The q21q21's white DMT tek recommends at least 3g lime to every 4g of MHRB.
I wonder what decides the correct/minumum amount of lime, is it the PH of the mix?

And is 135g of lime for 200g of MHRB enough(I know it's less than the tek says) or is the 15g crucial?

The pH of the mix is of course relevant, but besides that, and in my experience, lime was useful to adjust the consistency of the mix if it's too watery. The consistency #2 (crumbly) in q21q21's tek worked great for me, and even if you could achieve it by extending the hot bath and evaporating further, adding more lime and stirring is fast and efficient.

Also, as stated in the tek, more lime won't hurt - on the contrary, I think. I ended up using near to 200 g for a 100 g MHRB extraction in six pulls. Ca(OH)2 was pretty cheap (1,20 euros for half a kilo).

I honestly would not refrain when adding lime.

Adding more lime will make more more naphtha to absorb.
I ended up using 135g on 200g of mhrb and it turned out well.

I prefer swirling around with crumbly consistency for minimal naphtha absorbing, sometimes I mix once to get the bottom of the mix to the top. I also use french press to squeeze every last bit out, and it works well. Altough there is still some naphtha loss, maybe due to evaporation from the heat below the bowl.

You are right regarding solvent loss. Not only due to the bottom temperature of the bowl (I screwed up the first try and lost 100ml of solvent due to hexane boiling after pouring it) but also because of the very high total surface of the crumbly mix. It's perhaps the only weak spot of the tek, but I was so happy to see the results that I didn't mind the extra solvent spent.

Next time I will adjust better the quantities, letting the vinegar-mimosa soup to reduce more, and see the difference in yield with that 3-4 lime-MHRB ratio.

There's whole lot of solvent that can be squeezed out when using crumbly consistency, that's why I use french press. Also swirling it by tilting the container is good way to reduse naphtha loss. Total loss of naphtha was maybe 1/5th of the naphtha used.

I'm glad to see someone else picked up on the French Press idea! It's the best tool I've found for this tek, beats a turkey baster hands down for solvent recovery and easy, complete extraction.

I know this thread is old but saw no need to create a new one...

I am going to do the vinegar/lime tek on some ACRB. I would like to use a french press as stated, but does anyone think the naphtha would corrode the inside of the press at all. The inside of my french press is all metal but I don't know the type.

I've never done a dry tek, if anyone has any tips for the consistency I am looking for I would appreciate it.

Don't worry about the solvent, so long as you don't have plastic parts. It's the base you need to look out for.

You want all stainless steel or copper parts, including the mesh. Also, avoid chrome or nickel-plated metals as I've had the plating dissolve into my extraction, wasting the batch. Aluminum and some kinds of brass react with lye, lime and caustic potash to form fun toxic chemicals and flammable gasses. For similar reasons, do not use any acid stronger than vinegar on stainless steel.

Also: make sure your basified plant matter is not runny at all, or the press method will not work whatsoever, and you will need to fight emulsions and resort to a baster after all.

Happy trails!

I'll admit I need to do a tad more reading on the subject (it was late last night when I was studying the tek), but if the basic material isn't runny at all how exactly does the NPS mix through it to pick up the alkaloids? Do you just stir it around?

I think I'm going to buy a new french press that I know is 100% stainless because I did a little research on the one I have now and I can't verify what the insides are made out of; better safe than sorry. And like you said if worse comes to worse I can always decant with a glass baster.

Thanks for the quick reply

It has to be just right, like the tek says... too much liquid and it's too runny and impossible to use with a press; to little liquid and it just absorbs your solvent. You've got to get it just most enough that it starts to form a dough-like consistency, then just smear it around while swirling the nps over it, exposing every portion to the solvent.

These days, I just add enough water to get it runny, toss into a jar, add NPS, shake and baste. It's a lot less work, and acacia is more of a pain to keep separate from the solvent.

I suggest you decrease the size of your extraction!

I use this dry tek all the time and have great results, but the more bark powder you use, the more lime you use and you end up with a huge chunk of mud that you'll be pulling from. You will end up using a ton of solvent. It gets annoying. Keep the extractions around 50g bark. In your case you should split the bark/lime mud into 4 separate measuring cups.

As far as how much lime you need, it depends on what consistency you're looking for. You don't want it too wet or too dry, dry enough to where you could pack a mud ball and throw it at the wall.. basically. if you can't do that, it's too wet but you don't want it too dry to where it wont stick together. I never measure my lime, but I make sure to add enough to notice the reaction. and I mix thoroughly more wont hurt, but just keep in mind the smaller pile of mud in the end the easier it will be to extract from.

Maybe store 3/4 of it in the fridge, and do the extraction on 1/4 of it for now. You'll get enough spice out of there to last you awhile. Also, timing is crucial for this tek. The longer you acidify and base, the more you'll have to reX and clean your stuff up if you're looking for white spice. 1hr acidify, 1hr base.. No need to go any longer than that. I mix my solvent for 10 min constantly for each pull.

The best tek in my opinion! (for small extractions)