Now that I’ve recently began distilling and have quite a few jars building up, I’ve been researching a lot about storage, oxidation, red ring/color etc. I have concerns about making pens and having them turn red, etc. I’ve read a lot about nitrogen/vacuum storage and all kinds of other methods. at the moment I don’t have access to nitrogen so I wanted to know what’s my best option to currently store my distillate until I can get the proper equipment or method.
The distillate is currently in mason jars. Should I refrigerate,freeze, or place in one of my vac ovens open/loosely covered and pull a vac? Currently they are in a slightly chilly room, in a box to avoid light. So for now, what’s my best method of storage given what I have. As with anything, oxidation / color change is a rabbit hole of research I get sucked into. I’ve avoided going into cruise control distilling and decided to give my jars a few days/weeks to observe any changes. The last thing I need is to have 20 jars turn red or be ruined.
Just the vacuum from my small vac chamber is plenty to store this stuff. The key seems to be just not letting in any new atmosphere during storage. Pulljng a vac in a bell jar with the lud on will vacuum seal and imo is the best. I suggest also keeping out of the light.
I have frozen the stuff but otherwise not protected it and it degrades anyway. Also any heat approaching the temp of a room heater will trigger the change as well. The purity of your sample also makes a difference. First or second run if not made water clear will not seemingly degrade as fast as very high purity stuff. I believe some wax and some terps and such help prevent oxidation but my proof is anecdotal. I have no test… currently … to see what is going in such cases.
If my embroidery machine does sell on Tuesday I might tool up with an instrument that can detect stuff like this. If that device can get accurate with practice then maybe I can do a better study of the breakdown of THC. Good luck.
Look into a Mason Jar FoodSaver. Its a vacuum attachment that fits onto the jar and pulls a deep enough vac for easy storage. Its easy enough to buy off Amazon. I even fitted mine to work on my Welsh Diaphragm pump.
I have been using that Tec for a while now and a side-by-side comparison of jars with the seal and without is immediately obvious. I have had jars sit for months with no degradation.
