Originally Posted by Jogro
A proper butane extraction yields the most potent stuff possible and since its a solvent (rather than mechanical) extraction it also is the most efficient extraction, capturing most available cannabinoids. Done right, this product isn't really "hash", but rather a viscous oil that many call "honey oil".
No true at all. I.pull more doing icewax then i ever did with bho. With bho its a 10% return. With ice wax I get a 20% -25% return. But I do pure organics and use cmh led and par t5 and get the frostiest buds and leaves ever.
If you want to get a fair comparison of extraction efficiency, you have to do lab quantitative THC measurement. Its because even pure trichrome heads contain waxes, terpenes, and other things that aren't cannabinoids. Simple weight comparison doesn't tell the whole story.
Also, done right, a solvent based extraction will pull out all the cannabinoids available, including from broken trichrome heads, and within leaf material, something that can't be done with conventional mechanical separation.
Proper bho is too.much work and costly.
It wouldn't be if cannabis were legal, but otherwise, I completely agree with you on this, that's why I emphasized "proper" BHO.
As you say, its simply not possible/practical to do this at home, because chemically pure butane is effectively unavailable to the public, and most of the people playing with this aren't using lab grade equipment.
Incidentally, it is OK to run butane through reagent grade stainless steel; you don't necessarily need glass. Also, you can make just as good, if not better honey oil using hexane or CO2; butane isn't the only way to do a high-end solvent extraction, it just happens to be the most popular way for do-it-home tinkerers.
Like i said i get more with ice wax and I prefer ice wax over bho. Its much cleaner and healthier. Even dispensaires cannot legally sell bho due to the chemical content. My ice wax looks like bho and melts the same but its not. Ice wax is more potent and much tastier. Tastes like the buds. But better. Good water is free and you only have to pay for bubble bags once.
Well, just to be clear, CA has banned the unlicensed manufacture of ALL chemical extracts, not just those made with butane. That doesn't mean you can't SELL them, and my understanding is that these can still be found in some dispensaries (maybe they shouldn't be, but that's a separate issue). BHO is sold legally in WA dispensaries and other places, just not in CA. Bubble bags do eventually wear out, though good ones will last a long time.
How much "safer" wax is vs BHO is also debatable, I think. Yeah, chemical residues probably aren't good for you, but if the BHO is made right (again. . . that's key. . .most people doing this are using sh#$ty lighter fuel butane, not pure butane) it shouldn't contain anything particularly toxic, and if there are any chemical residues at all, they should be in negligible amounts. IMO, by far the biggest danger with BHO is in the making of it.
All that said, I still agree with you. I also have no use for BHO and strongly prefer bubble/ice hash. IMO, if you're going to be making concentrates at home, water hash is by FAR the way to go. You'll do it safer, probably cheaper, and end up with a tastier better product.
