THE EtOH PRO 

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“EtOH” is the scientific abbreviation for ethanol. It seemed perfect to use in the name of the second iteration of extraction equipment from ExtractCraft following the great success of the Source Turbo.  The EtOH PRO was born.  Even though The EtOH PRO is younger, it’s essentially the Source Turbo’s big brother.  They both do the same thing in performing ethanol extraction easily and safely, from botanical material like lavender, sandalwood, hops, and mushrooms to anything you’d like to use in culinary arts, scenting, smoking, vaping, and medicine making. Like the Source Turbo, the EtOH PRO produces incredible, high-quality concentrates but quickly does it in a much larger volume.

The EtOH PRO is an advanced extraction equipment with capabilities normally found only in a lab. It is designed to be the workhorse on a benchtop for small businesses or advanced hobbyists. The unit has a 4-liter liquid volume capacity, which equates to processing about a pound or more of dry botanical material.  

We’ve developed some incredible science applications, including a utility patent and process patent for heat flux management that controls vacuum and heat via one control contained in this beauty. Internal vacuum generation and heat delivery tuned specifically for low-temperature ethanol evaporation push vapor from the loading kettle through an air-driven condenser and into a collection vessel where the reclaimed ethanol is collected. All that science, work, and control is accomplished by a technologically advanced system that requires only a single push of a green button.

HOW THE PROCESS OPERATES

The EtOH PRO performs the important operation of evaporating and purging ethanol in the ethanol extraction process. Traditionally, evaporation for at-home extraction has been accomplished by allowing ethanol to evaporate slowly for a couple of days or boiling it in an open atmosphere with high heat. Neither of those options is good because natural evaporation takes far too long, and boiling off ethanol with high heat destroys the most flavorful and aromatic elements of an extraction, thus destroying quality. Most concerning, both options fill the surrounding air with combustible fumes, which is wasteful and dangerous. The EtOH PRO is designed to address and eliminate those problems.

The EtOH PRO is a fully contained closed-loop system that solves old ethanol evaporation problems without cumbersome, difficult-to-use, expensive lab equipment. Vacuum technology and advanced systems control the evaporation of ethanol away from the soon-to-be concentrate at around 100°F and safely collect it for reuse. The very low operational temperatures preserve the most delicate attributes of an extraction, creating the most high-quality, potent oil possible. Reclaiming ethanol for reuse keeps the dangerous fumes from filling the surroundings, saves significant money with every use, eliminates waste, and contributes greatly to sustainability. When the extraction process is completed, the pure oil concentrate remains in the Kettle, and the clean reclaimed ethanol is separated in the collector.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EtOH PRO AND OTHER DEVICES?

Extraction vs Infusion

A common question is, “What’s the difference between the EtOH PRO and other butter makers and infusion devices?” The difference is enormous; to understand this, we must differentiate between “infusion” and “extraction.”  “Infusion” is the act of soaking botanical matter in a large amount of butter or carrier oil (like olive oil) to absorb the botanical oil contained in the plant.  Regardless of claims to the contrary, the butter makers and infusion machines only perform the simple act of infusion, resulting in a large volume of the fat-based carrier with a comparably low potency end product. The exact process can be safely and easily accomplished on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, or any combination of a vessel and heat source. Infusion devices don’t concentrate oil or butter in any way. Instead, they merely steep the plant material like a slow cooker, allowing the added butter or oil to absorb the oils from it, leaving the user with no control over potency.

“Extraction” is entirely different, harvesting only pure oil from botanicals without added carrier oil, butter, or fat. The user extracts only pure botanical oils. Highly potent, pure concentrates result only from extraction, and the EtOH PRO is a great tool for doing that.  Pure oil from extraction is the base for any form of concentrate: tincture, concentrated tincture, absolute oil, wax, budder, pull-n-snap, shatter, edibles, topicals, and more.  Moreover, using concentrates for cooking provides a substantially cleaner and delicious end product and the ultimate control of potency.  A larger amount of concentrate can be combined with a small amount of butter to make it ungodly potent, or less can be added to a larger amount of butter to ease the strength as much as desired. The EtOH PRO delivers great versatility to safely make high-quality concentrates from any botanical, in any form or potency, creating a level of freedom and agility infusion devices can only dream of.

Ethanol Extraction Systems: Open vs. Closed Loop vs. Vacuum Assisted Closed Loop

How ethanol is boiled, evaporated, and, in some cases, recaptured for re-use is determined by the type of system being used. An “open” system boils ethanol by applying heat and evaporating the vapor into the open air. Examples of this are old-school methods like using a pot on a hot plate or a rice cooker. Open evaporation causes many obvious safety, quality, and affordability problems. When performing extractions, safety is paramount, and evaporating ethanol into the air of an enclosed area is very dangerous since those fumes are combustible and will easily ignite. Quality is another problem resulting from the high temperature required to boil ethanol under normal ambient pressure. In an open system, ethanol boils at about 173°F, which is too high. It destroys the delicate and beautiful compounds that define a quality concentrate and chemically alters its makeup, limiting post-processing options. Hot plates, pots, and rice cookers are inexpensive, so many people mistakenly consider this the cheapest processing option; however, when all aspects of extraction are considered, there’s an affordability paradox that makes this process one of the most costly. The rice cooker may be inexpensive, but ethanol isn’t cheap, and letting it evaporate into the air is an enormous waste of money that adds up quickly. Next, the final product's quality, and hence the value, must be accounted for, and the high-temperature purge used in open systems will produce the lowest quality medication. Low-quality, less potent meds won’t go far, don’t last as long, and require you to use more overall, seriously decreasing value. Additionally, openly boiling ethanol requires constant attention and supervision, wasting valuable time you could spend doing something else important or relaxing. The low cost may make the rice cooker and other open system methods attractive to a home user,  but they’re unsafe, produce low-quality concentrates, and are not the most affordable option.

“Closed loop” systems also evaporate ethanol at open atmosphere temperatures of around 173°F, just like a rice cooker, but have the added ability to capture and reclaim some of the evaporated ethanol for reuse. The most popular of these devices are simple water distillers. They aren’t really closed loop because they vent into the open, but they are similar.  These devices partially solve two of the problems associated with completely open systems to a limited degree. Safety is better because a good amount of the alcohol vapor is captured, condensed, and collected for reuse. However, most of these devices drain into an open recovery vessel from condensers that get overwhelmed by the volume of hot vapor pushed through them, allowing a lot of vapor to escape into the open air.  This is a little safer but far from perfect. In my experience, the average ethanol reclaim with these is around 60%-70%. A water distiller can be more expensive than a rice cooker, but it’s a little safer and more affordable in the long term because the ethanol is recaptured for reuse.  Now for the bad news. These machines are designed for water distillation, not oil extraction, creating serious quality and operational problems. Extractions made using a distiller or a rice cooker suffer from the same quality limitations. Distillers also work under normal ambient pressure, so the operating temperatures are high, and the extract quality is low. It can also be frustrating because you can’t see inside during the process, and the oil must be removed from a fixed vat.  Using one is cumbersome, difficult to empty, dangerously hot, and wasteful. For an average at-home user, these units are quite large, with substantial surface area in the oil collection area, and are made to run large amounts of water, so if you need to run a small batch, you’ll have difficulties. Distillers are an acceptable choice if you’re only making large batches of oil and willing to sacrifice safety and quality for the production volume, but that’s all they’re capable of.

The most advanced systems are “Vacuum Assisted Closed Systems,” and this is where the EtOH PRO shines. Adding a vacuum to a closed system keeps all of the vapor activity enclosed within a self-contained unit, allowing virtually nothing to escape, and the low internal pressure allows the EtOH PRO to boil and evaporate ethanol at around 100°F. The ability to operate at low temperatures in an enclosed environment solves all the problems the other devices suffer from. It’s safe because everything is reclaimed internally, allowing no dangerous fumes or odors to escape during operation. In addition to vastly improved safety, the quality of the extractions and concentrates is unmatched. Using such low temperatures for the entire process ensures that all the good stuff extracted from the plant is saved, protected, and packed into the concentrate. The quality is so tasty, smooth, and potent that it’s unbelievable, and this high quality is key to great value. Higher quality, more potent medication will go further, last longer, and require you to use less overall, seriously increasing value and savings.

Contrary to many people’s first impression, the EtOH PRO is the most affordable option for at-home extraction, even with the higher initial cost. What must be understood about the EtOH PRO is that affordability and value are more than just a price tag. The EtOH PRO provides great money savings in ethanol with every use, safe and easy operation, wildly superior quality concentrates, a processing time of around 2 hours, and loads of fun experimenting with unlimited crafting possibilities.

For more detailed and technical information, please see the EtOH PRO User Manual.