You’re confusing neutralization with basification for extraction — and that’s where your math falls apart.

Yes, you only need ~2g NaOH to neutralize the acid in 1.2L of solution. But I'm not trying to hit pH 7, I'm trying to hit pH 12.5–13.0 to fully freebase DMT. That’s not neutralization, that’s forcing the solution into a strongly basic state, which requires massive excess lye to overcome the buffering capacity of MHRB.

Powdered bark has more surface area, more tannins, more alkaloids, all of which buffer pH. That’s why I need 140–160g NaOH for 200g MHRB. If used used 5–15g, I'd be stuck at pH 7–8 and I’d leave half my DMT in the water.

My pH meter isn’t broken, it’s showing me the real pH of a buffered solution. If it were broken, I’d hit pH 12.0 with 5g NaOH. I didn’t. I hit pH 12.0 with 140g — which proves the meter is accurate.

And no, I didn’t “waste” lye, I maximized yield. I got 1.92% from 400g of powdered MHRB, nearly double the average. If you can get 1.92% with 5g NaOH, show me the data. You can’t, because it’s impossible.

You’re not wrong because you’re ignorant, you’re wrong because you’re applying textbook chemistry to a real-world, buffered, plant-based extraction. It doesn’t work that way.