BHO Extraction can look hard but if you have the right BHO extractor and tools, you will be extracting the best BHO in no time. Once you have the right equipment and a new BHO extraction kit, check out our tutorial on how to make BHO.
BHO Extractors
BHO extractors range greatly in price and complexity. From the cheap BHO extractor tubes to complex and expensive closed-loop BHO extractors.
Glass BHO Extractor Tubes
If you’re doing small batches for yourself, open blasting BHO can be done with BHO extractor tubes. These tubes come in a variety of sizes and features and can lead to great results. However, you will not be able to reclaim your butane as with closed-loop extractors and instead goes directly into the air. When using a BHO extractor tube you need to be especially aware of the accumulation of butane vapor as it will not be contained in any way.
Are you are looking for a BHO extraction tube, but don’t know what to get? Here are my favorite tubes for a simple BHO extraction.
This small glass BHO extraction tube is perfect for making small batches of your own dab, it will hold about 7g of material. I really like the nubs at the top of the extractor tube to keep it from sliding in your hand. These tubes get slippery since you are pushing down with the butane can while extracting, and it will make the tube cold, and ice forms on the outside of the tube. The last thing you want to do is let the tube slip, fall into your extraction vessel, and risk breaking. In addition to those nubs, this extractor comes with a sleeve that fits over the tube to help with grip and to help cut down on frost and keep your hands from getting cold or frostbitten.Some other things I have found really useful for this setup are:
If you want to run a few ounces of cannabis each run, and like the glass tube approach, this Large Glass BHO extraction tube is one I have used with good results. This BHO extraction tube is awesome because of the honeycomb style diffuser at the top. This helps spread your butane across your material evenly, resulting in a better extraction.
Save yourself a trip to the hardware store, here a few handy things I like to have around when using these large glass BHO extractors.
Deluxe BHO Extraction Tubes
So, you don’t want to get your hands cold, or risk dropping your BHO extractor tube? I hear you. Check these out.
Fill your extractor, Place this over your pyrex dish, and just spray. It’s on a stand so you don’t have to hold the tube, and can just watch that golden goodness spray out of your bud. The other awesome things about these are you don’t need to get screens separately, and it has heavy-duty clamps on either end to make sure all of your butane goes through the material. Heavy duty and made of steel, you will never break this BHO extractor.
If you are looking to step up your extraction game and you have a vacuum pump for vacuum purging your BHO, check out these open blast BHO extractors. I wish I had known about these when I was open blasting. This BHO extraction tube has valves on either end that make a gas-tight seal. This allows you to pull a vacuum on the tube and then fill with your butane which gets sucked into the tube. You can then allow your solvent to sit and soak your material and get every bit of psychoactive out of your cannabis. This means you are making more efficient use of your butane and will end up with a better BHO extraction. This style of extractor needs everything listed for the quad stand extractors plus a vacuum pump.
Closed loop extractors are the next step up in the BHO extraction tube world. The closed loop means that you are able to reclaim your butane back out of your solution once you blast it through your weed.
This has a few benefits:
- You are not breathing in as much butane during BHO extraction.
- You get to reuse your butane multiple times this is a huge money saving factor.
- The high risk of open blasting indoors is lowered, although precautions will need to be carefully followed, as you will still be working with a flammable gas, and will be opening your extractor to remove your BHO, during which time butane fumes will leak out.
Closed Loop BHO Extractors
These BHO extraction systems operate under vacuum, allowing for a more efficient extraction.They come in a variety of sizes, I started with a small closed loop extractor it was great for personal runs, but to really be able to run any serious weight you need a large closed loop extractor. The basics of how passive closed loop extractors work are the same no matter the size.
A vacuum is pulled on the whole system with valves separating the different parts. Valves are turned in series to let butane flow to your tube of cannabis, then down through your weed pulling all of the BHO. When the butane has picked up all of the THC goodness and sits in the work jar, splatter platter area you can pull a vacuum on the butane reservoir chill it, and then with a little heat on the work jar pull all over your butane back into the reservoir for use on your next run. Some of these larger extractors have ‘dewaxing chambers’. This is a sleeve that creates a reservoir where you can load dry ice and some ethanol. This makes the extraction occur at very low temperatures and does not allow lipids or waxes to dissolve in solution. All of this makes things cleaner, safer, faster, stronger basically a better extraction all the way around.
Closed Loop BHO Extractor Accessories
If you are stepping into this league of BHO extraction equipment, you will need many of the same supplies for the open blasting. You will also need a cooler for your dry ice which is used to chill each end of your closed loop extractor in order to encourage the butane to collect there. Dry ice is -109.3°F so wear a good pair of gloves and try not to handle it for long.
Don’t forget these other essentials for extracting BHO with your closed loop extractor:
- Electric Griddle
- Vacuum Pump
- Recovery Cylinder (If your setup does not come with one)
BHO Containers
It is crucial you only use high-quality silicone. Cheap silicone has plasticizers in it, and the will leech into your oil and make it take like rubbery hell. One way to tell if the silicone has plasticizers in it is to pinch and twist the silicone. If it turns white and cloudy as you twist it is no good to use in a vacuum.
Silicone Alley makes a very nice kit that has mats, storage containers, tools, and a sweet holder to make dabbing super easy. Rest assured that these mats are good to go inside of a purging chamber, these are the exact ones I use. If you are doing larger runs, they also make some larger silicone mats as well that will fit inside of your purging chamber nicely.
Extraction Dish
A glass evaporation dish is essential BHO extracting equipment. When it comes to catching BHO during an extraction or doing a pre-evaporation We don’t recommend using a metal pan because when it comes time to scrape up the oil, metal shavings might contaminate your final product.
We recommend using Pyrex dishes as they are easy to scrape with a blade and are very easy to clean.
Scraper
When it comes time to scrape up your BHO you’ll want a good scraper. Most people will just use a razor blade and end up hurting their hands, but we’ve got a better solution.
By using one of these razor blade scrapers you can safely hold onto the razor blade and get leverage you need. And they’re pretty inexpensive.
Additional Safety Equipment for Your BHO Extraction Kit
Thanks for reading, and happy extracting in 2022! Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!
