When you make weed butter, isopropyl, shatter etc. Do the terpenes come with the solution or do you lose them?
I exclusively drink/eat my weed and I'm looking at seeds now.
Everyone talks about the different kinds of highs and the terpenes of different strains but I'm not sure if that even matters if I'm not smoking my weed.
I saw terpene extracts that people add to some rosins and now my world is upsidedown.
I've been using a method I found on another forum to make Fresh Harvest Infused edible oils using coconut oil. You can use fresh buds right off the plant or freeze them for later use. Minimal trimming required which I love as I have pretty severe arthritis in my hand that makes trimming a hated chore and not the labour of love it should be. I just snip away anything without visible sugar on it, (later that stuff gets dried and sifted), and break the colas up into individual buds. Done. Mostly hi-CBD pot but works fine with hi-THC pot too.
Very basic rundown and if you want more detail I'd be happy to fill you in.
As the bud is fresh you need to use 3 - 4X the amount by weight of dry bud. Warm up your oil in a pot on the stove and toss in the buds then grind them up good with a hand blender. Get it hot but under 100C for an hour or more with occasional stirring. Should have a heat diffuser under the pot and use a laser thermometer to check temps. You can buy one of those diffusers or just bend up a coat hanger and put that on the element so the pot isn't in contact with it.
Raise the temp to 100C and the water in the buds begins to boil. Hold that temp until all the bubbling stops then gradually raise the temp to 250F/122C and you will see very fine bubbles start showing up. That's the decarb starting and those are CO2 bubbles. The terpenes get trapped in the oil so most are preserved unlike decarbing pot in the oven. Don't let it get over 260F/127C and maintain that temp until the bubbling stops. Stir every few minutes to loosen bubbles too. Once all is calm lower temps to below 100C then add some liquid sunflower lecithin and simmer for a while with stirring.
Allow to cool to a temp you can handle without scalding yourself then strain into a mason jar, pyrex measuring cup, coffee mug etc with a fine meshed strainer. Something that can handle hot liquid without breaking. I'll just press with the back of a spoon to squeeze out most or with a bigger batch I'll use a potato ricer lined with a double layer of cheesecloth. Not critical as you're going to save that used pot for baking or smoothies so nothing is lost.
If you keep the strained oil sitting somewhere warm, for 24 hours all the fine particles will settle to the bottom and you can either decant into another jar or just leave them there. Now it should be refrigerated or frozen then warmed and froze again to bind the lecithin to the cannabinoids for better gut absorption. I keep the used pot in a baggie in the freezer but crumble it up first and lay it flat to freeze so it's easy to break off some for smoothies or baking. Every bit as good if not better than the oil.
I use a 1000W hotplate cranked full that's plugged into a variac for temp control but a stove top will work. I like to sit at my desk in my mancave while doing stuff like this so I can watch TV and play on the web at the same time. You could use unsalted, clarified butter, MCT, olive oil etc instead of coconut oil too.
Ready to go.
Checking temp against a lab thermometer and they matched so no more lab thermometer.
All done.
I exclusively drink/eat my weed and I'm looking at seeds now.
Seeds for eating? I bought a 20lb pail of Hemp Hearts a few months back for $6/lb and eat 1/4 cup/day. Sprinkle on cereal, soups, pasta etc. Add to baking, put in smoothies and lots more. the worlds most perfect food. All the amino acids a body needs, Omegas 3, 6 and 9 in perfect balance and all sorts of vitamins and minerals. Seems to really help my arthritis and clearing up the brain fog from a small stroke about 6 years ago. I keep the pail in the freezer and a 1 lb container for daily use in the fridge.
Hope that helps.
Have a great Xmas and a Higher New year!
