I am currently running 160g of 13% biomass per 770ml coconut/mct oil mixture. I have been straining the material using nylon filters and a potato ricer, naturally losing a considerable amount. Upwards of 25-30% of the overall oil volume per run. I recently bought this screw press thinking that it would help increase my efficiency but I actually ended up with even lower volume at nearly 35% loss. This is the press that I bought. Amazon.com
There was another thread about economy centrifuges that I posted where people recommended this.
http://deepaliunited.com/Home/LBC1000
Is this my best option, or is there another more economical option I should consider?
Extract your flower prior to adding it into the MCT. I’d recommend 190 proof EToH. Just give it a 10 minute room temp extraction at a ratio of 8 parts EToH to one part Biomass. Strain tincture multiple times through cheese cloth. Unless you have the equipment to recover your solvent, boil off EToH in a crock pot, preferably outdoors as there is a significant spark hazard with hot EToH. Maintain at least 185 degrees fahrenheit but no hotter than 250. After solvent removal and decarb is finished your oil should look like a pool of dark glass. Then mix this with your MCT and I’d imagine you’ll se better results all around.
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We are currently extracting with coconut/mct oil, and do not have solvent recapturing equipment. In addition, we operate inside a lab and do not have any ability to do work outdoors. I have avoided ethanol extraction because of our limited funds, but it seems like buying a rotovap, centrifuge and transitioning over may be our best option. I am looking for a realistic option to get us buy until we have some more cash in the bank for machinery, but am struggling to find a workable intermediary solution. Im starting to lose hope and considering purchasing full spectrum oil and isolate to make my products until I can go full throttle ethanol. Its upsetting though, because I have a strong passion for extraction. Hopefully there is a way I can get by until we scale.
Try wrapping your biomass in cheese cloth with some butchers twine. Submerge it for the period of your extraction then simply suspend it over your collection vessel and let gravity do the majority of your work for you. Squeeze out what it wont and I can’t imagine your numbers being any worse than losses youre reporting. Hope some of that helps.
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I am a fan of this idea. the only issue is that I am using a magical butter machine for the extraction which has an overhead stirrer that would tear the cheese cloth. If stirring is not useful to my overall yield, I could try extracting in a different vessel.
Dump the magical butter into the straining bag.
Nut milk bags work well.
There are stainless steel strainers for honey that fit over a 5 gallon bucket. Those work well for using gravity.
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…and when you turn gravity up by 500 or 1000 times, you’ll get more of your oil back 
thank you for documenting why folks don’t use presses.
that particular one looks pretty hard to really reef on.
ideally you want one you can bolt to an immovable object.
I don’t encourage the use of Panda’s for recovering ethanol, but @ $169 they are not much more expensive than the press. They’ll get you more of your oil. I just wouldn’t consider them a good solution.
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This one can be bolted down, but I am still skeptical that it would improve my yields more than marginally. I may need to just put my extraction methods on halt and use wholesale isolate/full spectrum for processing until I can move to ethanol with rotovap setup and centrifuge. Its starting to seem like these small scale runs wont be viable any longer unfortunately. The deepali site has been down for a little while @cyclopath. What do you think of this centrifuge? Ultimate Force Oil Centrifuge 120V Pressurized w/ Heater | PABio Diesel Supply
I agree. Get a panda!
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wrong tool. imo
it would work for removing particulates, but you’re looking to remove the bulk of your biomass.
that is at least the second time you’ve linked to a similar style of fuge. they’re the kind the biodiesel guys use. one can surmise you’re using “oil” in your google query. dont. you want a basket centrifuge. ideally floodable, but that is not absolutely necessary.
first you need to prove it works.
at least to yourself.
so get a panda and make yourself some 1um bags for it.
make your magic butter.
pour the whole thing in the “fuge”.
if you can’t waste the biomass, get spent stuff from someone.
that will still give you a handle on how much oil you no longer lose.
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Measure your cooking oil before and after the panda. You will be amazed at your return
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You could process 100 lbs in a day by yourself. You could also use water to flush your oil of crap but then you will have to be sure to remove the water completely or you will encourage mold growth
given the OP’s current losses, it seems like it might require a longer spin to retrieve the oil than it does to retrieve ethanol. their relative viscosities are probably enough explain that difference.
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They can get liquid coconut oil or process hot
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and after a day or two, go buy yourself an actual centrifuge…
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Or 10 pandas and give your homies a new job lol
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We have discussed this previously, and I am willing to purchase one anyways for the time being and experiment. Though, I will need to be able to have my lab inspected once the hemp pilot program passes in Florida. I also operate out of a shared space in a compounding lab for a pharmacy, so I have to tread very lightly in terms of running any non compliant equipment.
Just pulled the trigger on the panda…
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I have the same fruit press . I’ve had it a few years, but never used it much. Mostly with vegetable glycerin.
My panda arrived yesterday. I’m not sure how much I will use it, but wanted to try it out. I will use it with food grade etho, so it should pay for itself after a few uses in etho I would normally lose.
I would rather have a fuge that is food grade. It’s just something that will be in the back of my mind while I use the Panda.
I like the looks of the LBC1000 for R&D.
Are you decarbing the flower before extraction?
Dont use denatured etoh in the panda if you want to use it more than a couple times.
You’ll love the panda, it will pay for itself the 1-2 uses.
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