What is the best way to extract cannibis oil in large batches to turn into solventless clear extract

I am interested in how I can extract oil using 1-5lb of dry material at a time to then be cleaned/refined and then used in edibles .
The product I was hoping to make would be like the solventless clear extract,would this be ideal for clean edibles?
Co2 and alcohol seem to be the way,but I know very little.
Thanks in advance for all replys
Bless up

You can't use solvents to make solventless extracts. That's a definition thing.

Bugeye said:

You can't use solvents to make solventless extracts. That's a definition thing.

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I can't recall how "the clear" is labelled but it is either "solventfree" or "solventless" they just take oily (usually not the highest quality) and then distill it, hence why it is clear. Technically it is free of solvents but made with solvents if that makes sense?

WM is right. solvent free and solvent less are two different things. I make an extract at work that is the same as the clear but stronger most times(80%-95%THC).

Thanks for the replys fellas.
I understand what you are saying.
I could of worded that better ,I will blame it on the chemotherapy it makes me a little slow :/
R&R I would be interested in how you go about your process if you wouldn't mind sharing a bit.
My goal is to make a clean extract we can use for edibles and smoking/vaping .
We were originally going to purchase co2 oil from a friends lab,and clean it up-but have been thinking there might be a better or more affordable way to extract it...
What do you guys think ?
We just got a rotovap and some other gear-and are scheduled for a class on using them next week.
I would like to see how else besides buying a co2 machine,buying co2 oil I can make a bunch of clean medicine for edibles and that might not suck to smoke.
If possible inwould also like to make a cancer treatment oil I can injest, not sure if you guys have any tips on that but I'm all ears. Thanks again for your assistance !

Have you thought about rosin perhaps? It uses nothing but heat and pressure. So no solvents, no vac purge, quick processing.

Basic tools would be a hair straightener and parchment paper. You can also use a hand clamp ( like I do) or an arbor press to assist adding more pressure.

And if you want to go large scale there are ready made rosin presses.

I've thought about it,the rosinator looked interesting. Do people use rosin for edibles? Would it be cleaner if it was ran throw rotovap etc? Do you know how rosin yields per lb of dry trim? % wise
It would be nice to be able to process 10-15 lbs of dry material per day at any rate : to do this with rosin we would need several tumblers I imagine-do they tumble more than a lb at a time?
To do this with alcohol or ethanol what would I need ?

you have a rotovap, just do etoh(everclear190proof)extraction. from there you have good oil for edibles, topical application, you might need to decarb it depending on what you do with it. for a more dab like product a shorter wash will give you a good result a longer wash for the edibles/topical stuff or be smart and do two washes and make both products

Rosin is ostensibly the cheapest from a capital investment standpoint, but at current technology levels, not fast nor easily scaled up.

Of the available processes, we typically use a closed loop BHO system, because of its low cost per gram for pristine extracts.

QWET was the second most cost effective we found, if we reclaimed the alcohol for recyle.

Clear is made from the above, by short path fractional distillation. Typically to reclaim lower grade extracts and done with a Kuglerohr or molecular still.

You can make an Absolute by winterizing BHO, which won't be clear, but can be pristine.

R&RHashman said:

you have a rotovap, just do etoh(everclear190proof)extraction. from there you have good oil for edibles, topical application, you might need to decarb it depending on what you do with it. for a more dab like product a shorter wash will give you a good result a longer wash for the edibles/topical stuff or be smart and do two washes and make both products

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Could you explain the process for etoh extraction for me,i have only ever used butane and bubble bags.
What kind of vessels would one use to soak in?
My goal is to offer a real clean extract for edible companies in the area,aswell as a medicine for my cancer treatment. I also have a company interested in obtaining filled cartridges for the pens,right now there just getting co2 oil Which we can purchase at 15/g and the idea was to process it in the rotovap and then give them that product.
If alcohol makes it easier than I'm all for it,my partner is interesting in buying a 20l 5000 psi co2 machine but I'm not sure that we will need it for making these products,i do like the volume they produce but have heard yields from 3% coming out of the machine.

Fadedawg said:

Rosin is ostensibly the cheapest from a capital investment standpoint, but at current technology levels, not fast nor easily scaled up.

Of the available processes, we typically use a closed loop BHO system, because of its low cost per gram for pristine extracts.

QWET was the second most cost effective we found, if we reclaimed the alcohol for recyle.

Clear is made from the above, by short path fractional distillation. Typically to reclaim lower grade extracts and done with a Kuglerohr or molecular still.

You can make an Absolute by winterizing BHO, which won't be clear, but can be pristine.

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Thanks for your reply king!
Im not sure if rosin would work to supply edible companies wholesale volume.
BHO might be an option,what closed loop system would you recommend?
WHat kind of yield would one see from a lb of dry material?
Qwet sounds promising,can you elaborate a bit on the process ?

Is there an ability to process fresh frozen/live resin with qwet?
Thanks again for all your help
bless!

headbandrocker said:

Thanks for your reply king!
Im not sure if rosin would work to supply edible companies wholesale volume.
BHO might be an option,what closed loop system would you recommend?
WHat kind of yield would one see from a lb of dry material?
Qwet sounds promising,can you elaborate a bit on the process ?

Is there an ability to process fresh frozen/live resin with qwet?
Thanks again for all your help
bless!

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King? Not so much! How about experienced traveler?

If I thought there was a better system than the one put out by Pharmgold, whom now build the WolfWurx Mk IVC, VC and VCA2 designs, I would design it, but they are commercial units meeting all the commercial regulations, so expensive to build and not cost effective for low volume.

In general I think the Terpenator design offers the most options for extraction and recovery, and several folks offer them in complete or kit form, such as Specialized Formulations and Terpp Extractors, with parts available at Best Value Vacuums, Sanitary Steel, or Glacier Tank.

If you prefer passive, you might scope out the Lil Terp as a place to start, and where others have taken the passive recovery process, because they too can get quite elaborate.

We typically yield 18 to 25% essential oil by weight from prime bud and about half that for trim. High CBD strains typically on the lower end.

Here is how we do QWET: https://skunkpharmresearch.com/qwet-extraction/

Extracting fresh cut material with a polar solvent is tricky, and best accomplished at subzero temperatures to avoid the water and water solubles.

If the water soluble chlorophyll binding proteins aren't kept in place, you can also end up with a boat load of chlorophyll.

headbandrocker said:

I am interested in how I can extract oil using 1-5lb of dry material at a time to then be cleaned/refined and then used in edibles .
The product I was hoping to make would be like the solventless clear extract,would this be ideal for clean edibles?
Co2 and alcohol seem to be the way,but I know very little.
Thanks in advance for all replys
Bless up

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To make it clear you can put some activated charcoal in while it's dissolved in alcohol or whatever and stir until the color is gone. For use in edibles I would heat the weed to 110C for 110 minutes before extracting, to convert THCA to THC, so it will be absorbable orally. Lower temps would take longer.

BobCajun said:

To make it clear you can put some activated charcoal in while it's dissolved in alcohol or whatever and stir until the color is gone. For use in edibles I would heat the weed to 110C for 110 minutes before extracting, to convert THCA to THC, so it will be absorbable orally. Lower temps would take longer.

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I've used activated charcoal to salvage material that was otherwise a loss, and was happy with the results, but while it was clearer, it wasn't as colorless as a fractionally distilled "Clear", by the time I typically give up, due to accompanying target element losses to the charcoal as well.

Last batch, I started with a quart of solution and stopped when I reached a pint.

We also found it necessary to filter to sub-micron levels afterwards, to remove the carbon fines from the otherwise purdy extract. It typically has some amber color and is bell clear after filtration to 0.2 microns using a syringe filter.