Increasing Shelf Life On Edibles

[happylittle]

Hello everybody.
Ive been on a journey for the past year making edibles with all types of hash oil. Im at a point where demand is growing and i now need to increase my shelf life to make my product safer.

Any advice here will hopefully benefit alot of edible makers as i rarely hear this talked about
So what is everyone using to lengthen the shelf life on their wares.

I primarily am looking to lengthen the shelf life on my gummies So heres the basic ingredients.

Hash Oil (usually in the form of wax/shatter)
gelatin
flavoring
sugar
juice
lecithin

i decarb separately then add the hash oil to the mix at the end, mix while hot and add to molds.

i can elaborate on the recepie if needed.
I have somthing called mold inhibitor from lorann oils and also an natural antioxidant from them.
also how long are candies are keeping for people, are you using anything to control the shelf life?

Thanks in advance for all your help :)

 

[MrBelvedere]

Fresh is best! Otherwise food preservatives, freezing, half baked, kits are options.

 

[happylittle]

Some patients just cant make it to me but once a month so im looking to make it easier for them.

 

[420circuit]

The hash oil should be fine at room temp for a very long time, it's the other stuff you have to worry about. Clean, sanitized is the rule, since any bad microbes will multiply, even if they didn't originate where it was made, so an airtight container/wrapper helps a lot. The capsules that I make with coconut oil get frozen as soon as they are made and if i share them, always suggest freezing to preserve beyond the shortest lifespan ingredient, the coconut oil. There is a date on the oil, but you can easily go past it if frozen, but once you blend new ingredients you are at the mercy of that compound's shelf life. I read somewhere that irradiating food products was being done to extend their shelf life.

If you heat up the ingredients to a temperature that is high enough to kill any pathogens and use super clean handling techniques and good packaging you should have a good lifespan.

 

[happylittle]

Thanks for the link 420circuit. It was an intresting read.

The hash oil, as you stated, is usually never the problem. its the rest of the stuff.
Ill be making a test batch this weekend with a product called "mold inhibitor" from Lorann Oils.
Ill do a trial where i leave my gummies out on a shelf to see how long they keep. Ill be doing this test on ones made without an inhibitor as well to get a control.
thanks again everybody
-J

 

[LittleDabbie]

Vac Seal small batches?

 

[happylittle]

I have been contemplating vacum seeling my bags. which may help out quite a bit.
Well see if i can get one vacum sealed to place in with the trials im setting up this weekend.

 

[happyinmendo]

Use a nitrogen purge vac seal if you choose to go this route.

 

[straincreation]

Even if not nitrogen sealed, i feel that a food saver will helo you here ten fold to what you are applying here. When i seal my cookies they seem to last atleast 2 weeks with out getting hard and bitter. For me it butter that makes my shelf life go down and eggs.

Happy farmin;)
BOL

 

[happylittle]

Im @ day 10 of my mold trial with gummies . And still no mold. :) ill post specifics soon.

 

[Shamus]

Im @ day 10 of my mold trial with gummies . And still no mold. :) ill post specifics soon.

I need your recipe fine sir

 

[DemonTrich]

I freeze all my edibles. I make muffins that are all natural. fresh blueberries, and a premium muffin mix that has no preservatives, and no other bad crap (high fructose corn syrup, ect.). I make 2 dozen at a time, and go thru about 2 dozen a month. I also only use oil in my edibles, and have been for 4+ years. the muffins are only good for a few days if not frozen, due to them not having any preservatives. they may be good for a week sitting on the counter, but I play it safe and say 3 days max. so in the freezer they go.

 

[Texas Kid]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preservative

 

[happylittle]

@DemonTrich I usually freeze my edibles for long term for my personal supply. i lately have had need to try and increase that to as long as possible for some patients. i never had any trouble personaly with them molding on my supply, so here i am adapting for my patients.
I added a product by Lorann Oils. Its called mold inhibitor. I made the test batch on 4/18, packaged them individualy and im still waiting to find mold on my test subjects 10 days later.
Ill post pics of the inhibitor and packaging this week.
lets keep going with this however and see what more people have to say.

do any edible makers out there use uv light wands to steralize there product / packaging / workspace? Cant hurt, right?

 

[DemonTrich]

im coming from a 20 yr cooking/chef and 4 yr degree in culinary arts background. ive never in my 20 yrs used a uv light to sterilize. just a thorough sanitize of the hands and work station with 1 cap of bleach per 5 gal pail of warm water. that was the dosage rate per the health dept 10 yrs ago for safe food sanitize and handling procedures. I only know what ive been taught and learned on the way.

ive never made candies or gummies. just muffins and brownies. then into the freezer (after they cool) and take out what portions I need at said time. normally most gummies and hard candies bought in stores have so much preservatives in them, they can sit on store shelves for years w/o going bad. as well as most cookies, and other munchies have so many preservatives they can also sit on shelves for months and months and months and still be viable.

air is your worst enemy in food storage. this is why vacuum storage has been taking off lately in the last 5 years or so. I vacuum pretty much all my foods and my medicine (herb). I have some strawberry cream flowers I vacuum sealed about 9 months ago (and have some glue, og ghost im vac sealing this weekend for long term storage). still looks fresh like the day I sealed it. I also vac seal all my fresh cheese blocks, deli lunch meats, other raw meats, pretty much every I can vac seal I vac seal. I can store foods 3x longer and will still be fresh. and NO freezer burn.

 

[happylittle]

Loving this info. Wasnt sure if uv was overkill or not. Sounds like im doing the right things. Its just the lack of preservatives that was causing this as i dont like them in my food.
thanks,
-J
any trials people want to see/ read on this subject? Lets put one together. Any ideas?

 

[happyinmendo]

Most food is tunnel pasteurized I think. It is conveyed through a short blast of high heat to flash pasteurize it in package once sealed. You can good it and find videos of this on YouTube. I had a honey co. And we looked into creamed honey or whipped, and I worried about air and the need for this if we made products with balsamic vinegar which I found in Florence market in Italy, which is to die for delicious. This is what I'm working on now, blending humectants and creating stability without denaturing enzymatic activity.

 

[happylittle]

The pool of knowledge is getting deeper thanks for helping me quench my thirst @DemonTrich , @happyinmendo.

 

[VTHokies]

Would love to see a recipe so I can try to make it for myself!

 

[3N1GM4]

People winterize shatter with ethanol and it supposedly lasts longer than just bho. Not sure what that would do for mixability but winterized product is supposed to be higher in thc. Maybe you could mix it in before the alcohol was fully evaporated and let it finish in the product. Just some ideas to kick around.