Better has so much subjectivity. SWIM will never do a STB again. A normal A/B works so much better for her. She's going to try out the BLAB, with House's alternate freebase technique and then move to the food-safe extraction once all her lye reserves have been depleted. She thinks of food-safe as the way of the future.

The tek presentation does do a very nice job though.

A simple STB is 3 simple steps, First basify, combine water,lye,MHRB. Second pull the DMT with a polar solvent, Naphtha for example. Third freeze precip.

Obviously there is more to it than that but thats it in a nutshell.

Do those three basic steps correctly and there is no need for bringing epsom salt and sodium carbonate into the procedure at all.

I'm not saying the tek is bad but the "best tek on the net, hands down"?

If somebody is interested in simple, non toxic, ways of extracting mhrb and getting awesome results, they should visit the wiki here on the Nexus.WIKI EXTRACTION TEKS

If I was attempting to teach a first timer or a Noob to extract spice, I would teach STB using a vinager soak then basify using lime, water. and pull with naphtha. Evap or freeze precip.

Done.

I dont do STB any more. BLAB is the way to go. IMO

I am not sure why you havent heard of any better ways to extract yet either funkymonkey. Keep your chin up and do some research in the Nexus WIKI that should take care of the confusion. IMHO

Good Luck

Dear spIce-T, Your Tek is awesome! SWIM has been using this for their first extraction. From what he told me it was very easy with your instructions and helpful pictures. I believe he's on the very last step with the epson salt before freezing it. He has one question, what do you do with the container full of the lye and MHRB mixture? (drain it and save the jug, throw it all out?) He thanks you for your time and effort.

Slight problem. SWIM just finished the Epson salt final wash on this tek. Poured the solvent thru a coffee filter as explained. When looked at the final product in the jug there was a dark orange substance at the bottom. SWIM was sure they followed all steps exactly. Here's a pic. what is it? should i do a final wash? should i just go to the next step and freeze it? any and all help is appreciated. SWIM thanks you.

Nice, this guide looks excellent. Thanks for your clarifactions in chat as well. I'll be posting SWIM's results once he's completed the process.

Ah yes, SWIM has used this TEK before as seen on another site twice already. He had great results both times!

His next extraction will most likely be an A/b. In his experience you end up with a much more pure product with A/B even though there is more work & time involved.

This is a very simple TEK that SWIM has to admit works quite well. It's quick, easy and efficient. Maybe not the best TEK out there but great for beginners or people who don't have a lot of time and need to do a an extraction quickly!

Strange, There should be nothing at the bottom after the Epsom salt step.

Did you make sure to bake the epsom salt before adding it to the solution? This converts it to anhydrous magnesium sulfate and should have absorbed any left over sodium carbonate water in your naptha.

whatcha's tek aint it, someone really should add the re=x part to this tek

Yep! thats the one!
A re-xtal at the end is a great idea unless your gonna use it for some changa.
Even if that is the case I'ts probably good to re-xtal anyway.