Decarb Failed - Can I salvage anything from butter?

[PianoStan]

How exactly do you calculate the amount to put into the food if you don't know the thc percentage of your buds? I'm not really sure how to do it even if I did know. My wife really likes edibles and be cool to surprise her with some homemade ones. But I wouldn't want to mess her up too much. She can only eat about 25mg at a time. I can only get edibles in the shops. It's a 3.5 hour round trip for me to even get her some. Be cool to not have to do that anymore to.

This thread has become rather long, and the formulas are already posted, but I'll put a quick (for me) answer to your questions here.

If you don't know the strength of the marijuana that you have on hand, it's best to assume that it is 20% (200mg THC/gram). Especially if you have good bud. While pot can range from 10-45%+, the overwhelming majority of strains commonly available sit comfortably in the 18-22% range. 20% sits right in the middle.

As far as how to actually do it the formula isn't complex. It goes like this:

1. (Desired dosage per serving) x (total number of servings) = (total number of mg needed)
2. (total number of mg needed) / (potency of bud) = (amount of bud needed)

So, you have stated that your girl likes a mild 25mg dose. So let's work with that for an example. And let's say that you want to make a pan of 9 brownies:

1. (25mg/brownie) x (9 brownies) = (225mg THC total)
2. (225mg total) / (200mg/g) = (1.125 grams marijuana)

From there, you have to de-carb the weed. You can do this in an oven, toaster oven, or purchase a dedicated machine. In order to guarantee uniform dosage across each brownie, it's best to infuse the butter or oil for the recipe with your de-carbed weed. You can do that on the stove top, or you could purchase a dedicated machine for that.

Then, it's as simple as following the recipe, or instructions on the box.

You can get a lot more technical than that, but those are the simple steps to creating a good product.

Personally, I don't just infuse a couple of grams at a time. If I make canna-butter, I will infuse a pound of butter at the strength that I want it, and freeze whatever I don't use so that I can have it ready whenever I need it. But you can infuse make small infusions as needed if that is your decision.

 

[Budclarkson]

I go by the dictated value on the strain to start. I mostly use buds from a strain that are 20-21%.

For example.

THC advertised at 20%.
I deduct 5% for decarboxylation.

So 15% is my median value of infused oil.

My 2 recipes for gummies put final dosage @ 4.4-5.2mg for my “5mg” gummy drops, and 15.5-18.5mg for my bears.

So far, the accuracy feedback from end users claim it’s pretty darn perfect for dosage values.

A buddy of mine has a huge tolerance level. He ate THREE of my “17.5mg” bears and was whittled up for 4 hours pretty good. An accurate 48-55mg dose was what he consumed. He says he’s had many 100mg edibles that didn’t even hit him nearly as hard.

I eat one of my 5mg gummy drops, and I’m feeling it. I ate a whole 17.5mg bear once. Yeah, I was fairly wrecked. LOL.

Can you share the gummie recipe?
What’s the lag from mouth to mind?

Also why the 5% deduction for the decarb cycle??

 

[Budclarkson]

Really kudos to Pianostan. I can’t tell you how many times I see regulars on various forums reply with “use the search function idiot”. That always irritated me, easy enough not to reply at all.

Stan always replies with class and very helpful info. Bravo!

 

[PianoStan]

Really kudos to Pianostan. I can’t tell you how many times I see regulars on various forums reply with “use the search function idiot”. That always irritated me, easy enough not to reply at all.

Stan always replies with class and very helpful info. Bravo!

Thanks. Just trying to be helpful. We highjacked the OP's thread, and then put a TON of information out there. It's hard to read through all of that, but easy for me to fire off a few words.

 

[Grower1974]

Can you share the gummie recipe?
What’s the lag from mouth to mind?

Also why the 5% deduction for the decarb cycle??

Rule of thumb is 20% loss from decarb. Whether it’s smoking/cooking etc.

I just deduct 5% to potentially underestimate a little, because I’d rather have my product labeled slightly less in mg than actual. (It may come out to actual most often).

I spent 2 straight weeks perfecting my base gelatin recipe, so I won’t give it out entirely. Here is the base ingredients I use for a single batch. I’ll leave it up to you to put it all together. You can read other online recipes and put together a start to your own recipe.

4oz of Flavored Jell-O

1 tsp unflavored gelatin

3 TBSP of water or juice

2 TBSP of Canna Oil (28g/cup ratio)

12 drops of Potassium Sorbate (preservative if storing gummies more than 2 weeks)

1 ML (around 10 drops) similar flavoring extract (optional).

 

[Budclarkson]

Well 1/2 a 25mg brownie was pretty good. Better than the gummy stuff. Also notice the ones made with the evaporated oil tincture smell/taste a little better than decarbed grindings.

Looks like the cool kids make cookies these days. From the stories doesn’t seem like they are controlling the strength very well. Are Chico chip cookies faster thru the digestive process?

 

[PianoStan]

Well 1/2 a 25mg brownie was pretty good. Better than the gummy stuff. Also notice the ones made with the evaporated oil tincture smell/taste a little better than decarbed grindings.

Looks like the cool kids make cookies these days. From the stories doesn’t seem like they are controlling the strength very well. Are Chico chip cookies faster thru the digestive process?

Cookies in general are less dense than brownies. So they would have quicker digestion times. Before I switched over to tincture drinks, I used to make both brownies and cookies. I would make chocolate chip, peanut butter, and snickerdoodle cookies. The snickerdoodles were the lightest and least dense which would make them easier to digest. But all three types were really tasty and enjoyable. But they will still be dependent upon how full or empty your stomach/digestive tract is. And they will still take an hour or more to reach maximum effects.

If you make a pan of chocolate chip cookie bars, you will end up in pretty much the same scenario as with the canna-brownies.

If you do want to make cookies, do yourself a favor, and make canna-butter from the start. Do NOT risk burning the butter and ruining a dose by trying to turn tincture into butter. It can be done, but the heat tolerances are much tighter. And simply leaving it exposed to the air is more problematic than with oil because butter will cool and solidify at room temperature. (Not to mention that butter can turn rancid when left out especially in hot climates)

If you are looking for medicinal use, the tincture drink will always be the fastest route to effect. (Except smoking, but you didn't ask about smoking).

But if you want to actually eat your edibles, you can also get creative. You could make a canna-oil, and then make salad dressing with it. The high water content in vegetables makes them easier to break down than complex carbohydrates. The fun part about making the oils, butters, and tinctures is that there is almost no ingredient or food that you can't convert to "canna."

With the pulverized weed in the oil vs. the ground up weed, the oil allowed the tiny particles of plant to be more easily distributed throughout the product. The ground sprinkled bud, was just larger, and could hit more taste buds at once. And of course a lot of cooks don't pay attention to the dosages. Most people don't even begin to understand how marijuana dosing works. In a different thread, you saw how people that choose ignorance over education react when their preconceived notions are confronted with facts!

 

[Budclarkson]

One thing with digesting is what after a bout of cinco de Mayo Mexican and rumbly tummy. Not sure what the heck it is as I love authentic Mexican but I had a bad time with it this time and the jalapeño dip and salsa the last go around.

So bringing up the “oven” thing I plan on getting a vaporizer. No worries with stirring up belly aches and hopefully les smoke, cough and choke. Tried a water pipe with ice but that’s an arduous experience and still was choking on the smoke. So looking at something like the Pax Plus vape there is apparently some dosing pellets you can pack before hand and preload, then load and go.

There is also a half pack lid but not sure what this delivers vs the standard lid with/without a pill capsule. Don’t smoke too much as mentioned so wondering and the wife uses a different strain then I. What makes sense?

Any others I should look at? Can you take a few hits, then the next day continue to use the same, or one session and done (clean and refill).

One thing I don’t want to have to do is spending 15minutes clean up after vaping. I prefer to deal with that another time when ready to use it next go.

 

[PianoStan]

One thing with digesting is what after a bout of cinco de Mayo Mexican and rumbly tummy. Not sure what the heck it is as I love authentic Mexican but I had a bad time with it this time and the jalapeño dip and salsa the last go around.

So bringing up the “oven” thing I plan on getting a vaporizer. No worries with stirring up belly aches and hopefully les smoke, cough and choke. Tried a water pipe with ice but that’s an arduous experience and still was choking on the smoke. So looking at something like the Pax Plus vape there is apparently some dosing pellets you can pack before hand and preload, then load and go.

There is also a half pack lid but not sure what this delivers vs the standard lid with/without a pill capsule. Don’t smoke too much as mentioned so wondering and the wife uses a different strain then I. What makes sense?

Any others I should look at? Can you take a few hits, then the next day continue to use the same, or one session and done (clean and refill).

One thing I don’t want to have to do is spending 15minutes clean up after vaping. I prefer to deal with that another time when ready to use it next go.

Honestly, I looked at buying a dry vape oven a couple years back, but never bothered to get one once I went down the tincture-drink route. For how they actually work, you would probably be better off asking someone that actually owns one. I'm just not a super reliable source of information for them.

Here is the link to the site that I was looking at: Vapes

From what I understand, you can't really leave them half loaded at night and pick up again in the morning. But I might be wrong. Some of them heat at lower temps (100F or so) so that the flavorful terpenes aren't lost, others just heat the weed to over 400 degrees in a few seconds in order to flash de-carb the weed and turn it all into vapor. But that flash de-carb will have the same problem with causing a loss of THC through heat destruction. Although not as bad since the temperatures are less than half of what a "Bic" lighter produces.

Another thing that I understand about dry vaping is that depending on what brand you get, it can require a specific grind, or packing style (loose vs. tight) in order to work. So doing some research into this topic with someone familiar with them would be a good idea before you drop the cash.

As for your Cinco de Mayo troubles, I too love Mexican food. And sometimes I gorge myself so much that I have a bad night that has nothing to do with weed. Marijuana is an anti-emetic (helps prevent vomiting), so it usually has a calming effect on the stomach, not the other way around. Maybe you just got ahold of some salsa that was more acidic than normal. Or maybe not. Just a thought.