Hi everyone.
I’ve mentioned a few times in various posts that I prefer to use Concentrated Cannabis Oil in my infused honey and hard candy recipe for discreet medicating and because I don’t smoke. I am able to vape so I also use this to make my own vape juice so it’s very versatile. My problem is that the dispensary I go to doesn’t always have CCO and when they do it’s not always an indica blend. In fact it’s usually a sativa blend which does me no good. I needed a safe way to make it myself with my own cannabis.
I have tried several extraction methods to get the purest extraction I can. By purest I mean the least amount of plant material. I don’t mind using the straight cannabis flower and trim for my butter and coconut oil infusion but not for the other items I make. The flat iron/squish method was a bust for me. The time and effort wasn’t worth the end result. That is definitely something left to the big machine designed specifically to do that instead of a DIY in my opinion.
I stumbled across a great article in 420 magazine with instructions on how to make CCO that seemed doable and today was the first run and it was a success. I am super satisfied with the results.
Here is a rundown of the process and what I used.
The two main appliances were a fondu pot and an induction hot plate that I got from Amazon. The fondu pot can be switched with a rice cooker as long as the rice cooker doesn’t shut off automatically when tipped:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00018RR48?tag=greenrel-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L2OH52S?tag=greenrel-20
and I needed this as well to measure the temperature.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013X0NQT0?tag=greenrel-20
So appliances cost just under $100.
I did this in my sunroom that has sliding glass doors and windows on 3 walls and I opened them all so I had good ventilation…because safety first. Here we go:
Gather the tools you will be using including the fondue cooker or rice cooker and hot plate.
1 oz. flower/bud – frozen for 24 hours
Everclear - frozen for 24 hours
2 quart pan
Mixing pitcher - I put this in the freezer too
3-4 strainers
3-4 funnels
3-4 Collection jars for carrier liquid
thermometer
Hot pads
Measuring cups
Place the measuring cup (1/3 or 1/2 cup size) in the pan pour some light organic olive oil in the pan around the measuring cup so it’s about an 1/8 of inch from the top. Remove the cup and wipe oil off outside. Place stainless steel washer in the oil in the pan – this is supposed to prevent the measuring cup from suctioning to the pan as it heats, but I didn’t really think it was needed. Heat oil to 180 degrees while you do the quick wash process so it’s ready. 180 degrees is staring point and you will finish at 250 degrees or less. This is what you use the thermometer for.
Quick wash process
Freeze flower/bud and everclear for 24 hours - I ground mine in the food processor first. Set up pitcher and stirrer and set up funnels over catch containers with filters in each. Place flower in pitcher and pour everclear over cannabis until wet and pack it down with mixing tool (I used a clean paint stirrer). Add more everclear so there is 1 inch above flower and quickly squish flower while mixing.
After about 3 minutes pour contents through strainer and into filtered funnels. Do not fill all the way to the top and move to next catch container as they fill up. Once pitcher is empty, set it aside and put flower back in the pitcher. Pour more everclear to an inch over flower and repeat squish and mix for another 3 minutes. Pour into strainer and next filtered funnels. Squeeze through strainer until no more liquid comes out. Allow used flower to dry before placing in trash.
When first set of funnels has drained through filter, gather the corners into a bunch and fold over so you can squeeze the liquid out without dumping any loose flower into what you have already strained. Do this to all filters and set aside.
Take a fine mesh strainer and drain carrier liquid into the fondue pan. Put temperature on high. When liquid evaporates to about a cup tip the pot using pot holders and tilt and swirl the liquid in a circular motion until liquid is at about ½ cup. Turn off the heat when solvent doesn’t bubble anymore - this happens really fast (faster than I expected) so keep a close eye on it.
Someone was not happy that he was on the other side of the glass door and denied entry while this process happened.
Step 2 - Decarb your oil
Using a hot pad or oven mitt, pour the liquid into the 1/3 or 1/2 cup size measuring cup (1/3 cup should be fine if using 1 oz. flower, I used the 1/2 cup and it was a little big). Set cup into heated oil in the pan.
Once in the pan observe how the reduced oil reacts. If it starts to bubble immediately it’s burning off excess carrier liquid. If it doesn’t bubble turn the temperature up to 190 degrees. Pay attention and DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED. When it starts to bubble and the bubbles are big and more defined, decarb has started. When the bubbles start tapering down in size turn the temperate up another 10 degrees. Keep bumping the temperature up by 10 degrees until you reach a max of 250 degrees. However, you may not reach 250 degrees if the bubbles stop. NEVER GO OVER 250 DEGREES. Decarb is complete when there are no bubbles or movement.
Remove concentrated oil from pan and set on a towel to absorb oil on the outside of the cup. Fold edge of towel under cup so it tilts and use a syringe to suck the concentrated oil out of the cup.
Ironically I had to take my cat to the vet several days ago and the meds they put him on were pre-measured in syringes. I washed and sterilized the empty ones and was able to use them to store my finished CCO. Timing is everything I suppose.
This is exactly how they come from the dispensary at $50 a gram which is what one full syringe is. This amount would have cost me nearly $200 so my appliances have already paid for themselves with this first run (not including the cost of growing obviously).
I call that a success and it’s a huge win for me to now be able to make my own with the exact strain I need with the my own quality cannabis.
