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Cooking with coconut oil and THC retention

Discussion in 'Weed Edibles' started by pigeons, Jan 30, 2017.

  1. #1 pigeons, Jan 30, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2017
    Let's say I have 3.5 g of bud with 15% THC content. By my understanding, those 3.5 grams should have 525 mg of THC content. So if I then decarb and cook that bud into coconut oil (and do not strain any herb out of the oil) and use the oil to make 15 cookies, is it safe to assume each cookie will have 35 mg of THC in them (525 / 15 = 35)?

    Is there some inefficiency in the process and some THC is not retained? What sort of THC retention can I assume when cooking with coconut oil?
     
  2. #2 Joker1121, Jan 30, 2017
    What you are more concerned with is % extraction. You'll retain 100% of what you extracted, but that won't be 100%, I don't know how much-75% with a good decarb and transfer process. If you make a tincture first with your bud, with two washes you'll extract a bit more than you will straight into the oil. Then you have to reduce the tincture and do a solvent transfer to coconut oil. A lot of extra steps.
     
  3. #3 pigeons, Jan 30, 2017
    So a few washes from the QWET method should extract more THC than baking with coconut oil? Interesting...

    If I'm looking at extracting and retaining as much THC as possible, does anyone have some comments on the most efficient decarb process? I've read the temperatures and times you use should be determined by the freshness of the bud. I generally cook at either 220 F for 60 minutes or 240 F for 40 minutes. I generally throw the bud in a glass pyrex bowl and wrap it with 2-3 layers of aluminum foil before throwing that in the oven.

    I'd be curious to hear other people's methods at retaining and extracting as much THC from their material. For instance, when cooking with oil I generally opt out of straining the bud from the oil. I figure the added potency from keeping the bud in is worth the taste consequence. Any other tips?
     
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  4. #4 Joker1121, Jan 30, 2017
    I go for the 240F for 40 minute decarb. My idea about the alcohol wash is an idea, no proof to back it up. High Times had a four part series on making cannabutter with testing of the results. It's an interesting read. I'm sure if you Google "High Times Cannabutter Experiment" you will find it if you're interested. Since I discovered concentrates I rarely cook with bud anymore. Concentrates don't improve the flavor that much, but I don't like a heavy marijuana taste. Keeping the bud in your edible will increase your concentration, but I can't stomach the taste. In Another Tincture thread PsychedelicSam has testing results on his decarb results, both natural and decarbed tinctures if you're interested in lab results on decarb.
     
  5. #5 pigeons, Jan 30, 2017
    Thanks for the suggestions friend. It looks like PsychedelicSam's test results show that 240 F for 40 minutes yields the most THCa to THC conversion, despite freshness of bud. Cool, good to know the lab results. There's a lot more helpful info there too. I could not find how he decarbed the bud though. I assume it is necessary to wrap the bud in aluminum foil?

    Look's like by using PsychedelicSam's process you can minimize THC loss in decarbing to 5% or less. The next step is cooking into oil or alcohol. I'd be curious to know if there have been any lab tests done on these two methods. I'd suppose anywhere between 5% to 15% could be lost in the cooking process as well. Is it safe to assume then that cannabinoid retention in cooking is somewhere around 80%?
     
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  6. #6 BrassNwood, Jan 30, 2017
    @pigeons
    Most of us are doing an open uncovered decarb now.. 240 F for 40 minutes..
    I do both methods direct kief to oil and alcohol tincture to RSO..
    For me personally the way I work with power shaken dry ice kief-hash the direct kief-oil method works best.. The capsules I make using this method last indefinitely at room temps and don't loose potency or leak..
    .
    The bud scraps I have left after the power hash extraction looks like rough ground weed and this I wash with 190 proof ever clear then reduce to tar-oil.. Adding an equal amount of coconut oil I now have my version of RSO.. This is about half as potent as my direct oil is and it'll eat the gel caps in a minutes to a few days depending on how concentrated it is.. The alcohol wash brings acids into the tar that both eat the caps and add an extreme bitterness to the oil that the direct oil method doesn't..
    .
    Both methods have their pros and cons so read a bunch on both styles and then start working up a small run both ways and see what you like best.. I do the everclear 190 proof > tincture > RSO as a secondary recovery of material I used to just fling onto the lawn as I had no further use for it.. As a grower I have weed to waste so the recovery of the spent bud scraps was more for the weaker RSO as the 2 cancer patients I supply RSO to can't handle the hash oil as it's twice as strong.. Even the RSO I make up in very low dose capsules of 2 to 5 drops per caps is good for most people..
    Hash Master 5000 - Dry Ice Method, Hash Oil Capsules, Everclear Tincture
    This thread covers both methods in a few pages so you don't have hundreds to wade through
    BNW
     
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  7. #7 pigeons, Jan 30, 2017
    Thanks for the link dude! I had not heard of making hash with dry ice before. I might have to try that out. I have a 90 micron bag I could maybe sift it through, but reading online it looks like maybe I should use a 220 micron bag?

    Thanks for the tip on decarbing uncovered. I'll use that method next time.

    I wonder... Considering your technique, if you did an alcohol extract first, then dried the bud out and use that for making oil, which caps would be stronger- the ones made with the oil first, or the ones made with the alcohol first? I'll try experimenting with both.
     
  8. #8 BrassNwood, Jan 31, 2017
    @pigeons
    I use a 160 micron bag for my kief making.. Anything from a 120 to a 220 should do fine.. One of my friends does a multi screen shake as small as a 73 but I'm way to old and lazy to do that much work..
    As far as I know the alcohol wash to tincture leaves very little left behind that's why I use it as the last step..
    We've done direct oil from weed but it's not a fraction as strong and you still have the messy stage of straining out the weed..
    Working with the kief I don't strain the debris out I keep stirring the sludge as I fill each capsule with the eyedropper keeping an even blend of oil and Trichome heads and stalks..
    The dry ice shake does leave a lot of potency behind as I give part of the post shaken material away and everybody gets stoned off smoking it.. The rest is tincture washed then reduced..
    What I need to find is a local C02 system owner who'll run my leftovers on a 50-50% split and I'd get back some more clean concentrate.. Something on my list to run down at the next cannabis cup.. One in San Berdo coming up
    BNW
     

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