This is my first attempt at extraction, I am using the Gordo tek method. My problem I think lies in my root bark not being powdered. My blender pooped out at the start, so I cut the MHRB with scissors as small as I could and tried using a coffee grinder which I ended up stressing to the point where it cracked. so I was left with 100g fiberous bark with not a lot of powder. I went through the GT process and my first pull yeilded 119mg of spice. After 48 hours I did back to back pulls with 145mg more. Total so far 264 mg of spice. I have done my pulls with 100g Heptane heated as well as bark mix heated for ten min. My bark mix with solvent in contact maintained approx. 105 degree Fahrenheit. Then Freeze precip. I have also evaporated the solvent from the first two pulls to make sure all the product had crashed out and it had, there was almost no byproduct left after evap.

My question is: What can I do If anything at this point, to help increase the pulls on my existing bark mix?

I plan on waiting another 5 days and make another pull, On a side note, The product I did end up with is crystal white. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hey, what you got for your first attempt isn’t bad at all I got worse lol, tho here’s a couple of tips for better yields I know you said the blender broke or whatever but the finer the mhrb the more yield I usually get mine powdered anyway..,other than that your doing everything fine also the hotter the solvent/bark mix the better yield I too also started with Gordo tek and I found letting the bark mix heat up for 20-25 mins is better for the final yield rather than 10, also if you let the bark mix sit for at least 5-6 hours after preparing instead of 1 like in the tek you’ll get more after a few attempts and doing these things I’m getting 500-590mg first pull hope this helps brother


Daytripper.....

I had a similar experience making a tea from wild cherry bark. I finally found that stewing/low boiling it for several hours then popping it in the blender worked like a charm. I don't know jack about extractions, but I don't see why a similar method wouldn't work to macerate the material first to spare your blenders in the future.

That definitely makes me feel among company

I was thinking of taking my bark mix and get a cheap blender and just grind the bigger chunks into powder. I wonder if I would need to acidify and basify again before another pull?

Thanks,
Good point next go round that sounds like it would be worth a try, at least to give the blender a fighting chance.

Powderising the bark increases surface area, and thus, reaction rate. To compensate for non-powderised bark, you can extend the duration of each step. The basification step does a pretty good job at turning the bark into a sludge, but might need a bit of agitation with a non-reactive rod to free it up.

Thanks appreciate the info, I attempted to put some of the bigger chunks in blender, but not much luck with all the mud. The blades seemed to just push the material aside instead of pulverizing. I am making a third pull this has been seven days since my 2nd pull. If my results are still meager I will just call it a day and be sure to get my bark powdered on my next extraction attempt.

By shredding your bark with a Smoothie Blender you get the same results like powdered bark, BUT you dont have to deal with the slugde that powdered brings with when being wet.

So I would always say Smoothie-Shredded Bark > Powdered Bark and can recommend it to everyone.