Type of oil versus potency

[PoopMachine]

I wanted to toss this out there since it seems like a lot of people here are cooking experts.

We have made brownies a few times both with fresh and ABV. We usually use the mix that calls for oil instead of butter and extract the THC into the oil via a frying pan with the heat down low. They work but you have to eat more than I would consider "normal" to get to where you want to be.

For example, we've taken somewhere between 1/4 and a half of mids and finely ground it and put it in the oil and let it summer for a while Strain it and bake away. After that, between the wife and myself, it takes almost half a pan of these brownies to feel the effects and for me, its usually little more than "I can tell something is going on" and thats about it.

Our next plan ot attack was going to be to use cococut oil instead of canola/corn oil. How much of an impact will the higher fat content have on extraction? It just seems like we're using a lot of product for not a lot of effect.

 

[DaProfessor]

So you are using between 1/4-1/2oz per box mix? Seems like you should be getting some effect. You could just make a smaller batch with the same amount of herb so that each piece will have a higher dose. I'm assuming you are extracting properly. Have you tried decarboxylating the fresh?

Coconut oil will not provide any extra extraction potential. The only way to get more out of the herb would be an ethanol extraction. This will also extract more of the less tasty compounds (tars, chlorophyll). Personally, I do ethanol extractions. Easier to add to recipes and I know I got everything out of the plant. There are ways to clean up the bulk extract, but requires more equipment and there is product loss because of the processing.

 

[PoopMachine]

Yes, we're using anywhere from 1/4 to a 1/2 per box. Decent stuff, too.. not our best but good mids. Thats to make like a 12x12 pan of brownies. Then we have to eat 3 or 4 each, usually about half the pan to get where we want to be. I was thinking perhaps the low fat content of the oil we were using was not allowing full extraction because I see people talking about eating one brownie and being baked.

 

[AGBeer]

Decarb'ing your bud is also essential. Is this a step in ANY extraction that you perform with fresh?

 

[PoopMachine]

Decarb'ing your bud is also essential. Is this a step in ANY extraction that you perform with fresh?

No

Ive never used "fresh", Ive just used stuff I had laying around. We buy a lot of different strains and usually end up with shake/old stuff and when we collect enough, we cook with it. Our preperation so far has just been heating the oil and weed for 30 minutes or so. I do have an old dehydrator I can toss the weed into for about an hour next time.

Maybe thats the problem. The best "edible" Ive ever made was brown dragon with a lot of ABV boiled down in Everclear. 5ml of that stuff and you were down for the count for the night. We've never been able to accomplish that kind of potency with stuff we've baked.

 

[VWFringe]

I would wonder about the efficiency of your extraction, not your choice of solvent.

have you mixed the herb into the brownies, or tossed it?

note: normal baking decarb's herb just fine from what i've read, tho i've steamed mine before too

 

[PoopMachine]

The very first time we cooked, we left it in and those brownies were pretty good but very "weedy" tasting and smelling. So from then on, we started extracting into the oil and tossing the weed. Im really starting to think we're just not preparing it long enough. Its a bit of a challenge to cook the stuff for 12-24 hours like a lot of people say due to the smell. Maybe Ill try crockpotting it, I just dont know how that does for smell.

 

[AGBeer]

By 'fresh' I mean green (unvaped) bud. Sure its been dried/cured, but not smoked/vaped.

THAT kind of 'fresh'

And Im sure that the baking process decarb's the herb, but you are cooking it (making it bond/extract) with the oil BEFORE you are baking.

I cant remember the scientific reasoning behind it, but I heard it makes a world of difference.

 

[VWFringe]

there is another way, using solvent replacement, where you do a wash with warmed up everclear, then reduce that and mix it into oil.

it's covered in another thread here, and may get you better oil with less time, and so less stank...?

 

[PoopMachine]

This time around I ended up using a crock pot and butter. The stuff has been in the fridge seperating overnight so there will be some baking going on this afternoon. Hopefully this method works out better for us.

Decarbed bub in dehydrator for an hour
Ground it up in a coffee grinder
Put it in a crock pot on low with water and butter for 15 hours
Strained it through cheesecloth into a blender container and put it in the fridge

The blender container is something I saw in a video somewhere. When the budder solidifies on top, you unscrew the bottom of the blender and the nastiness runs out the bottom. I thought that was pretty clever.

Ill post up later how this batch comes out.

 

[Beefmaster]

I also us a crock pot to extract my THC but i us Canol oil. The amount of fat needed to extract THC is actually very low THC needed levels are in the micro grams, the real restriction is how much weed you can submerse in the oil, so i find no reason to use high fat unhealthy oils.

The crock pot is the safest way to not overheat the oil because every second your oil is over heated it loses potency. Its also easy to leave the oil going over night. Also there is no set temp the that oil needs to reach so don't try to make it bubble. THC will dissolve at room temperature it will just take a month. The temperature is only speeding up the process. Also THC degrades with heat so the more heat you use the faster its degrading.

To solve the problem of potency, because i have a high tolerance and i like to not have to eat half a batch to get high, i strain the old bud out and replace with new and repeat 2 or 3 times. The only problem with this is you lose about 1/4 of the oil each time you strain it due to it staying in the bud. This makes it less worth it every time you strain because your oil is becoming stronger and you lose a greater amount of product each time. On the upside my brownies will satisfy most smokers with one big bite and give none smokers the ride of their lives without the unpleasant feeling of eating 1000 calories of brownie.