Soy lecithin as a potentiator.

[Qbit]

I felt that this substance deserves its own thread, as I've been using it in my canna-oil cooking for the last couple of months, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

It's a natural emusifier, used as a food additive in stuff like chocolate (to make it more chocolatey) and in some pharmaceuticals to help get the drug into your system. And it's available from health food retailers for its various health benefits. And not least of all, it's cheap.

I'll add a couple of teaspoons to my oil when I cook. Mind you, I can only get in in granular form (as in the picture above), not powder, so I grind it in my spice/coffee grinder, otherwise a lot of it stays in granular form during cooking. It's a bit gummy, so it isn't ideal for grinding, but it works.

My cooking method is a variation on BadKat's CannaPharm recipe, but I use bud instead of hash, and make it much, much weaker (the capsules in that recipe are ridiculously strong). Plus I don't make capsules - I just cook the oil and keep it in a jar.

But yeah I've been cooking a quarter (7g) at a time, first by baking the buds for an hour at 120C/250F to decarboxylate, then grinding them up in a spice/coffee grinder, then putting it in a small receptacle (a jar), adding a couple of heaped teaspoons of the soy lecithin, then mixing in about 140ml/5oz of oil (ie 20ml per gram), and then putting it in the oven again for an hour at 120C/250F. I guess I could use a lot less oil, and I think I'll probably halve the amount next time. But I need to be able to measure a dose with my measuring spoons.

Anyway, cooking this way means that for one dose sufficient to get me where I want to be, I use, at most, 0.2 g worth of my bud (or a little less than a teaspoon of oil) - I'll redose a few hours later If I start early in the day. My last quarter lasted me almost 3 weeks, meaning that it's about as efficient as vaping. Indeed I haven't been vaping at all for a while, but that's ok, since edibles are my favourite delivery method anyway.

But yeah, soy lecithin - get some. You won't regret it.

 

[SD_haze]

Whenever I look for soy lechitin I can't seem to find it at any local store.

All i've heard is to look for them at health food stores, but they usually don't seem to know what I'm talking about when I ask

 

[treecityrnd]

I haven't been vaping at all for a while...

Think of all the poor kittens Q!

Thanks for the thread. Can't wait to try this. As a scientist, the fact that it contains choline is extremely interesting from a developmental and neurological standpoint.

They sell the powder at a couple local stores. They also have sunflower lecithin (extracted without any harmful chemical solvents such as acetone and hexane) so I may just get that instead.

 

[Qbit]

Whenever I look for soy lechitin I can't seem to find it at any local store.

All i've heard is to look for them at health food stores, but they usually don't seem to know what I'm talking about when I ask

Weird that they don't even know about it. My HFS has several different-sized bags of it available. Anyway, the stuff is easily found online.

 

[Qbit]

I haven't been vaping at all for a while...

Think of all the poor kittens Q!

Thanks for the thread. Can't wait to try this. As a scientist, the fact that it contains choline is extremely interesting from a developmental and neurological standpoint.

They sell the powder at a couple local stores. They also have sunflower lecithin (extracted without any harmful chemical solvents such as acetone and hexane) so I may just get that instead.

Bahaha! Touch. Yeah I'd forgotten about my sig there.

Anyway I did a search for BadKat's recipe, and found that BadKat (or BadKittySmiles, rather) has been dumping this recipe and many others (all using soy lecithin) all over the net on various cannabis forums. Here is a most extensive (12page) thread over at RollItUp.com, where it has been stickied in the cooking forum. And here is a post in that thread where BKS goes in to detail about soy lecithin. BadKittySmiles makes a claim of decades of experience in cannabis R&D, which I am inclined to believe.

 

[HighlyEducatedScholar]

SD_haze, you could try a local GNC. i remember reading about soy lecithin from BKS and wanted to use it in my next recipe but saw on google shopping that GNC has a supply, hopefully in-store. however, like Qbit, it comes in granular form. i haven't checked my own GNC for this but if you do definitely let us know if they have it there!

 

[StickyShisha2]

GNC by me has Soya Lecithin 1.1 gram gel pills. (cheap) so i bought a bottle and cut one open.

i thought it would be soft like the fish oil pills i get, but this is like a hard plastic shell.
the oily lecithin inside has no smell or taste.

should i cut one (or more) of these into the butter making mix of water butter and trim, waiting in my crockpot?

 

[Qbit]

GNC by me has Soya Lecithin 1.1 gram gel pills. (cheap) so i bought a bottle and cut one open.

i thought it would be soft like the fish oil pills i get, but this is like a hard plastic shell.
the oily lecithin inside has no smell or taste.

should i cut one (or more) of these into the butter making mix of water butter and trim, waiting in my crockpot?

Hmm, I bought mine in a bag of 500g (about 1.1 pounds) for around $15. You should look for powder or granules. I'm sure the contents of the capsules will work for cooking, but you'll definitely be paying quite a premium for it in that form (and one which is not convenient for your purposes).

However I'm afraid that lecithin may not work with the water+butter+weed-in-the-crockpot method, since lecithin is soluble in water as well as oil. BadKittySmiles on the Rollitup thread advises against that old method, and suggests using a double boiler.

 

[StickyShisha2]

However I'm afraid that lecithin may not work with the water+butter+weed-in-the-crockpot method, since lecithin is soluble in water as well as oil.

that is what i was thinking. i will add some to the butter after i remove the water, in my refining process.

this is actually a 50/50 mix of ghee and coconut oil, specific for a baking recipe (not mine)

i put the globe from my oil rig in there earlier. and just took it out clean that should punch these cookies up a notch.

 

[Qbit]

However I'm afraid that lecithin may not work with the water+butter+weed-in-the-crockpot method, since lecithin is soluble in water as well as oil.

that is what i was thinking. i will add some to the butter after i remove the water, in my refining process.

this is actually a 50/50 mix of ghee and coconut oil, specific for a baking recipe (not mine)

i put the globe from my oil rig in there earlier. and just took it out clean that should punch these cookies up a notch.

OK, let us know how it goes. I haven't quite figured out yet whether there is much difference, effect-wise, between cooking with lecithin and just adding it after.

EDIT: I just read a post by BKS over at GrassCity.com that you should add at least 1/2 a tsp of lecithin for every 2 tbsp of oil, which works out to about 10% by volume, and BKS is inclined to use up to 15%.

 

[t-dub]

I make her hash caps but use twice the oil, with the corresponding ratio of lecithin, and they seem perfect for me and others experienced with medibles. I would caution the uninitiated on these however.

t-dub

 

[hatecraft]

Would it help to add soy lecithin to a VG/ABV no heat tincture?

 

[jeffp]

The soy lecithin that i have is in liquid form in a bottle that i bought at a local health food store. i intend to use it in my next brownie batch.

 

[Nycdeisel]

I try to avoid soy anything. it just isnt a health food shouldnt even be sold in health food stores.

sounds like an interesting method though.

 

[Tuck]

If you are planning to vape the vg tincture in an e-cig, do not use the soy lecitin. As an emulsifier, it will work better in a fat like butter or oil than vegetable glycerin.

 

[Qbit]

I try to avoid soy anything. it just isnt a health food shouldnt even be sold in health food stores.

sounds like an interesting method though.

Well, there are other sources of lecithin, and I'd be surprised if they don't work.

 

[Qbit]

If you are planning to vape the vg tincture in an e-cig, do not use the soy lecitin. As an emulsifier, it will work better in a fat like butter or oil than vegetable glycerin.

Uuh, if you are planning to vape anything at all, you certainly don't put lecithin in it. The stuff is for edibles only.

 

[mydogvapedmyhw]

I made BadKat's Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls last weekend, and it was the first time I had used lecithin to make edibles. Let me tell you, it works amazingly well. I used only 8g of ABV and ended up with 44 balls! I intentionally tried to make them weak, but it didn't work. One ball gives a thoroughly baked feeling for about 6 hours. I'm absolutely shocked by how potent these things are given the fact that each contains less then .2g of ABV.

 

[Zebra Bars]

Heard rave reviews about lecithin helping your body absorb fat. This stuff is supposed to make firecrackers "pop"
sources:http://forum.grasscity.com/incredib...h-candy-canna-bombs-more-22.html#post11299348
where the source was foundhttp://forum.grasscity.com/incredible-edible-herb/943561-i-dont-seem-feel.html and if you're having trouble getting edibles to work

 

[Peloton]

Heard rave reviews about lecithin helping your body absorb fat. This stuff is supposed to make firecrackers "pop"
sources:http://forum.grasscity.com/incredib...h-candy-canna-bombs-more-22.html#post11299348
where the source was foundhttp://forum.grasscity.com/incredible-edible-herb/943561-i-dont-seem-feel.html and if you're having trouble getting edibles to work

I have had great success making ABV peanut butter without soy lecithin. Next time I'm giving it a try though. A bag of powdered soy lecithin from amazon is on the way, and I will see if it makes the ABVPB even more killer.

 

[Zebra Bars]

Haven't tried it with lecithin, only used organic pb and coconut oil (highly recommended) but if ur watching price don't bother with coconut oil.

 

[Puffers]

Haven't tried it with lecithin, only used organic pb and coconut oil (highly recommended) but if ur watching price don't bother with coconut oil.

If potentiating cannabis effects is what your after a coconut oil will have a better chance at doing so by shuttling more cannabinoids to the liver where hopefully delta 9 will get converted to delta 11

 

[Qbit]

If potentiating cannabis effects is what your after a coconut oil will have a better chance at doing so by shuttling more cannabinoids to the liver where hopefully delta 9 will get converted to delta 11

Indeed. And the price of coconut oil can't compare to the price of what you're putting in it.

 

[CHEI]

It should be noted that 90% of soy products are genetically modified. Non-gmo soy lecithin or non soy lecithin is also available but it more expensive or harder to find. A note of caution for those who exlude GMO's from their diet.

 

[Qbit]

It should be noted that 90% of soy products are genetically modified. Non-gmo soy lecithin or non soy lecithin is also available but it more expensive or harder to find. A note of caution for those who exlude GMO's from their diet.

Well the lecithin I have is unbleached non-GMO, but obviously not organic, and will be solvent-extracted. But I've checked, and at least in the US, organic soy lecithin is available, and extracted solvent-free.

Here's one company at least than sells it @ $20/lb (not internationally though, unfortunately). I'm sure there are more.