 minutes, and then decide whether to use more. With edibles you don't know if you got the dosage right or not for 60+ minutes.

Thanks. This point does stand out as an important takeaway from all that I've read here.

I've had good results with a normal crock pot on the high setting overnight.

That sounds like worth trying, given your experience.

if you happen to have a moka pot around it's the same idea. lower heat, load the bottom with a fat, and decarboxylate the herb first.

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