Those of you with a countertop distiller. How do you use it exactly? Because I was thinking of getting some type of dish to line the bottom interior of the distiller with, like a silicone dish or bowl.
What do you think?
My VEVOR distiller came with a… trivet? (a circular grate/platform) that looks to sit in the bottom of the unit for some reason (elevating material off the bottom to distance from direct heating, I guess). I measured the trivet, and it’s about 7" diameter. So a 7" silicone dish might do well.
NOTE: Clean your distiller very well. I followed the directions (mine came with citric acid) for first use, and cleaning. Rinsed. Then cleaned with some soapy water and soft bristled brush, then rinsed again. Two runs of distilling which I threw away. And it still had this off color/discoloration on most of the inner container steel.
I used some barkeeper’s friend (oxalic acid) and it looks to have come clean after that.
Thanks.
Here’s the unit I got (The 1L/H unit. The listing of another version there is confusing, and I think there might be incorrect info on it - like the wattage?):
@ReikoX@FieldEffect and anyone else: When making hard candy, do you have any tricks to get all of the molten sugar out of whatever container (eg: pyrex) into the mold before it hardens in the container? The first test batch I made a while ago left me with a bunch of hardened “candy” coating the container - which of course you can’t just remelt and pour out.
I searched for “simple syrup” and found this post (I’m sure I read it when I read the whole thread, before).
So, I was thinking of trying to make some kind of “cannabis infused simple syrup”. The product that made me think of it was “Thompson Caribou Concentrates”.
I’m going to try and find time to look into how I might make this.
I wish I had the attention span to read over 2k comments but incase this has been asked already. I apologize!
Is it possible tonuse the sugar leaves or trimmings from dried cannabis instead of the actual flower? I am guessing it can but would transfer more of the chlorophyll as mentioned before.
Does anyone have handy ideas on what to use those trimming for? Otherwise I am going to toss it in my fireplace next time we have a block party in my neighborhood
Thank you! Would any extra steps be needed besides what was outlined for 190proof everclear? I want to make some as I probably have a good 2oz of trimmings
I have the Vevor water/alcohol distiller I posted in post #2038. I’ve been distilling water flat out with for a couple weeks now. I’ve not tried alcohol in it yet. Anyway, it has adjustable temp. I searched and found different boiling points of Isopropyl from about 80C to about 86C. And for Ethanol/grain alcohol it’s at about 78*C.
NOTE: The Vevor still has a temperature selection option, but I would think it doesn’t affect the wattage (the voltage, amperage, etc.). So it’s just 750W (I think) regardless. This could be an issue, right? And would a volgage controller be needed in this case (/would it be beneficial) - @Mr.Sparkle - maybe you know?
So…do I set my distiller for that boiling point, or maybe just below that, let it run, and just observe to see if it distills.
Also, do I just watch the collection container to get an idea of when the majority of the alcohol has evaporated out of the still container (so as not to burn the oil in the still container). And then stop it before it’s completely done, and move the remaining “tincture” (alcohol/oil mix) from the still container into another container to finish the evaporation of alcohol on a different, and more gentle/safe heating method? (If using ethanol and wanting an alcohol tincture I guess I can just stop when it’s at the right volume of alcohol/tincture remaining…).
Sources (I know, wikipedia…):
I also went looking for something to line the distiller bottom with, like a silicone bowl, to protect the distiller’s insides from mess, and oil. What do you think about this idea? Possible danger/hazard of burning the container, or some other consider I might have overlooked?
I picked up these: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BNVXS16M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
(I want to use this distiller for water as well. So if I can keep it from becoming a “cannabis only” tool and all messy, etc., that’d be great.
EDIT: Just measured the distiller while running a batch of water at 101*C. 860W, 6.83A, 125.8V
The variable temperature is what you want to use, I would set it to 80°C as a safe temp for ethanol, yet low enough to not boil the water. When I use my Source Turbo, it run a single batch to retrieve about 90% of the alcohol, then evaporate the rest in a Pyrex pie plate with a fan over it.
A good test would be to distil some cheap 80 proof grain alcohol. You should get roughly 40% alcohol and 60% left over as water.
My distiller is the same as yours just another name on it.
If I set mine to 80c it will heat up to temp and switch off and on to keep the desired temperature. This can take several hours, so I do mine in 2 stages, the first is a stripping run at a higher temp then run it again at the 80c temp. This saves a lot of time waiting while it cuts in and out doing 4 liters of mash.
The distiller would work better if you could control the wattage so the mash keeps at a stable temperature rather than just getting too hot and having to cool down again before tge heater cuts back in.
Mine isn’t Vevor, unfortunately (though a lot of my other stuff is… LOVE them), but has the temp setting. I don’t use it to make oil so I wouldn’t want to guess on that part, I only use it to make the alcohol part (never actually made oil either) but can get almost 180 proof out of it. What I do is start the temp at around 70C to get any methanol out and slowly crank it up to mid to high 80’s to collect the rest. I don’t go any higher than about 88C, unless I am doing a stripping run and crank it up to get as much as I can, at the end. It is a slow process, but everything good always is.
As to wattage, I would assume that it just regulates by keeping a constant wattage and just turning the element on and off by the temperature. This is what I have presently in my other still, a PID, but am going to build a PWM, which would control but adjusting the wattage.
So i have a variable temp one and i range the temp as the distillation happens just to condense and slow it down essentially having set stop points, but big but here you dont need one as really it just works as an on off power wise and a regular no temp controlled one will suffice as its always full power or no power with the temp controlled ones, but like i said can setup kinda dummy setpoints
what you actually will want as an addition is a SCR controller, essentially it will chop your ac voltage so you can externally adjust your power level that way you can run your distillation slower and not force over too much, or the bigger thing out pace what your condenser coil can actually cool.
With water it can drop almost everything but you do get some steam, alcohol though you can be blowing alot of vaporized alcohol due to the lower amount of heat needed to vaporize alcohol but you can and mine i can out run the condenser which can be very dangerous
Ok missed that, when I make oil and reclaim the alcohol, I set it at max temp, that way its not switching on and off constantly. Once you have done a few runs you will get to know the amount of safe time before its ready but while learning, check your alcohol levels when its still pretty runny empty the contents into a small bowl, you don’t want it sticking to the bottom of the distiller. Then use a saucepan of water to sit the bowl in and heat the water as a double boiler. You have to keep stirring the mix until its no longer bubbling which means all the alcohol is gone, it can take a couple of hours.
When you lift the lid of the distiller keep your face well away from it, hot alcohol vaper in the eyes is not much fun.
Or if its a tincture you may want some alcohol left in it so adjust to your needs.
and test.