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DIY cold press cactus juicer for pocket change

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C

cactophage

Rising Star
Pretty fucking exhaustive juice extraction, with no foam, on the cheap.

Inspiration:

* hydraulic "welles" juice press ($400)
* norwalk juice press ($2000)

Materials:

* 4 or more sturdy G-clamps from your local hardware
* 1 large, very thick plastic cutting board (supermarket / chef equipment outlet) sawn into two halves

Usage:

wrap lysed cactus flesh in cheesecloth, sandwich between cutting boards. Space G-clamps evenly around the outside of both boards. Tighten each clamp individually until resistance is felt, then proceed in clockwise fashion turning each clamp a quarter turn at a time until they're as tight as you can get 'em. You'll want to do this over something to collect the juice.
 

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so far this is still theory, and were pretty aware of the juicing potential, however, weve yet to see results, or worthy results


ive had results with blending and decanting the juice from the foam, evapping, and resin balling to the belly, that was a no heat, no chem way to do it,

give it a shot
 
cactophage said:
Pretty fucking exhaustive juice extraction, with no foam, on the cheap.

Inspiration:

* hydraulic "welles" juice press ($400)
* norwalk juice press ($2000)

Materials:

* 4 or more sturdy G-clamps from your local hardware
* 1 large, very thick plastic cutting board (supermarket / chef equipment outlet) sawn into two halves

Usage:

wrap lysed cactus flesh in cheesecloth, sandwich between cutting boards. Space G-clamps evenly around the outside of both boards. Tighten each clamp individually until resistance is felt, then proceed in clockwise fashion turning each clamp a quarter turn at a time until they're as tight as you can get 'em. You'll want to do this over something to collect the juice.
Click to expand...

So did you try it?
Would be nice to try fresh cactus juice :)

Not much work at all i guess, tightening clamps. Pressure cooker might take the same time to provide a juice?
Difference would be of course lack of heat and pressure forced on the chemical make up. Im quite convinced or perhaps biased that this will have a noticeable and satisfying effect on the quality of the experience. Not always to be compared to purified mescaline exzperience of course.

A juice from the right cactus, would be an attractive route to the full cactus experience.
If it works, not much can go wrong i think. Succes guaranteed?
 
YEP!!, that's one hell of a masterpiece post there, Viola and Cacto!!

- I guess that must be a great way to make partaking in Cactus simple, quick, and hasslefree. Indeed , i read somewhere that the Mexicans would just eat at the flesh like "corn on the cob "... And i wonder if all this cooking that some do really is worthwhile if juicing is the way to go??
 
benzyme said:
...people seem to be concerned that heat somehow degrades mescaline; this is not a really accurate hypothesis. mescaline has a boiling point somewhere in the area of 180 C, it doesn't decompose.
Click to expand...

I do believe the heat and pressure will change the chemical makeup of the juice. But i am not sure about the effects.

I remember reading some vitamins are better absorbed/transported by mechanism of other molecules. (bio)flavonoids iirc. I was wondering if there are any 'bio'factors alike that might affect the psychedelic effects of the alkaloid mix as in the cactus juice. Is it reasonable to expect such factors at play in the cactus juice?

To me the raw juice seems to be a particular coctail of actives with lots of interactions with the body and brain. Heat and pressure would probably alter the sort or significance of these interactions, and potentialy alter the psychedelic experience. No?

Somewhat like the full spectrum vs mescaline discussion i admit.. :?
 
Virola78 said:
Heat and pressure would probably alter the sort or significance of these interactions, and potentialy alter the psychedelic experience. No?
Click to expand...

probably not.
people tend to alter the quality of their experience, knowing how the product was prepared,
akin to the whole natural vs. synthetic debate.
doing a blind-study, I highly doubt they'd know the difference.

the heat/pressure alter protein structures, but not necessarily small molecules.
 
my grandfather made a flower press once.. He used many layers of plywood so that there would be very little flexing in the material.

I think you may need to reinforce those cutting plastic boards to get the force you want with out flexing.

interesting.

if yo udo this, please test the remaining pulp to see what gets left behind.
 
It apologizes for the delay posting pics of actual juicing - been freezing / thawing cactus pieces in preparation. A pressure cooker, or running it through a blender / centrifugal juicer / etc would do just as well, I'm sure. I doubt that just chopping a raw cactus up would yield as efficient extraction as pressing thoroughly lysed cactus material, but then *'s in no particular hurry.

Tested it on a raw lemon, it worked well. Pulp was dry; lemon was flat; citrus skin was impregnated with the very subtle texture from the breadboard surface, and seeds inside the fruit were split.

Will post pictures of actual results soon.

Edit: epic results there benzyme - kudos.
 
if cellular lysing is a prerequisite to proper extraction, are we saying that alkaloids are smaller than plant cells? or that they are located within the cells themself? are they not just salts found within the layers of cells instead of within the cell walls?
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

Freezing is really a great way of lysing cells if you're not in a hurry. If you cut into ~ 2cm cubes, pull your containers out of the freezer in the morning and put them somewhere warm, and then replace them in the freezer in the evening, in a few days you'll have a container full of chunks swimming in clear liquid. (Props to House for documenting this in House's resin tek).

Note: if you cut the ribs out and leave them intact lengthways, far less liquid is produced - seems you need to cut "across the grain" so to speak.
 

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FOAF used her press on about 4kg fresh San Pedro which had been frozen / thawed a few times. Here are pics.

[edit: pic moved to first post]

The last frame shows the yield; the white container contains a touch over 2 pints of juice extracted via the press; the silver container shows the juice which was strained off the thawed flesh with just a colander.

It was quite successful, but is somewhat labour intensive. If I were going to be through more than few kg a month I think I'd spring $400 for the welles press. After doing it a couple of times she worked out how to get it done without much fuss though.

The juice is light, clear, and bitter, slightly slimy (which cooks out quickly) but pretty easy to drink as is in the scheme of things; much easier to ingest than that obtained using a fancy (wheat grass style) masticating juicer, which gives you all sorts of snotty chunks.

The question now of course is: what proportion of the alkaloids remain in the pressed solids?
 
Firstly, congratulations on your fantastic technique- it looks excellent!!
- I can see that if you've got a garden full of Cactus's to eat, then it must be more than worthwhile. However for the odd cactus purchace isn't dried cactus, powdered, and re-hydrated almost as good/ good enough??

-I understand that "fresh is best", is usually true, but can dried cactus be easier, and just as good- or good enough??:?

-Finally, are there still some alkaloids left in those very green skins??:?:
 
Phlux- said:
modified car jacks work quite well
Click to expand...

Yeah, i've seen people make basically a rectangle made out of 4x4 and L braces (or welded steel tubing) and use the car jack as a press using that frame.

I guess if you actually have a car, and a jack, you could just use twice as many breadboards, put a big plastic cake container underneath them and put the jack (and your car) on top. That'd be pretty easy. But, phage has no car.
 
benzyme said:
work smarter, not harder...

cough up $49 and get a stainless steel pressure cooker. add cactus material to jars with vinegar, and do a couple half hours cooks. decant the syrup, and proceed to basification.
Click to expand...

when you decant the syrup, do you just throw away the solids? What ratio of fresh cactus to vinegar did you use, and did you dilute it with any water?

By proceed to basification, do you mean I can just pick up say 69ron's d-limo method at the appropriate point?
 
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