How can I deice or prevent ice from forming when freezing fresh buds for live resin runs. I have been using dry ice and a 3lb closed Loop system but I have no chiller or sub zero freezer and when I freeze my fresh buds in my refrigerators freezer the buds develop ice crystals on them. The crystals prevent the resin from dissolving and I get ridiculously small results from my runs compared to dry runs. Thanks so much for your help.
The yields even from properly frozen/stored bus will be extremely low compared to dry runs…im an extractor in colorado and for frozen runs we shoot to get between 5-8% yields off of frozen weights. Dry runs consistently stay around 15-30% yields depending on quality of material. For freezing fresh buds a subzero freezer would definitely be preferable however big youre able to go…we have also has issues from bud that was frozen in the manner you speak of or transported improperly and wind up with cloudy/green tinted extract after recovery. If a sub zero freezer is out of range look into a decent vacuum sealing system, could decrease the ice buildup on your material in the normal freezer
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Thank you so much for answering my query. I have the best vacsealer available but full vacsealing (eliminating all air)compresses the fresh material making it too dense to run. Also does 6 grams for a 3lb system seem right. I was reading on this site that the ice crystals cover the resin, and butane won’t penetrate the ice to dissolve the resin. One again thanks for any help.
So your yield does seem low, the figures I mentioned are based on the weigths of each material. Meaning that the 5-8% is based on the frozen weight of the material, we can get ranges from 50-100 grams of finished product off a 4lb frozen (1796 gram) run. We also lightly break up the frozen material prior to extracting to increase the surface area which might be worth trying…the deep freeze would be most benefical in your situation, getting the material to at least -40°f or below.
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You could buy Vacuum chamber sized to your liking and put flower into that, won’t get crushed in there. Then you could set into cooler with dry ice, maybe even with some denatured alcohol to help get it even colder. Just some food for thought
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I have double bagged my material and the ice formation was a lot less than not bagging twice.
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Modern refigerator freezers rely on sublimation to remain frost free. Sublimation can only work from an exposed surface which is open enough to allow free air flow. The compressors are designed to remove the water as a gas from the compartment. I have done less than ounce size tests on freezing bud. When placed directly in front of the feezer vent that blows out the air (which keeps it frost free) the ground bud became brittle dry. Trying to dry it under the frozen meat shelf and no real luck. Air flow across the product in my case is key.
For my own lab experiments and reasons I need very dry material but for the hobby lab and tests I run I do not extract or even smoke flower so have no experience extracting. However in think tank mode let me suggest this idea;
I got a PC cooling fan from Radio shack. It is 110VAC and I wired it to a long electric cord. I use it routinely these last years to fast evap flat dishes of solvent and such. However it is compact and the cord is flat. It would fit pretty easy into my freezer and the door would still seal. It moves a lot of air - it is for a big computer case and is completely enclosed so it sits anywhere. I would place the fan inside the freezer compartment to create the best airflow so air is continuously flowing around as much product as possible. Perhaps this would aid the frostless feature on your freezer? It would depend of course how seperate your freezer is from your fridge and such but adding internal circulation might turn a frost free freezer into a cold dessicator?
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The food industry flash freezes with liquids like N or blasts of extremely cold air. There are many other techniques under research for preserving food quality while freezing.
Liquid flash freezing (and the air tech) will make ice crystals very small and even, rather than the large crystallization you experience by simply freezing. This may or may not help you.
To prevent ice crystallization at temperatures below freezing point of water is a subject of ongoing research. Radio and micro wave assisted freezing has been demonstrated to reduce the formation of ice crystals through the forced orientation of water. I have seen demonstrations at -4C of meat still soft to the touch using such technology.
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Great idea I’ll try it today thank you
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I’ve heard of freezing flowers in a mesh laundry bag or a sock filter so the moisture doesn’t get trapped in a bag. I’haven’t tried it yet which is why I was perusing the forums. Anyone else given this a shot? I probably will in the next week if I don’t hear otherwise. Dry freezer seems like it would be the way to go if I had bottomless pockets. @Beaker’s idea utilizing a fan sounds like it could help move some of the moisture off the nuggets. But how does the freezer seal with a fan cord running out of it? Sounds like quite a freezer mod. Got to be a better way.
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You can pack a tube, vacuum the air out and freeze the tube. that should keep surface moisture at bay.
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i literally just said this to someone.
Yes, i go threw a shit ton of vacuum sealer rolls…i buy weston rolls off amazon in bulk. I keep all my spools packed under vacuum in vacuum sealer rolls in the freezer. I keep my molecular sieve this way except not in the freezer. I keep my loose 3a sieves vacuum sealed. All my filterering aids are kept in vacuum seal bags.
Maybe im just anal about contaminants but i just about keep everything in foodsaver shit.
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Yep my loaded sieve and all my columns will be loaded with top cap,and filter plates on bottom…then I’ll put in vac seal bag and suck air out… for material column throw in deep freezer for days but I’d rather just throw in dry ice cooler for couple hrs…then pull out and load…havent got to do this yet but @Killa12345 just helped me figure out that issue and thank u so much!!!
I was sealing in bag but not sucking air out bc material was in grocery bag,if sucked ait out squeezed so tight a hammer wouldn’t bust it frozen…i was about to switch to a container and suck the air out…
But this new way eliminates the time it takes to load the column and stuff starts to thaw getting wet…only to be frozen w water on it…
@Killa12345 once again thanks so much…
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Open ur ears and mind to level up w the masters…ill be young padawan all day!!!
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Yeah I have friends that freeze a bunch of tubes stuffed with fresh material and vac’d down. I don’t have 20-30 tubes to do that with when I get a few 20cu/ft chest freezers worth of fresh material. I was hoping there was some other hack I could put to use to reduce at least some of the ice that collects in the bags. Vac sealing def seems to work better than turkey bags but sometimes I still get a lot of ice build up.
I vac sealed and it was still frozen ice on it regular freezer not loads but im not sure it helps if its freezing slowly gonna assume it pushes the moisture from the wet buds out to form the ice layers?
We extract in Long Beach. Some growers literally give us a fucking block of frozen plant matter, and its so hard to work with. Also, a lot of times the bucking in improper, and there are a lot of big leaves and sticks. Do you have you growers run through a machine trimmer first? We were thinking of cryo flash freeze too.
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If your using fresh undried flowers “live resin” style, moisture in wet flowers freezes surrounding tricomes in ice and not desolving in solvent
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I am aware of that, you are correct.you can fight surface moisture like this.
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Hi @Sky
Nah, I’m going to guess that when @Soxhlet freezes fresh material, it is done much faster than achievable in your household freezer, and probably under vacuum. 
I know that’s how I prefer to treat my material…
When you freeze undried flowers (slowly), you get ice crystals (unless you use dry ice, and freeze quickly)…which is why you asked for help right?!?
So either remove the surface moisture by vacuuming your column before throwing it in your freezer, or get it colder faster.
Ideally both.
I don’t believe mesh bags help, but I could be wrong.
I actually hope I am.
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I think it is brilliant.
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