The EtOH Pro Extractor is the best botanical extraction equipment in its category. It applies the latest technology to make it user-friendly and ensure you optimize your botanical product extraction. It allows you to extract oils and concentrates from botanicals, generally referred to as absolute oils, which contain the plant’s essential oils and other beneficial components or full-spectrum oils. These concentrates can be used as-is or crafted further into your desired end product, such as tinctures, food and beverages, cosmetics, and much more.
How to Use the EtOH Pro Extractor
Botanical extraction using ethanol entails turning your plant material into a tincture by adding enough 190 proof or higher, non-denatured ethanol to saturate the material fully. This combination of plant material and ethanol can also be referred to as your “wash.” The ethanol pulls out the desirable components of the plant material, and these get suspended in the ethanol. This tincture or wash is then strained and filtered to remove the used plant material and other fine undesirables. Understanding how to use the EtOH Pro extractor is crucial to avoid snags in the process and ensure you optimize your botanical extraction capacity.
An EtOH Pro Extractor package contains:
- EtOH PRO Base Unit
- Power cord
- 1 Kettle
- 1 Kettle Lid
- 1 Kettle Lid Holster
- 1 Reclaim jar
- 1 Spit jar
Carefully unpack your package to avoid damaging any of the parts. Then, remove all the pieces and place them separately to ensure no missing parts. Contact ExtractCraft’s customer care as soon as possible if any part is missing.
Setting Up the EtOH Pro
- Fix the power cord at the back of the machine and plug it into an electrical socket
- Locate the power switch; turn it on to confirm the illumination delivers power to the green start/stop button.
- Fix the spit jar to the unconnected tube coming from the back, bottom corner of the unit. Use one of the ports on the lid and leave the second port open and unattached.
- Ensure the base is flat using the adjustable feet and plenty of clearance between the workplace surfaces.
- (Optional) Fix the reclaim holster to the left side with the keyhole cutouts.
- (Optional) Fix the kettle lid holster to the back of the base and ensure it rests on the four pre-set protruding round head screws.
- Place the empty reclaim jar in the holster (or just to the side of the unit) and cover it with its lid with the hose inside the jar. (Note: You don’t need to screw down the lid. It will vacuum on once you start up the unit and will not need to screw down the lid)
- Set altitude tuning
Using the EtOH Pro: Extract Mode
The EtOH Pro uses the tincture technique to produce botanical formulations. The process entails adding 190 proof or higher, non-denatured ethanol to dried plant material and letting them soak together. Afterward, the plant material must be separated from the tincture through straining and filtering. Minimum filtration requirements would be coffee filters, though ideally, you would purchase a Buchner funnel for enhanced filtration.
The extract mode processes an ethanol tincture to produce your botanical extract while separating out and recollecting the ethanol for reuse.
Follow the steps below to make botanical products:
- Load kettle with tincture and ensure its plugged into the base to avoid sloshing and spillage
- Set the extract mode – Use the dial to set EXTRACT (setting in the red zone)
- Establish vacuum seals – Starting the EtOH PRO makes the vacuum pump produce vacuum pressure observed in the reclaim jar. Hold the reclaim jar lid in position for approximately 10 seconds, then move your hand away. If it stays on its own, the jar is sealed. It will only have a light seal until the kettle lid is sealed. (Note: You do not need to screw down the lid on the reclaim jar. It is advised that you do not screw the lid down but just let the vacuum seal hold it on.
Next, make sure the kettle lid is well centered on the kettle and hold it down for 10 seconds. After that, give the lid a slight lift. If it stays on, you have both lids sealed. If it comes up, repeat step 3.
- Run the extract mode – Having established a vacuum successfully, the pumps will continue running for around 5 to 7 minutes before turning off. These pumps will come on and off throughout the process. Once the pumps turn off, tiny bubbles should appear. These bubbles will grow until you see a full boil happening in the kettle. Check the EtOH Pro User Manual to take the necessary precautions while running the extract mode.
- Switching or emptying the Reclaim Jar Mid process – This is only necessary if you are extracting more than 1750ml of botanical product. Switch off the machine and release the vacuum. Empty the reclaim jar, then repeat step 3.
- Stopping the process – You decide when to stop the process based on the desired end product and whether or not you would still like some ethanol left in the concentrate. Press the illuminated green button to stop the process and ease the vacuum. Read the user manual carefully to learn the tips and precautions to take while controlling the equipment. (Note: It is generally recommended to stop the process when the oil inside is at a cooking oil viscosity or earlier. You can give a slight tilt to the bottom of the machine to see how the oil inside flows. This oil can be ready to use as is, or if purging out the small amount of remaining ethanol is desired, you can pour the oil onto a non-stick silicone mat or into a pyrex dish and let the remaining solvent evaporate off. You could also perform a vacuum purge, which we will go into details with in a later blog post.)
Shop for Botanical Extraction Machines
ExtractCraft is committed to simplifying the extraction of botanical products. It has two major botanical extractor machines: The Source Turbo (designed for home use) and the EtOH Pro (designed for commercial use and experienced home users). Our products guarantee more features, purity, and high-quality extractions than our competitors. Order any machines on our website, and we will deliver them timely to your designated address. Contact us for any inquiries.
