Will cooking at a low temp with cannabis work

Should be fine, I've heard this referred to as the Mrs. Field's Method.

-NKOTB

 

Decarb is radically different in oil compared to in air.
High temps for a short time won't decarb a lot more when the herb is in oil.
I bake cookies using decarbed herb for 10 min @ 350 F, and they have the same potency as decarbed, infused oils. The cookies are small, and internal temps probably get close to 350 F.

 

Decarb in oil?

Also, at 350 degrees, you are destroying terpenes, flavonoids, and cannabinoids in the process, as well as probably losing some amount of THC.

-NKOTB

Edit - After putting down the rig, and re-reading, I think I may have misunderstood you. I thought you were decarbing herb at 350 for 10 minutes. Baking cookies at that temperature is fine, because the internal temperature of the cookie doesn't get that hot.

Still confused about your decarbing in oil though.

 

I think you may want to increase the amount of flower you are using when using AVB. Also, what temperature do you vape at? I'm assuming it's above 250, so you're losing terpenes, flavinoids, cannabinoids, and clearly some THC in the process, diminishing the potency of your edibles.

You should be fine with the cookie, although I'd definitely keep an eye on it, say, every 5 minutes or so past the 15 minute mark. It may be significantly thinner and crispier than a traditional oatmeal cookie, but it doesn't sound like gourmet cookies are what you're after.

Also, I don't believe you need water when infusing in a crockpot. Water is added to butter infusions to help regulate temperature and prevent scorching, but I doubt you'd run into that problem using the crockpot. You might want to consider clarifying your butter though before infusing (if you don't already). This leaves you with butter that is mostly fat, which is ideal for infusing. And maybe consider using some sunflower lechithin in your infusion also. Lecithin is an emulsifier, which helps the THC bind to the fat molecules in your butter. It also helps distribute the THC and cannabinoids in your body more evenly and can increase the duration of your high.

-NKOTB

Edit - By the way, if you find you have excess water in your butter at the end, you can easily separate it by refrigerating it for a bit to let it separate (butter will rise to the top).

And I suggest sunflower lecithin over soy lecithin if you can find it, even though I know it may not always be available, for a multitude of reasons. I hold my edibles to a very high standard, and you risk contamination of GMO products when using soy, but not with sunflower. Also the extraction process for soy lecithin is way more harsh, normally involving chemicals like hexane and hydrogen peroxide. There's none of that with sunflower, which can be cold-pressed.

Edit 2 - If you do use lecithin, make sure you do so after separating any water from your butter.

 

AVB (already been vaped) yep, it has been decarbed efficiently enough.
It's lab tests that got everyone to go with 240° for 40 minutes for the optimal decarb.
Before I saw the statistics, I did a bit lower temp for a shorter time, but I like the stats.

I don't bake anything at higher than 325° in my oven because of those references to degradation at higher temps.

What did you make with your butter?

 

I've decarbed oil many times and have been told it's more efficient to decarb before making the oil but haven't actually seen studies on that. How is it different decarbing in oil compared to air? I use the same directions as decarbing bud, I heat my oil to 240F before beginning the time and also watch the bubbles to know when decarb is done.

I'm quite sure the internal temp of cookies doesn't get anywhere near 350F. I bet it doesn't get any hotter than about 210F, probably less. If it got to 350F on the inside it would be burned all the way thru.

I skip all of the problems of making edibles and simply take an oil capsule. That way I can eat all the cookies or brownies or apple crisp I want and don't have to worry about them tasting like bud.

 

Yeah, I love me some extra spicy oatmeal cookies (I add ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg) but not with the bud still in there. I actually like the taste of mj in simple caramels, those are a delicacy to me...and most people say the same thing, but still can't figure out how y'all can straight up eat buds like that! Last time I tried using the strained leftover bud to make herbed crackers, (waste not, want not) and they were beautiful, aromatic little things, but I could not eat them! Haha. to the trash bin they went.

Since I don't use water in my extraction method, I just save the buds in my freezer in a big jar after straining and when it is full, I do a water bath to get that last bit of oil out of there. (waste not, want not).

 

You don't need water but using it allows a cleaner more efficient extraction, you don't end up with a lot of butter still in the buds, the buds and water solubles will be in the water while the extracted oils float to the top. Like Wake'n Bakester's ^ method of saving his oily buds and eventually using water to extract the rest of the oil.

 

I have to respectfully disagree that it is a "more efficient" extraction method. It is infinitely simpler to not add extra steps during extraction.
When I do use the water method for my leftovers I make sure to immediately use the butter culled from that because it has a higher tendency to go rancid when water is part of the equation.

 

Cannabutter.....

 

You probably know more about it than I do but by "more efficient" I mean using water extracts a larger percentage of the oil and "cleaner" means the water removes some of the water soluble chlorophyll and terpenes that give edibles a sometimes less than pleasant taste. If you don't use water your discarded bud will still contain a little oil. That's why you use water to get that last bit of oil isn't it?

 

Sure, I use water as an evil necessity though, not as a rule.

I did forget to mention here that my very green extraction using only coconut oil and herb is skimmed from the receptacle rather than strained. I don't care for the miniscule solids and trichomes seeping through my gold coffee filter and adding nasty flavors, so I tend to have much more oily bud residue remaining. Sometimes I just skim as much clear green oil off the top as possible, and stick my entire mini crock back in the freezer until it is time to make more oil, and I just add more bud and oil and heat it all up again. The sludge layer in the bottom can get really thick after about the third time doing this.... then into the remainder jar it goes. Not scientific, and probably not ideal with multiple heating and freezing of my leftovers contaminating my new batches, although many guides say to do just that to get more cbd effects. Hahaha

No offense intended, cactus man. Very sorry if it comes off that way.

My method requires little to no babysitting of the extraction process, I place the stuff in my crock, turn it on low, stir it every once in awhile if I remember, and skim off and weigh out my portions a few hours later, whereas the water method is time consuming and inefficient, especially coupled with butter clarifying on top of that. I admit, I sure do like the flavor of butter extraction, but now, it ain't worth my time.

When there tends to be a distinct watery line of demarcation between the waste water and the budder after solidifying it in the fridge I get a gross feeling in my gut about that, and no amount of dabbing it with paper towels makes me feel completely pure oil has been obtained. In my opinion, that is an undesirable side effect of using water, including the rancidity factor imbued by using water.

I gotta meeting to get to, but always enjoy learning and discussing these procedures. Good day, y'all!

 

Have you ever considered using alcohol in lieu of water? I remember coming across a post in PsySam's thread about him using some flower, or it might have been trim, which he had received that had been processed in butter and vegetable oil, then stored in the freezer.

I'm kinda just asking for myself, because I have a couple of zips in the freezer that were processed in coconut oil. From what I've found, it seems like the alcohol and the oil shouldn't mix as long as you're using alcohol with very little water content, i.e, grain.

I think we're of the same ilk when it comes to using water in oil infusions, so I'd like to steer clear of it if I can. Plus I wanted to try his freezer method of GD tincture anyway, and I think these could be the perfect sacrificial lamb for a little mad science.

-NKOTB

 

No offense taken, friend. Not at all. I think we're actually on the same page here and I didn't say what I was trying to say very well..

 

I do remember reading something about that! I will try to find that post. Definitely make the original GD tincture from decarb. It's crazy powerful stuff, but I am so glad you mentioned that other post. Knowing Sam, it's already in his index. Hahaha.

Cool, Ed! I wanted to say also, why mess with water every time when you can just do it once per 5 or 6 batches? or if the alcohol method will do it. Hell yeah.

 

@NKOTB I found it!
Posts 155 and 156 of the thread.