I'm looking to make the best possible hash oil. When I say best. I mean BEST. I want it to be crystalline and delicious. What solvent? What extractor?
Been looking around trying to find the best way (like yourself) to have a clean Honey Oil. This is what I found~
The basic premise is that low-boiling point, residue-free solvents are used in a non-pressurized vessel to saturate and separate the resins in the plant material (and on it, in the form of trichomes). The resins are suspended in a liquid slurry, which is evaporated off in a wide-mouthed container, leaving behind pure honey oil.
There are a variety of solvents used to extract honey oil from cannabis leaves and flowers, including isopropyl alcohol, hexane, electronics contact cleaners (which contain a cornucopia of petrochemicals), grain alcohol, butane, and a variety of other materials. The chief differences between these solvents (as it relates to preparing honey oil) are:
A. Toxicity/cleanliness - some of these solvents leave dangerous residues that can harm you if smoked/ingested. Some are residue free. These are the ones we want for our work.
B. Polarity - some of these chemicals extract unwanted plant waxes, chlorophyll, and other things that are undesirable in honey oil and ruin it's clarity, color, taste, and sometimes its high. Non-polar solvents will leave the unwanted stuff behind and only extract the golden honey oil that you're after.
C. Boiling Point - all solvents have different boiling points, which changes the degree of difficulty in getting the solvent out of the oil so you don't smoke it. Ideally, a solvent will have a low boiling point which will allow most of it to evaporate naturally without needing to accelerate it with additional heat.
This tek uses butane, which has a very low boiling point, leaves no residue, and is completely non-polar. Butane fluid is commonly available from tobacconists, sporting goods stores that specialize in camping equipment, home centers/hardware stores that sell butane torch tools, and kitchen supply places that sell creme brulee torches and refills. Many people use Colibri because it is known to be free of benzenes and other contaminants which can cause you harm. I've also found Lenk butane in 42 g canisters at Lowes. Lenk and Colibri are very clean butanes. Do not use butane used as fuel for camp stoves and very cheap lighter refill butane in little 18cc canisters. These will be the cheapest per gram, but they are imported from god-knows-where and may have loads of benzenes and nasty chemicals. It's only a matter of a fraction of a cent anyway. All butane I've found commercially available ranges from $.07-$.08 per gram, with Lenk being on the low end and Colibri on the high end.
I've looked around the internet and there are no online deals to find these materials. Even some of the eBay auctions were ripoffs - one joker was selling 50g cans for $12.95 (they usually go for $3.50-4.00). The shipping is also expensive. Since it's a flammable material, it can only be shipped USPS ground and has to have extra handling which raises the shipping costs. One vendor quoted me $5 per can for a bulk order - the shipping was more than the cost of the fuel! Look around - you will definitely be able to find butane refills locally. Unless you become a Colibri distributor, I doubt you'll find a better price.