I've started the first batch of chaga double extraction process. Let me illustrate the process.
 |
This is a whopping huge chunk we found on a piece of wood we were chopping up for the woodpile. Good thing we didn't burn this stuff - its the best tinder ever known and a prized product. I don't know how many pounds this would be, but I'm est. 3 lb? If so, it would sell on the Northern market here on kijiji for $75-90. This will last me and my friends a long time as I plan to make a double extraction tincture out of it. Let me explain - read on.
Actually, I should mention -- this is not what it originally looked like. I hacked off the black stuff (which is okay to consume but has betulinic acids in it which gives it a bitter taste). |
 |
| I then chopped it up in a box to keep the pieces from flying across the floor. This took a long time to chop up that whole block. |
 |
| Ground up all of the block into an espresso grind. Almost destroyed the first grinder. Going to get these from a yard sale to continue the process before I do break the device. Actually a lot easier to fix then though -- tough as nails. |
 |
| This is the whole block. When it was all chopped up, I filled 7 of these mason jars. |
 |
| Will use this slow cooker device later to to the boiling part of the decoction. |
 |
| This is how dark the extraction got after nearly 2 weeks of extraction. I'm going to stick to the method I read, which mentioned to leave the chaga grinds in the vodka solution for 2 months. Should be using a 50 proof, but this 40 because that's all I could find. |
 |
| Another note: I read up somewhere online that mold spores can grow on chaga even thought it is a fungus. This stuff is stable, but I advise to dry it out as much as possible before storing it in a bag or anything. |
|
|
|
Well, pictures say more then words. I'd rather save them. Will update you on the progress as in 2 months. I will take the grinds out of the alcohol (I used not only vodka, but rum, brandy, whiskey for other jars) and use the grinds to boil out any remaining nutrients, vitamins and minerals that the alcohol cannot extract. This method is common enough - termed double extraction.
Thanks for reading the chaga-blog! Please refer to my
last post for more info on the benefits of chaga - king of medicinal mushrooms.
