Tried to make infused coconut oil, may have screwed up, help!

rj381

New Member
Hello! I tried to make some infused coconut oil and I think I might have messed it up. I'd like to know if it's salvageable and what I should do.

WHAT I DID
I used 1/16th of an ounce of weed (~ 1.8 grams) and tried to infuse it in about 50ml of coconut oil, set in a mini-ice-cube tray of 1ml cubes. If it had gone right, I make that about 4mg THC per cube if the weed was 10% THC. (I don't know what % it was; sadly I don't yet live somewhere where it comes in nicely labelled packets. But it should have been something in that ballpark.)

I'm impatient and tried to decarb the weed without an oven thermometer: I set my (electric) oven to about 110C (230 F), and let it warm up till its light went off (which only took about 15 minutes, but I figured it wouldn't take long anyway as it's not much hotter than a kettle). I tore up the weed by hand, put it in a ceramic pot wrapped in three layers of tinfoil, and baked that for 30 minutes. Afterwards a few of the chunks looked slightly brown round the edges, but most of it still looked green and it certainly hadn't gone the nice autumn-leaves colours I'm seeing on recipe sites. I should probably have stopped and asked for help at this point, but I didn't.

Figuring it'd all work out, I merrily ground the weed with a not-particularly-fine hand grinder, put it back in the pot, poured the coconut oil (with a dash of almond oil) over it, wrapped the pot back up in the foil and baked it again for 90 minutes, stirring at the 45 minute mark. Then I took it out of the oven and let it cool, then put the whole thing in the freezer overnight. The next morning I heated it up again, just enough to melt the oil (~20 minutes I think, at about 100C), poured it into the mould, and froze that. The oil had turned slightly green so at least something was getting extracted, but maybe it was just chlorophyll.

I ate a cube, and an hour or so later I didn't feel anything. I ate two, waited another hour, nothing. In the evening I took three. I was maybe a bit more sleepy than usual at bedtime, or maybe I was sleepy because it was bedtime. Certainly no high.

So... what I suspect has happened (but I'm not sure) is the weed wasn't decarbed - either the oven wasn't hot enough, or the inside of the ceramic pot was insulated by all that tinfoil, or both - and I now have an ice-cube tray full of non-decarbed weed set in coconut oil. Is there a way to salvage this? I have an oven thermometer now!

I see some people make oil infusions just by baking weed in oil for a long time without decarbing separately first - can I do that with this?

(And if this does end up being a total write-off, I have another sixteenth to try more carefully with.)

All help is appreciated, thank you!
 
Last edited:

shredder

Well-Known Member
I see some people make oil infusions just by baking weed in oil for a long time without decarbing separately first - can I do that with this?

People on the net do a bunch of crazy shit, but we don't have to listen to them, or me, we can do actual research.

Decarbing is best done dry, and at 240°F for 40 minutes in the oven although there are several other alternatives.

For your oil, I'd just use it for your next batch that you've decarbed correctly.
 
Last edited:

feralcomprehension

Qualified Observer
Hello! I tried to make some infused coconut oil and I think I might have messed it up. I'd like to know if it's salvageable and what I should do.
(Snip)

All help is appreciated, thank you!
Have you looked at the huge Another Tincture thread on Grass City?

Specific decarb rules (yes, your package maybe didn't hit the target temp/time), infusion methods (oil infusion is slow; better to use ethanol first and transfer to oil) and dosage math (75% transfer efficiency is doing well, 12mg isn't much).
It's a long thread (>1200 pages) but there's a ton of great info; worth a look if you're serious.
 

Nina

Well-Known Member
Echoing others on this thread, I agree the dose sounds too low, unless you're unusually sensitive then 40mg or so may be the right ballpark. Obviously test with a v small dose at first though just in case!
Sounds to me as if you've done enough de-carbing rj3!
 

Pcloudy

Well-Known Member
I did some cannabutter without decarbing first. Butter, water, cannabis in the oven at 240 for about 40 minutes then into a crockpot for about 4 to 6 hours. It worked. Next batch I'll definitely decarb first though.
 

Southeastern

illegal smile
What temp did you use in the crockpot?

Why is there a need to decarb it separately?
 
Southeastern,

Pcloudy

Well-Known Member
What temp did you use in the crockpot?

Why is there a need to decarb it separately?
I dunno. It was a cheap one with low and high. Did high for a few then low for longer. I want to see if it helps the flavor. I used trim so the butter was super green
 

Southeastern

illegal smile
Decarbing in an oil or fat is hard because the oil insulates the cannabis oil.
Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I have been using the method you posted for making canna caps and they work great!

I dunno. It was a cheap one with low and high.
I bought a fairly cheap digital candy thermometer that works great for figuring out the temps.
 
Southeastern,
  • Like
Reactions: shredder

shredder

Well-Known Member
I have been using the method you posted for making canna caps and they work great!

I think canna caps are the best bang for the buck. If I had to pick only one edible that'd be my top pick.

As a caregiver though most of my patients prefer chocolates followed by mct oil infusions. Only 1/5 uses capsules.
 
Top Bottom