When cooking with cannabis, can you still feel the difference between strains and indicas/sativas

[strictly vapor]

I can definitely feel the difference between strains and have started making "single strain" batches which I find consistently deliver far less anxiety than my mixed batches.

For anyone who has the opportunity I highly recommend eating a single strain edible, following up with a nice vape session with the same strain!

 

[brainiac]

I've been roadtesting my first batch of canna chocolate over the past week or so. The canna part comprises Lemon Haze bud (10g) and sugar leaf (13g). I simmered the LH in coconut oil - with one tablespoon of lecithin - for 3 hours in a bain marie. Ended up with about 220 grams of infused coconut oil.
Based on a quick initial test I figured about 3.5 grams or two thirds of a teaspoon would prove highly theraputic.

Then I made a 100g batch of chocolate. I used cocoa powder and butter, maple syrup and vanilla essence. To this I added 25g of infused coconut oil, so - 125g total batch weight. When it cooled I divided it into eight roughly 15.5g portions, each containing about 3g of the infused oil.

Today I ate a 13.4g piece just before lunch - about 12:45 - and spent the afternoon walking in nearby countryside, on a remarkably warm and sunny day for mid-March here, before calling in at a convenient pub for a pint on the way home.

That little piece of chocolate (delicious btw) fueled a high octane buzz that was definitely working one hour after ingestion: 13:45; was at it's strongest between 14:15 and 16:15 and then tapered off over
the next two hours.

So, to answer the OP's question: can you feel the difference?
Yes, you can! - this was the quintessential sativa experience. Speedy and trippy.
Lots of energy but not in a jittery way - it was just available when needed.
Physical effort was eased. A relaxed, understated sense of power.
Mild to moderate hallucinogenics. Great visuals but what really surprised me was the strong audio
effect. Familiar sounds rendered unfamiliar and projected from seemingly random locations.

Will certainly make some more of this. Very pleasant and easy to take, great for gifts and sharing.
I'll also be using lecithin next time I do some infusing. There are several online advocates of this
including our own:
whttp://fuckcombustion.com/threads/soy-lecithin-as-a-potentiator.4826/
It is said to increas the 'bioavailability' of the THC, speeding up onset and hightening effect.
Certainly works for me

For comparison I'll do a similar walk in the near future using my non-lecithin Northern Lights infused
honey and post the results here. Well, someone's gotta do this research...

 

[Hogni]

I have a prescription for Bedrocan. It's 100% sativa and when I have an edible I can detect it's a sativa high.

100% sativa? Never! Mostly sativa but not 100%

 

[Krazy]

Yes.

I have a large kitchen and much gear. I host and help other medical people prepare their meds. All top shelf organically grown local plants. We use a highly esoteric method called "math" to know spot on how many mg are in each unit of oil and hence in each little fudge square.

In our experience there is a noticeable difference in effect for the same dose of different strains. Not as much as vaping but it does exist.

 

[Hogni]

"Math" would be nice if you descibe this method - may be in a seperate thread?

 

[brainiac]

A honey walk to compliment the chocolate walk. ​

Had a chance today to test the indica (Northern Lights) infused honey - see #12. It's WIP on the task
(if work and task are the right words) of answering the OP's question. Results are not yet conclusive
and it's mainly a problem relating to dosage. I got a far more powerful result from the sativa infused coconut oil - #27 - which I used for the chocolate.

Anyway, I added two teaspoons of the honey to a cup of tea and went for a very similar walk to the one of 15th March. Again, the weather was lovely - warm and sunny with a mild breeze. I followed a similar three hour route across country to a good pub.

Even though I took a raised dose the experience didn't match the sativa infused chocolate.
Nevertheless it was a great walk. Visuals were good and a lot of deep and distracted thinking went on.
I felt comfortable in my head and confident in my environment.

What the honey lacked was the hightened sense of energy provided by the sativa chocolate. That and the pure intensity of the high. This brings us back to the problem of dosage. I'll double the dose to see if it becomes more comparible to the chocolate but from the results so far it looks like the zippy, trippy chocolate wins out for country walks.

Fortunately, one thing's for sure ,,, more testing's required

 

[4tokin]

After years of cooking cannabis I thought indica, sativa where all the same.

Until my last cook up.
I cooked a sativa dominant strain as usual and I cut my decarb time by a 1/3.

This time my coconut oil is like taking huge doses of vitamin B.
I can't sit still and the mind doesn't stop.

Experiment with shorter decarb times for the win.

 

[GreenHopper]

After years of cooking cannabis I thought indica, sativa where all the same.

Until my last cook up.
I cooked a sativa dominant strain as usual and I cut my decarb time by a 1/3.

This time my coconut oil is like taking huge doses of vitamin B.
I can't sit still and the mind doesn't stop.

Experiment with shorter decarb times for the win.

Nice,

What was your decarb time and temp?

Also how much were you processing?

 

[4tokin]

Nice,

What was your decarb time and temp?

Also how much were you processing?

I would normally run 4 hours at 95c. This time it was about 3 hours at 95c.

Started with 180 grams. Finished with 160 grams of oil.
At this strength I find .5 gram to be a solid daytime dose that lasts most of the day.

 

[GreenHopper]

I would normally run 4 hours at 95c. This time it was about 3 hours at 95c.

Started with 180 grams. Finished with 160 grams of oil.
At this strength I find .5 gram to be a solid daytime dose that lasts most of the day.

Thank you buddy.

 

[4tokin]

This has got me thinking.

For my next cook up, I am going to do a sample cook of around 15 grams before the main cook.
Then over the 4 hour cook take a gram or 2 sample of oil every 45minutes.
I think 5 samples should give a good insight into how the decarb is evolving over time.

It could open up a lot of options as to what effect you can get.

 

[herbivore21]

This has got me thinking.

For my next cook up, I am going to do a sample cook of around 15 grams before the main cook.
Then over the 4 hour cook take a gram or 2 sample of oil every 45minutes.
I think 5 samples should give a good insight into how the decarb is evolving over time.

It could open up a lot of options as to what effect you can get.

Great idea man, you should definitely find that the earlier batches will retain more of the unique characteristics of your starting material, rather than that generic edible buzz. Please do report back with your results

 

[4tokin]

Great idea man, you should definitely find that the earlier batches will retain more of the unique characteristics of your starting material, rather than that generic edible buzz. Please do report back with your results

This last batch is a game changer for me.

I have been cooking my pot on and off for over 30 years and have never had effects like this.
I am really looking forward to seeing the different profiles from selected strains and refine the process for optimal results.

Unfortunately my next cook wont be for around 6 months, as I need to restock.

The future is going to be very interesting.

 

[brainiac]

The future is going to be very interesting

Oh, it will be, for sure.

I decarb'd my Lemon Haze mix of bud and sugar leaf for 25 mins (Herb recommend 30-40mins but there's loads of highly variable advice out there) then used it to produce infused coconut oil with added lecithin. I mentioned it in an earlier post so I won't elaborate but just 3 grams - less than a teaspoonfull (culinary measure) gives me a five hour speedy, trippy high.

My Northern Lights infused honey, on the other hand, is much weaker. 2-3 teaspoons for a merely moderate high. Same decarb method but no lecithin and I don't think that honey takes up the THC as effectively as oil. However, that dank, deep forest NL pungency is right there in the honey's flavour.

As a sub-title for this thread I would suggest: One thing's for sure - more research is required

 

[Chandler]

I decarb'd my Lemon Haze mix of bud and sugar leaf for 25 mins (Herb recommend 30-40mins but there's loads of highly variable advice out there)

25 mins. At what temp?

 

[brainiac]

Hi @Chandler
220 degrees F or 105 degrees C.
A few websites suggest 25 mins at this temp. Here's one.
Definitely worked for me.
Bonne cuisine.

 

[flotntoke]

Haven't had the best results playing with honey, either. I think you do best with fats/oils for the THC to land in. Honey is typically 0% fat, so while you get the flavor (terpines) to infuse into it, most of the THC won't. The one time I did do well with honey is a recipe where you make THC infused coconut oil, then mix that with the honey using a blender. I used one of those blender sticks, which seemed like it worked better than just regular blender. But, then you of course get the coconut flavor whether you want it or not - and coconut just doesn't do it for me in my honey.

Coconut oil, good unsalted butter or other dairy products work best for my transfers, though oil is fine too. Heavy cream works great if you go slow and easy - especially if reclaiming from glass pieces. It has so much milk fat and usually isn't as hard to work with as melted butter. Nice to make caramels, too!

If you are cooking while making your infused material, like using a double-boiler for your cream/milk or the butter in boiling water method, you don't need to decarboxylate first. The heat of processing the infusion will decarboxylate as you go.

Easiest and best wand hash IME is to heat a pint of heavy cream in saucepan to just under boiling (200F/90C +/-). Gently drop some dirty stems in there and stir gently for about 5 minutes. All of the wand hash will transfer to the cream! Rinse glass in hot water and it should be spotless (if not, drop back in cream for a bit). Let cream cool and use for coffee, or add to whole milk for more infused liquid. Depending on how much glass and how dirty it was, your cream should be pretty concentrated. That now reduced pint, mixed well back into a 1/2 gallon of whole milk, and make for almost 2 1/2 quarts of good shit. I usually just pour a pint glass of milk to drink (or set aside), pour the pint or 1/2 pint of cream into milk jug and shake. Be sure to shake it whenever you use it, and works fine. Will also keep in the fridge for full time to expiration of milk.

Or, the same with fresh ground works well, too. Straining weed out of hot liquid is always a pain in the ass, so instead of going through cheesecloth at the end, I like to use tea infusers or teabags (either new or dump cheap tea and restaple with weed inside). This is a great way to make small batches of all the same strain. Just use a double boiler or bain-marie (metal bowl on top of nearly boiling water in pot) and cook for about an hour. Tea infusers can let a few very small green flecks out depending on how fine you grind, but never enough to worry about or even get stuck in your teeth.

Back on topic....strains definitely come through with cooking! I often use my ABV for cooking. As we know, most of the THC and other lower temp actives have been vaped out. I throw in some fresh so my edibles don't just leave you looking for a place to lie down and veg! I always try to add a haze or deisel if I can get my hands on some. Or, if I do come across some, I'll put a bit up to use for my next cooking run. Both not only balance out the couch-lock buzz of ABV infused snacks, but give the flavor a nice boost in the right direction. My finished products seldom have much weed flavor or smell (intentionally!), but the little aftertaste is divine and not "green" tasting as a lot of edibles I've tried are. With nuttiness of ABV mixed with pungent/sweet/citrusy/diesel of sativas it usually has a bit of nice nougat flavor that drops off to that familiar weed taste right at the end. Most people who've never ingested weed say they can't taste any in most of my stuff. Those who are familiar with the taste catch a bit of it right at the end.

Happy cooking!

 

[Silver420Surfer]

Can't speak for homemade edibles, being able to go to a dispensary has made that obsolete for me.
But quality branded edibles...yes, you most certainly can tell the difference. I primarily use C02 extracted oil that is already decarbed and ready to eat, vape, or cook with. They come marked sativa, indica or hybrid, and for me at least, effects are unique to each.