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Making cannabis oil

··446 words·3 mins
Psychonautics

A friend recently rekindled my interest in cannabis, which I had tried over 5 years ago during a trip to Seattle. At that time, I bought some edibles which I found quite relaxing and pleasant, though they didn’t particularly inspire me to explore further.

Now, I’ve decided to give cannabis another go. Since I’m not keen on inhaling smoke or vapour — and I’m not a fan of the smell either — I’m turning to oral consumption again.

This is my recipe for making cannabis oil.

Ingredients #

  • 3.3 g cannabis (I used the GSC strain)
  • 300 g coconut oil

Tools #

  • Muslin cloth
  • Oven
  • Parchment paper
  • Silicone bag (I like Stasher)
  • Slow cooker

Preparation #

Decarboxylation #

Decarboxylation is essential for activating the cannabinoids. This process is not required when smoking or vapourising cannabis, as the heat from these methods activates them directly.

According to Wang et al., the optimal conditions for activating both THC and CBD involve heating the cannabis at 130°C for 20 minutes. For maximum THC activation specifically, 30 minutes at 110°C is optimal.

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 130°C.

  2. Weigh the cannabis. Begin by weighing the cannabis. Shred or grind it into small, evenly-sized pieces to ensure consistent heat exposure.

  3. Decarboxylate. Spread the shredded cannabis on the parchment paper and place it in the silicone bag. Squeeze out all the air and seal the bag. Place the silicone bag in the oven for 20 minutes. The bag may inflate but shouldn’t burst.

  4. Cooling. After 20 minutes, remove the bag from the oven but keep it sealed. Let it cool to room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

Infusion #

  1. Pre-heat the slow cooker. Fill it with hot water and set it to a low temperature (about 80°C). Place the jar of coconut oil in the water until the oil has fully melted.

  2. Prepare the infusion. Remove the parchment paper from the silicone bag. Pour the melted coconut oil over the decarboxylated cannabis.

  3. Infuse. Seal the bag and place it in the slow cooker. Ensure the water covers the oil but not the seal of the bag. Leave it to infuse for about 5 hours.

  4. Strain. Use the muslin cloth to filter out any plant material.

  5. Cool. Let the oil cool to room temperature before refrigerating. The coconut oil will solidify, making it easy to cut with a knife as needed.

Dosage #

The cannabis I used was advertised as containing 29.5% THC. This means 3.3 g of cannabis would contain 973.5 mg of THC.

Considering an extraction efficiency of approximately 80%, about 778.8 mg of THC remains in the final product. This results in a concentration of about 2.6 mg of THC per gram of coconut oil.

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