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Decarb, Firecrackers and Canna Caps

OlderNOTwiser

OlderNOTwiser

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This might become a long post so feel free to jump ship…or tag along for a few minutes.
Before Thanksgiving I mentioned I was going to try some methods of decarboxylation on both CBD and THC strains. And I mentioned (perhaps a different thread) that I was hoping to get started making CannaCaps. I realized I never closed out those threads or thoughts. So, this is where I’m hoping to rectify that. And I’ll hunt down those older posts and deal with them. In searching for answers I discovered Firecrackers!
 
DECARB

Of course the old tried and true is a baking sheet or foil in an oven and stinking up the house and neighborhood. I did that a year or so ago, had some nice brownies before the Roger Waters concert and enjoyed a nice body buzz. But the smell!!! So I searched and finally settled on two options. One was vacuum sealed bags in a hot water bath. The other was Mason jars.
Being an old gardener I have gear for canning tomatoes primarily. I thought (mistakenly as it turns out) that I could just do as I would with tomatoes. Fill your jars, seal pretty tight but not insanely so, lower in your jars and cover for about 45 minutes. With tomatoes you have fruit and liquid so the jars are fairly hefty. With cannabis the jars are nearly all air. I usually determine the water bath volume by using jars filled with water, lowered in, and then water added to be ½” above the jar. When they get boiling they naturally expel gasses and seal when they cool. With the cannabis the sealed jars just started to float all over. So I resorted to the other Mason jar method. Decarb in the oven.
I put a baking sheet on the lower rack as a precaution for breakage. I preheat the oven to ~ 235F with my selection of empty jars on the upper rack. This reduces stress on the glass. When I was set with product and the oven was ready I pulled out a jar at a time and loaded with the T or the C as I was doing both and kept the two types apart for identification. Rings and lids were on fairly tight but didn’t want an explosion. I hoped that a slightly lower temp would save terps and by doing it a bit longer would compensate for a lower temp. When the jars deemed as thc were done I left the cbd jars in another 30 minutes since they would “usually” be decarbed in a hotter environment.
The water bath didn’t go to waste as I vacuum sealed another pile of weed and dropped it in the water bath for about 90 minutes. (Had to weight it down.) I reckoned that I was at an even lower temp than we’ve been using for years so longer time boiling was warranted.
Both systems worked very well. The jars had very little smell and the bag in water had none at all. Although the bag did seal in any vapors and made the product kind of wet. (Be certain there are no stems or sharp edges to pierce the bag.) Since then I’ve opened the bag and the moistness is minimal and the product seems to be cured equally as well as the jars. Any dampness left very quickly.
I have no science or measurements to share but I can say with full conviction that these two methods are superior to the foil sheets. No exposure to hot and dry oven air as well as trapping in the vast majority of smells. If you have the equipment for either method I’d suggest giving it a try versus a baking sheet.
The jar method is the winner for me right now since it eliminates the vacuum sealing and water boiling. I think if I get a big batch going it would be the bags, though.
In searching for information on decarb times and temps I realized the old 300F for 30 minutes was still out there. Fortunately as research is being done on more aspects of cannabis the decarb processes are becoming a bit more clear. For THCa to convert to THC requires about 240F for about 45 minutes. For CBDa to convert to CBD requires about 260F for about 60 minutes. So I used lower temps than these and similar times or slightly longer. Decarb requires both time and temp so a little mental math is in order. Like most things cannabis there is no exact answer to most anything.
Posts I stole from or learned from:
https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/355183-decarboxylation-not-just-for-edibles
https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/351649-decarboxylation
 
FIRECRACKERS

While I was waiting for the CBD jars to finish I made some firecrackers and put them in to bake. That turned out to be a bit messy to make and eat. Plus I didn’t have any inkling as to what the dose may be in each or how much to eat. And I was rushed as we have a teenage grandson with us now who was away but due back in a few hours.
Side note: At 18, out of school and employed still a VERY naïve and innocent kid. The first day we moved him in I realized we had a two year project on our hands. I’d just started growing and really enjoying it so I looked at the wife and back to him and blurted out “your Grandpa is a bit of a pothead”. Explained very little and went out to get a few tokes! Damned if I was gonna go two years without when I’d just given up the corporate whizz quiz environment. Anyway…
Firecrackers are basically old fashioned S’mores without the marshmallow. And a heaping dose of decarbed cannabis!
Short and sweet recipe: Break the number of graham crackers you plan to use in half. Cover one half with fatty peanut butter. Organic was suggested. The kind with oil separated out that you need to stir back in. Recipe I saw said it was more fatty than commercial but the labels would say otherwise. But, for the sake of what is good for me I used the organic stuff. The other half of your cracker can be smeared with more PB or Nutella or similar. On each side sprinkle on a teaspoonful of weed. Not a measuring spoon but one you use at the table. Use a toothpick to incorporate the goodies into the fatty stuff. Smoosh them together, wrap in foil and into the oven. I used the 235F oven as it was already warmed up and timed them at 20 minutes. Since it was already decarbed I didn’t need to accomplish that so I went low and slow again. If you have fresh weed you can up the temp and times a bit to decarb on the fly. I have Celiac disease so my gluten free crackers are already pretty hard. The longer bake times would have made mine into cinder blocks.
Strength and dosing was a mystery but I have since found a clue on that as well. Using the formulas found here: https://beyondchronic.com/2015/11/ohs-law-of-cannabis-edible-potency/ I come up with 80 to 120 mg of thc per square. That is a half cracker square not two full crackers doubled up. I ate ¾ and my wife ¼. I was underwhelmed and she was a bit spacey. My doses were based on another wild ass guess on the strength of my weed. If it is 8% then the 80mg per, if it is 12% then 120mg per serving. We have finished them up now and I did 11/2 and wife did ½ to finish up the last two. Too much for her and borderline for me.
Got a day without grandkids and made another batch. This time I took the time to weigh out my weed per serving. I used 1.5g per serving over both sides total. Again with the guess on thc % of 10 my doses are now about 150mg. Again that is a half cracker or a square with a lid so to speak. Very easy to make and easier to eat.
 

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CANNACAPS

I recently purchased one of the capsule makers (00) and the coconut oil to give caps a try so while everything was still messy from decarbing and experimenting with Firecrackers I began the next experiment. Won’t get into detail on the cap maker as there is so much on the web to follow. I used 8g of the thc weed and about 5 tablespoons of oil. I got 61 caps. So I needed more oil next time. I put the coconut oil in a pint Mason jar with the weed and set in a saucepan with hot water, slightly boiling not a rolling boil, minding the water level and stirred occasionally for three hours. (Firecrackers were being eaten now.) NOTE: be sure to grind the weed just a bit if you decarbed in a more chunky style. DO NOT grind fine as it will go through the cheesecloth strainer and gum up the syringe to fill the caps. The actual process was smoother than my fears would have me think. I can’t even get a good guess on potency as the weed is an unknown and was harvested early as well. Actually I’ll try a wild ass guess here anyway.
IF my weed was ~ 10%, used 8 g of it and made 61 caps I should be about 13mg each. If a “dose” is 10mg then I’m probably good though at this time I’ve not tried it yet.
This past weekend I did up the caps of CBD. It went smoother. Same process all the way except different weed. I used about 8 tablespoons of coconut oil and ended with 90 caps. I do know that the CBD source was only about 2.4% so I had to get all I could out of it. These are about 2.4mg per cap. I still have questions on the proper dosage point for these. I know metabolism, weight, last meal, etc…all influence that but I’m reading more and more that 5mg is a good base to start. They don’t clarify if that is the total daily dose or if you do that several times a day. I’m starting to do 2 caps at a time three times daily. That gets me to ~ 15mg per day. That’s probably a bit light for my weight and metabolism but until I get some better product this will have to do.
 
I prefer the slow cooker Method. I can do it from my man cave where I don't have to worry about the smells.I have been using olive oil. you can mix the finished product in just about anything you want to cook. you can use your preferred oil or butter.


21-28grams weed. I run through my Chopper /grinder.

20oz Olive oil for roughly 1 pint potent Canna oil.

A slow-cooker liner in the Crock-Pot makes easier cleanup

Let oil get hot first then add weed.[Weed is decarbed Through this process]

After it starts to boil cut it down a notch

Let it cook slow at least 3 or 4 hours or as long as you want

Let cool a bit and filter with cheesecloth or your preferred method

If you're not in a hurry, remove the liner with the oil in it and hang it over a jar or pan

poke holes in the bottom of the liner with a pin. it will drain slowly filtering out the solids

Check it every few hours work a little poke a few more holes as they easily become clogged.

This process May last a day or longer. it will filter most of the leftover weed out.

Then filter through a cheesecloth if needed.
 
On the firecrackers...My second try with these using both peanut butter and Nutella and stronger weed (though potency is still a guess) I ate two. Real tasty and I wanted more. Good thing I stopped. About an hour and a half later I was completely greened out and wishing I'd stopped at just one.
 
After experimenting with several versions of Firecrackers. The easiest method I came up with, works great, easy No mess..


Using Canna oil from the slow cooker method.

I Fire the slow cooker up with just water in it.

Approximately 4 oz of peanut butter Usually in the peanut butter jar.

Roughly 3 or 4 tablespoons Canna oil Into the peanut butter jar.

Jar in slow cooker, in the water. A jar of (medicinal)smooth creamy peanut butter Comes out in a few hours. The process Blends it. don't even have to Stir It, Just add to crackers. A small amount of peanut butter between 2 Ritz crackers, Extreme Caution⚠ They’ll fool you.

I limit myself to 2, usually a couple hours and I'm lost.

After I first started experimenting with edibles, asked a buddy if you could get a hangover from them. Hits you the best the next day, When you're not expecting it. Definitely limit yourself, they do give you the munchies. Not Ready for edible munchies🤩.


Update To Slow cooker method for making Canna oils & butter.

Fill the slow cooker with water. Put your oil & weed together in a mason jar. Add jar To the water in slow cooker. Works great.😎
 
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