Super fine MHRB poor yield.

[EmeraldAtomiser]

Greetings all.
I recently got some MHRB and was 'upgraded for free' to super fine shredded bark, instead of the large pieces that I usually use.
I have done an AB extraction and got a disappointing yield, so am now in the process of doing my first ever STB to see what kind of yield I can achieve with that. this should show whether I am messing something up with my AB process, or if the finely shredded bark has simply allowed too much degradation of the precious spice.
Has anyone else had poor results with fine shred?

 

[blig-blug]

In my few extractions so far, I have used pre-powdered MHRB and it was fine (initial low yields were due to errors on my side).

 

[Transform]

STB on fine powder worked for me some two decades ago, as has A/B - the latter possibly being a bit more finnicky because of the tannins. "Free upgrade" here sounds rather like "we know it's crap" as opposed to an act of spontaneous generosity - [but watch it with that sourcing talk…]

Don't be disappointed by poor yields on the STB, but of course it would be more exciting to hear that it somehow turned out respectable yieldswise.

 

[Jamie01]

Congrats on the free upgrade. Not all bark yields the same.

 

[EmeraldAtomiser]

STB on fine powder worked for me some two decades ago, as has A/B - the latter possibly being a bit more finnicky because of the tannins. "Free upgrade" here sounds rather like "we know it's crap" as opposed to an act of spontaneous generosity - [but watch it with that sourcing talk…]

Don't be disappointed by poor yields on the STB, but of course it would be more exciting to hear that it somehow turned out respectable yieldswise.

Yeah. I would never choose finely shredded bark, as it obviously allows more degradation. First pull currently in the mix...

 

[EmeraldAtomiser]

Here are the results of the first 4 pulls. This was done using 53g of finely shredded bark.
15ml water per gram of bark
1g lye per gram of bark
Pulls using approx 100ml heptane (this had been used for previous extractions, so does contain an unknown amount of DMT already)
0.22g
0.25g
0.19g
0.13g
I left quite a lot of solvent, and varying amounts each time, in the soup, which will account for some of the odd results, such as the second pull giving the highest yield, but this was in no way a scientific test. It does show that I've lost a lot of potential yield in my latest AB. It also shows the difference achieved by adding an acid cycle is not huge.

 

[Transform]

That's just shy of 1.5%, sounds like you've lucked in after all - and this is one of those moments where I get to enjoy being wrong

I wonder what the inefficiencies in your A/B can have been? For example, how many boils did you do?

I'd also wager you might be able to squeeze a bit more out of your STB with a fifth pull.

 

[Varallo]

Here are the results of the first 4 pulls. This was done using 53g of finely shredded bark.
15ml water per gram of bark
1g lye per gram of bark
Pulls using approx 100ml heptane (this had been used for previous extractions, so does contain an unknown amount of DMT already)
0.22g
0.25g
0.19g
0.13g
I left quite a lot of solvent, and varying amounts each time, in the soup, which will account for some of the odd results, such as the second pull giving the highest yield, but this was in no way a scientific test. It does show that I've lost a lot of potential yield in my latest AB. It also shows the difference achieved by adding an acid cycle is not huge.

Delicious

 

[EmeraldAtomiser]

That's just shy of 1.5%, sounds like you've lucked in after all - and this is one of those moments where I get to enjoy being wrong

I wonder what the inefficiencies in your A/B can have been? For example, how many boils did you do?

I'd also wager you might be able to squeeze a bit more out of your STB with a fifth pull.

Yes. I put another 130ml heptane into the base tea for a final pull. |Going to let it sit for a few days more, giving it the occasional swirl.
As for the AB, I really can't think. I did 2 cooks, both using a slow cooker over night. I've never used that before, but can't see how that would make it worse.

 

[blig-blug]

For the last pull, maybe you could heat it up. Using heptane I got more than I thought was left on a last pull heating it to around 50C, although it polymerized so it may have been too much heat.

 

[EmeraldAtomiser]

For the last pull, maybe you could heat it up. Using heptane I got more than I thought was left on a last pull heating it to around 50C, although it polymerized so it may have been too much heat.

Thanks for reminding me. I did have the 3rd pull in a water bath at around 40C

 

[Transform]

For the last pull, maybe you could heat it up. Using heptane I got more than I thought was left on a last pull heating it to around 50C, although it polymerized so it may have been too much heat.

Polymerisation will also be a function of the prolonged base contact time, but heat certainly speeds the process up.

 

[EmeraldAtomiser]

Last pull got me 0.07g giving 1.56% yield overall, meaning there should have been a question mark in the thread title, and the answer was, no, poor AB technique.

 

[Transform]

Last pull got me 0.07g giving 1.56% yield overall, meaning there should have been a question mark in the thread title, and the answer was, no, poor AB technique.

The question mark can be added, should you so desire!