Constuction of optimized Stills sice more than 18 Years

DESTILLIERMEISTER E2-55 Premium Plus All Inclusive - Top Model 2024

You save over € 50,- in the package

Legal and registration-free stainless steel still optimized for the distillation of essential oils with a large capacity for flowers and leaves

The worry-free package includes:

• Attach the distillation unit, 1. to 11.
• 12. attach the distillate hose and shorten if necessary as described below. You can unscrew the hose and screw on a water hose with a 1/2’ thread to clean the pipework systems.
• 13. an oil separator.
• 14. to assess the hydrolate quality: 100-pack of pH measuring sticks, pH 3.6 to 6.1.
• 15. set for the cooling water supply
• 16. so that you can get started right away: 500 g blue lavender flowers in distillation quality in a flavour and light protection bag. This gives you at least a first filling for the plant tube. The packaging is equipped with an aroma protection seal so that leftovers can be stored safely. This gives you a guideline of what your harvest should yield. Of course, this only applies to dried lavender flowers. Pay attention to the correct harvest time; this is important for the yield. I go into this in the online quick guide.

30 ml essential oil in 9 minutes

The registration-free DESTILLIERMEISTER E2 - 55 Premium Plus model 2024 has been redesigned once again. The stand is now designed so that the boiler can be removed from the system for refilling with plants or water and the cooling system with riser pipe and lid remains in place. This makes work faster and therefore more economical. The next distillation can start within a few minutes.

Everything else had already been improved in the 2023 model. The pre-condenser for the pressure-loss-free transition to liquefy the vapour in the cooler has been designed longer and is curved. The distillate cooler is now also designed in a curved shape instead of the bulky Liebig cooler and is nevertheless longer. This makes the entire system much more compact and the overall longer cooling length has once again significantly reduced the cooling water consumption. The boiler has a bubble size of 2 litres, which is permitted without notification, but the plant tube has a total volume of a whopping 5.5 litres. This makes it one of the largest legal and registration-free distilleries for essential oils. The riser pipe of the Premium model is insulated to minimise drip-back losses. This means that the Premium model is optimised for the extraction of essential oils and hydrolates.
The vapour is liquefied in the pre-condenser so that the reduction in cross-section when transferring to the final condenser also takes place without pressure loss. Note: Pressure losses in the pipework system have the effect of increasing the pressure in the plant pipe, so the vapour has to work against a pressure mountain. This causes the hydrolate and oil to drip back, resulting in losses. This also increases the temperature in the plant pipe because the boiling point rises. This damages the essential oils and reduces their quality.

In our own tests, we were able to extract a full 30 ml of essential oil from dried lavender flowers in 16 minutes using this still. We also obtained a litre of excellent lavender hydrolate. We were surprised by the effectiveness of this still ourselves. Obviously, the optimum ratio of plant cane height to plant cane diameter has had a positive effect on efficiency. The DESTILLIERMEISTER E2-55 Premium Plus is therefore ideal for anyone who wants to produce essential oils and hydrosols effectively without customs formalities.

For the vast majority of plants and flowers, the water supply is sufficient for a complete distillation. However, if one litre of hydrolate is not enough, as we found when distilling fennel seeds, for example, there is a water refill nozzle on the boiler. This allows you to equalise the amount of hydrolat removed with the corresponding amount of water without having to dismantle the system. This saves a considerable amount of time during work.
The insulated riser pipe already reduces drip-back losses. The drip losses can be further reduced by also insulating the plant pipe, e.g. with a blanket. A higher oil yield can then be expected.

With 5.5 litres of plant space, they have plenty of volume to process larger quantities of plants or drugs. However, you can also experiment with smaller quantities by raising the flavour basket, but you should then work with reduced heating power so that the steam does not simply flow through the plant material without any effect. The steam is generated in an extra boiler under the plant container, so that contact with boiling water can be ruled out.
The best thing is: as the water boiler only has a volume of 2 litres despite the large plant container, the DESTILLIERMEISTER E2 - 55 Premium Plus Model 2024 is also legal in Germany and Austria and can be sold and operated without being reported to customs.

Easy Handling:

• In the new model, seals are no longer required between the 1st and 2nd as well as the 3rd and 4th due to optimised tension locks. The sealing works metallically. Therefore, there are no more follow-up costs for this model.
• Fill 1.9 litres of water into the water/steam boiler, either demineralised or distilled water, or tap water if the limescale is removed from the bottom of the boiler with heated citric or acetic acid after a few distillations.
• Put the lid on 2. and close it with clamps,
• Screw the plant tube 3. onto the lid and tighten.
• Insert the flavouring basket, without the adjustable legs for full capacity, with legs and raised basket for smaller quantities.
• Fill with up to 5 litres of herbs or drugs - do not compress chopped herbs.
• Place lid 4. on top and tighten clamps 3.2.
• Screw on the insulated riser pipe.
• First insert the stand rod 9.1. into the pre-condenser. Then screw on the pre-condenser so that the pipework runs behind the riser pipe with some clearance. This should be automatically correct if the markings are observed. The boiler with the pre-condenser should now be stable.
• First insert the standpipes for the final condenser. Then screw on the final cooler. The cooling pipes should now have a gradient everywhere.
• Connect with connecting hose 8: 6.3 with 7.4.
• Screw the cooling water hoses to the radiator 7.3 and the pre-condenser 6.4 (cooling water hoses are not included but are available as accessories. With the -AI model, all this is included). The cooling water inlet has a 1/2‘ thread and the outlet on the pre-condenser is 3/4’. The cooling water always flows in the opposite direction to the distillate flow from bottom to top.
• Switch on the heat source and collect the hydrolat with oil at 7.5.
• With the plant tube full, distil for a maximum of 30 minutes at high power (induction plate 2000 or 3000 watts) for most plants. For small quantities of plants and a raised flavour basket, 1200 to 1500 watts. It is best to first collect 2 batches of 500 ml each in a sterile bottle. If the pH value of the 2nd batch does not deviate significantly from the 1st batch and is below 5, you can collect more stomachs. However, the amount of hydrolate removed should first be topped up with water via the refill nozzle 2.2.

• The water / vapour container and plant / drug pipe, as well as all distillate-carrying pipes are made of high-quality stainless steel.

Construction

1. Water / steam boiler, 2 litres. Approx. 1.9 litres of water are filled.
   1. 4 clamp fasteners.
2. Lid for closing the kettle.
   1. ¾’ screw connection.
   2. Water refill spout.
3. Plant/drug pipe, over 5 litres capacity for flowers and herbs.
   1. ¾’ screw nipple for connection with 2.1.
   2. 4 tension locks.
4. Cover with screw connection for the riser pipe.
   1. 3/4’ screw connection.
   2. Stainless steel analogue thermometer, accuracy class 1

5. Insulated riser tube.
   1. 3/4’ screw nipple for screwing to 4.1.
   2. 3/4’ screw connection for the pre-condenser. The marker mark on the threaded nipple is also continued on the screw connection of 6.1, so that the recommended rotation of the pre-condenser is indicated during initial assembly.

6. Pre-condenser
   1. Screw connection on 5.2
   2. Double-tube condenser in counterflow (outer shell, inner core)
   3. Cooling water inlet.
   4. Hot water outlet.
   5. Screw connection for the final cooler.

7. Final cooler
   1. 1/2’ screw nipple for connection to 6.5.
   2. Coiled radiator double pipe,
   3. Cooling water inlet,
   4. Cooling water outlet for supplying the pre-condenser at 6.3,
   5. Hydrolat outlet.

8. Cooling water connection between 6.3 and 7.4

9. 4 standpipes for supporting and stabilising the distillation system. The numbering is in ascending order in the direction of flow. Take the marker markings into account for the 1st assembly. The markings for the position of the cross sleeves on the standpipes apply to the levelled assembly. Depending on the height of the heat source used, the positions are shifted upwards by this amount (the numbering on the standpipes is at the top). They must be used in the correct order.
   1. Long pipe to support the pre-condenser, shown here with the cross sleeves.

2. See 7, tube in the centre.
3. See 7, pipe on the left.
4. See 7, pipe on the right.

10. Cross sleeves for connecting the supports to the pre-condenser 5. and the final cooler 6. The cross sleeves are optimally positioned on the coolers on delivery.
    1. Sleeves for fastening the pre-condenser: Top  
    2. Bottom                                                        
    3. 3 cross sleeves for fastening the final cooler:  
11. Flavour basket for insertion into the steam pipe. This has a minimum distance of approx. 3 cm from the base and can be adjusted upwards for smaller quantities. It has a closed storage area in the centre, so that in the lower position the rising steam jet does not flow directly through the plant material and blow a tunnel due to the jet effect, which would lead to heavy losses. The vapour initially flows radially due to the accumulation surface and then rises due to its own thermal effect. The plant tube has a height/diameter ratio greater than 1, so that an effective chimney effect favours the drag effect.

12. Attach the distillate hose and shorten it if necessary, as described above. You can unscrew the hose and screw on a water hose with a 1/2’ thread to clean the pipework systems.

13. Oil separator device, consisting of the following components
    1. The separating funnel. This collects the hydrolate first.
    2. PTFE plug. In the picture, this is set to maximum flow. Turned through 90°, it closes completely. It is closed at the start of distillation. Once you have collected around 60 to 70 ml, open it slowly and allow the hydrolat to flow out. Ideally, the hydrolat should flow into the collecting flask as quickly as it flows into the separating funnel. The oil collects on the surface of the hydrolat in the separating funnel.
    3. Stopper for the collecting flask with feed-through. This can also be supplied as a silicone stopper with feedthrough,
    4. Collecting flask (Erlenmeyer flask). You should distil 500 ml in any case; the non-water-soluble essential oil is now almost completely distilled off. If you want to continue collecting hydrolat, you should switch off the heat source briefly, decant the hydrolat or place a new flask underneath. Do not forget to close the plug 9.2 during this operation.
    5. Stopper, suitable for separating funnel and Erlenmeyer flask. This is not required for distilling.

14. pH measuring sticks, pH value between 3.6 and 6.1, 100 pieces. A hydrolate below pH 4 is of very high quality. From pH 6 or above, you should decide whether you want to stop the distillation. The hydrolat still smells good now, but can no longer be stored so well.
    
15. Set for the cooling water supply with the following accessories
    1. 20 litre plastic bucket as cooling water reservoir.
    2. Powerful 230 volt cooling water pump with accessories for different hose diameters, sufficient for all our stainless steel stills up to approx. 20 litres.
    3. Various PVC hoses of 2 metres each, including 2 hoses with hose fittings for the distillation cooler, one of which is prepared for connection to the pump. In addition, 3 hoses of different thicknesses for various applications, e.g. hose extension or decanting of hydrolates, etc.
    4. Plastic tap for cooling water regulation, suitable for the counterflow cooler.
    5. Scaled 100 ml measuring cylinder with base for taking distillate samples, e.g. to measure the pH value.
    6. Cleaning brush.
    7. Floating thermometer to check the cooling water if the hot waste water is allowed to run back into the bucket. Above 40° C, the water should either be cooled with ice or replaced.
    8. A roll of Teflon tape for sealing, e.g. if a seal becomes defective during distillation.

16. Addition: 1 x 500 g blue lavender flowers to test the still directly.

Test Experiment

Heat source: Induction, output after heating time (approx. 3 min) 3000 watts

Drug: Dried lavender flowers

Quantity: 500 g

Total distillation time: 18 min

Hydrolate extraction: 2 batches, one per 9 min

1. Batch: 500 ml after 9 min, oil yield 30 ml, hydrolate pH value: 3.2
2. Batch: 500 ml after a further 9 min, oil yield approx. 1 ml, hydrolate pH value: 3.8

Important note:

With the new German alcohol tax law, this distillery may also be sold legally in Germany since 1 January 2018 and without registration with the authorities. Please note that as a dealer we must point out that this distillery may only be used for the distillation of distilled water, hydrolates, essential oils, flavours, fragrances, perfumes, food, alchemical experiments, etc. or as a collector's item.

Incidentally, you do not have to limit the size of the kettle for the above-mentioned applications. Larger kettles are also legal and may be purchased and used by anyone. You only have to declare kettle sizes over 2 litres to customs in Germany.

If you distil alcohol, do not have a licence to do so and are caught doing so, you must expect a fine and confiscation of the still.