Greetings all, this is my first post so I apologize if I placed it under category. I want to make some tincture, I’m just not comfortable reducing alcohol on the stovetop. What are your guys experiences with 1-3 month ethanol extraction? Thanks for letting me be here.
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Thanks for being here @squidly. It’s not as dangerous as you’d think. The boiling point of ethanol is 173.1 degrees F, so if you use a water bath, monitor your temp, and pay attention to what you’re doing, you can make it on the stovetop easily, safely, and quickly.
I use a beaker to hold my material, and a Pyrex baking dish as my water bath. You can use anything, a coffee mug and a skillet will work. I like the beaker, because it’s easier to tell how much it’s reduced.
Put something like coins, or mason jar rings in your water bath to set your beaker on, don’t set it directly on the bottom of the Pyrex, as the heat can cause it to shatter. You’re shooting for 170-175 degrees in your water bath, use a thermometer.
The danger is obviously from igniting your alcohol, and that’s easy to avoid. Do not EVER pass your beaker over an open flame EVER. Once your water is hot enough, move your water bath to the counter, put your beaker in it, and move it back to the stove. When you’re finished, move the bath back to the counter, and remove your beaker. The water bath temp will not ignite the ethanol, even if you spill it in the water bath, so if you don’t expose your beaker to an open flame it’s not going to ignite.
Don’t get in a hurry, make sure you’ve got enough time. If you run everyone out of the kitchen, don’t leave the room and stay focused on what you’re doing, then, IMO, the odds of a fire is slim.
Don’t let it intimidate you, it just requires you to approach it with the appropriate level of caution. Be careful, and you’ll be fine.
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To add to the above make sure the area is well ventilated too. I always have a fan blowing do disperse the vapours.
Personally I wouldn’t even use an open flame for heating period. I think @PSam or someone in the GS thread may have possiblly been in danger of ignition with a rice cooker bue to lack of ventilation…?? Was something along those lines anyway.
Use an electirc stove top, portable works too. If you have a temp controled maganetic stirrer you could use that too
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Yes, that happened to me early on in my “career”. I had just gotten home from the hospital after back surgery and shouldn’t have been trying to do anything. I had my GD reducing in a metal bowl over my rice cooker and the volume was getting low so there wasn’t much weight holding it down. I had forgotten to turn on my fans so the fumes were building a bit. I accidentally joggled the bowl which caused the liner of the rice cooker to pop up a little and it ignited when the vapor accessed the element underneath. As I dropped the bowl on the floor my pant leg and floor caught fire. Fortunately, alcohol is more of a flash and goes out quickly but it still could have caused me a lot of damage. It’s not as bad as butane or other solvents but you still need to be careful. 
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If you want a safe and efficient way to reduce your Green Dragon tincture, you could always get a Source Turbo. Worth every penny IME.
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Are there any similar models or brands that are a bit more economical?
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Good catch man, I forgot to mention that. I always have my oven hood fan on.
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