You can enjoy cannabis in many ways, including potent, concentrated extracts. Butane hash oil (BHO) is one of the most common cannabis concentrates. It’s a highly potent extract with high THC levels that many users enjoy.
However, due to its potentially hazardous nature, BHO production is always undertaken with caution. So, as with many things, BHO production is best left to the professionals. But read on if you want to know how BTO is made and how you can enjoy it safely.
In this beginner’s guide to butane hash oil, we explain the extraction process, how to store your butane hash oil, and much more.
Butane hash oil is, as the name suggests, a cannabis concentrate that is extracted using the chemical solvent butane. It is often called BHO but has earned a few fun slang names over time.
These slang terms include ‘crumble’ and ‘honeycomb or ‘butane honey oil.’ This is due to the varying appearance and texture of BHO. It does not have one standard appearance and texture but several. BHO may appear rigid, glassy, pliable, sticky, or soft and waxy.
Despite the wide range of descriptive names, most users agree that dabbing is the best way to use it.
This involves flash vaporization using a special water pipe. Flash vaporization is a process in which a liquid quickly turns into vapor when exposed to lower pressure or temperature. It happens suddenly without the liquid going through the usual gradual transition to vapor.
There have been cases where the THC content in BHO has been as high as 80% and over. So it can cause some intense effects and may even result in dizziness and anxiety. It’s advisable to be seated in a comfortable environment when dabbing BHO.
You can use BHO in other ways, though. For example, you can add butane hash oil to bowls or joints and blunts to heighten their potency.
BHO is made by using butane to extract the active compounds from cannabis flowers.
The butane, which is colorless, tasteless, and odorless, separates the compounds THC and CBD from cannabis plant material. After further refining through special filters that remove any remaining residue, you get butane hash oil.
Butane is a highly volatile, liquefied gas and must be used with extreme caution.
Professional extractors use a “closed-loop system”. This method entails allowing the butane to travel through the cannabis plant material in contained chambers.
In a closed-loop extraction system, the butane solvent is loaded into a pressurized tank, while the cannabis plant material is loaded into an extraction tube. The butane is passed through this plant material to extract the desired compounds.
While this system is not without risk, it is much safer than the open-blasting method. It generally prevents the flammable solvent from escaping into the ambient air.
This is an earlier method of BHO extraction and one that commercial extractors now avoid.
It involves pouring butane straight into an open cannabis-filled cylinder and then filtering it. This practice is now abandoned because of the dangers associated with leaking butane gas (any spark nearby could cause it to explode).
Vacuum purging is often used for high-quality solvent-based cannabis concentrates. A vacuum oven and pump evaporate the unwanted chemicals while preserving the wanted cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids.
Vacuum purging works by lowering the atmospheric pressure (the weight of the air above a specific surface area) in a vacuum oven. As the pressure in the vacuum oven decreases, the volatile solvent chemicals can boil off at lower temperatures.
This ensures that the temperature-sensitive cannabis compounds remain intact. Removing the solvent residue improves the extract’s purity, texture, consistency, and color and makes it safe for consumption.
Contact with air and moisture degrades any cannabis product, including BH. Store it in a sealed, air-tight container. Most users use glass jars, but if the product sticks to the inside, you can use medical-grade, platinum-cured silicone containers.
Whatever you use to store it, place the container in a cool, dark place. Light and heat also contribute to cannabis product degradation. If you expose your BHO to too much light, it may lose its potency very quickly.
Butane hash oil comes in various extract forms. Regardless of the specific type, you can use BHO similarly to other cannabis products, but with the added benefit of a significantly higher THC content. The different textures and consistencies of BHO varieties are the only distinguishing factors between them.
It’s important to note that the difference in appearance and texture is not necessarily a clue to quality when it comes to BHO. It is often simply due to the different conditions during the extraction process.
This variety of BHO genuinely looks more like an oil. BHO honey oil has a honey-like, gooey consistency. The color may even resemble honey, too. Although most BHO users prefer dabbing, the honey oil variety can be vaped or used in edibles.
BHO shatter is so named because it is really hard and glasslike. And just like glass, it will easily shatter or break if dropped or tapped too forcefully. This BHO variety is usually dabbed but can also be used in other ways.
BHO ‘budder’ is, as the name suggests, smooth and creamy, just like butter. It has a consistency that falls somewhere between that of oil and wax. This silken creamy texture makes it more suitable for use in edibles.
This fun name refers to the taffy-like consistency of this BHO variant. It’s very stretchy and sticky, and pieces of it can easily be pulled and snapped off, much like the taffy sweets you enjoyed as a kid.
BHO ‘honeycomb’ or wax has a soft wax-like consistency, but it is slightly more rigid than the budder variety. It’s most often used in a bowl or sometimes added to blunts.
BHO crumble is a harder but more crumbly form of BHO wax, hence the name ‘crumble”. It is most often dabbed, but like the waxy variety, is also sometimes used in a bowl or even added to joints or blunts.
DIY at-home production is never advised for beginners.
BHO evaporates quickly at standard atmospheric pressure and room temperature, so it’s easy to release too much butane gas into the air around you without realizing it. While it is commonly found in some industrial and even household products, inhaling it can be intoxicating.
Butane gas inhalation can cause what has become known as ”sudden sniffing death” (resulting from cardiac arrhythmia or cardiac arrest/heart attack). And that is not the only concern with improper butane use. Because it’s highly flammable, there’s also a risk of fire or explosion which may cause serious burns.
Professionally extracted BTO products found in dispensaries are, however, safe to use. These legal cannabis concentrates are tested for traces of butane. They have been further refined for purity and don’t exceed the legal limit for residual solvent levels.
That’s why it’s safer to buy your extracts and concentrates from an authorized dispensary.
Butane hash oil, thanks to its optimal THC levels, will give you a superior high. It comes in many varieties so that you can easily find one that suits your taste.
At Embarc, we answer the need for BHO and similar products with safety and quality in mind. So you’ll find BHO badder and shatter and other cannabis extracts and concentrates that are affordable, professionally produced, and, above all, safe to use.
