How/should I dry sugar leaves for cannabutter?

[Rick Sanchez]

Hi,
I'm harvesting on Wednesday and I plan to keep them aesthetically pleasing and cut the sugar leaves but still use them for cannabutter along with trim, how do I go about drying/curing them? I have 12x 1 quart mason jars and those pads that keep it at 62 humidity (10 of them) and obviously I can't just hang each sugar leaf... The sugar leaves are super trichy, can I assume 120mg thc/g of sugar leaves? how many grams of trim should I use for POTENT cannabutter?

[bblv]

I usually keep trim in a paper bag, just until dry. Then grind and decarb, mix with soy lecithin granules and spritz of everclear before making butter/oil. I use TLC testing and get anywhere from 2000-5000mg per ounce of trim (depending on strain). I like making oil as potent as possible for the most versatility; for that I use a ratio of 1 cup coconut oil per 1oz trim/bud (I very rarely use product for anything other than oil/butter).

[rockman]

@bblv....I was curious about your spritz of everclear and addition of soy lecithin in your oil extractions. I'm assuming that you've found these things help with a better extraction. I've been extracting sugar leaves and buds in algae oil, and it would be great if those two simple things could improved my results.Thanks! 🐸

[bblv]

Oops, guess I didn't post that reply correctly

[bblv]

Hi rockman, hopefully I post this reply correctly,... yes they do improve results! I did lots of side by side testing (and still continue to after 2 years) and found that the everclear definitely helps (albeit you may get a bit more chlorophyll extracted as well when dealing with trim, it's worth it IMO... I use more chocolate to hide the color and flavor and chocolate has more soy lecithin anyways). The soy lecithin doesn't help with extraction, but what I've found (along with my five test subjects is that it helps intensify and lengthen the high from baked goods. I tried using soy lecithin liquid from pill caps... messy and not recommended. I've not used algae oil ever... is that a good extractor as well? I'll have to look into that! I used to do both butter and coconut oil, but the oils extracts such a significant amount more THC that I now just adjust my recipes to accommodate oil instead of butter.

[Rick Sanchez]

Thanks for the reply, I've let my trim dry in a paper bag for a bit more than a week now, how do I go about making the oil? everything I read just says put a cup of coconut oil on low and add a ounce of bud/trim and wait 6 hours then strain, what's your superior method? hoping to make it today.

[bblv]

Sorry for getting back so late! Been busy with rotating the gals. 😉

Here's my preferred method:
Preheat oven to 240
Grind 1/4oz flower or 1oz trim
Spread grinds on foil-lined pan
Bake on center rack for 30 mins, stir, spread, bake another 30 mins
Add 1/2c or 1c clarified butter or coconut oil to slow cooker (1/2c butter per 1/2oz bud)
Turn on low to melt butter/oil
Remove grinds from oven, cool 10 mins
Spray or sprinkle baked grinds with 1t soy lecithin granules, stir
Spray or sprinkle baked grinds with 1t everclear or high% alcohol, mix, spread grinds, rest 10 mins
Add grinds to slow cooker on high (low if not using a water bath) for 2-8 hours (depends on dryness of matter)
Squeeze liquid from grinds with French press, strainer, or cheese cloth (nylon is best)
Cool liquid to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight in a bowl or open mouth container, do NOT freeze, do NOT use a jar