Cannabis Capsules â?? A step-by-step guide.

I've tried this recipe three times and just can't seem to get it to work. I'm starting to get discouraged as I'm wasting weed but I'm trying to stay optimistic.

The first batch I cooked on low in the crockpot for 2 hrs using just under 2g of regs for the 12 pills. Took 2 no effect. The next night I took 3 still nothing. I saw somewhere in the thread where it was suggested to try re-cooking them for an extra hour w/a little bit more oil and bud. Still nothing.

The second batch I only made 6 pills and cooked it for 2.5 hrs instead of 2. Again took 3, and again nothing.

The last batch I made using some pretty good mids. I went out and bought a thermometer and upped the crockpot to high. The temp stayed around 185/190F. I kept it going for a little over 2 hrs. Again, took 2 and felt nothing. I tried recooking this batch as well, throwing in a little bit of kief. This time I went out for a few hours and left it going. I took 2. After 2 hrs I felt nothing so popped the last 2. Still nothing!

Do you think it could be the quality of the weed? Any other suggestions for getting this to work?


BTW, I'm a newb...well a lurker who finally posted. Hi :)

I'm gonna try this recipe this weekend. I have the 00 gelatin capsules and have a question. Right now the capsules separate easily. What do I need to do to them after i have the oil in them to get them to stay shut?

After you fill them (meaning after the oil is cool enough to not melt the capsules) you put the top on and press them together firmly. That is all I did and it worked perfectly. You might even practice on an empty one so you see how it feels. Good luck and enjoy.

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Originally Posted by tjcioffe

yeah im gonna try a run with bud maybe tonight, havent had a chance to do another one since the kief capsules... i think im gonna try playing with the temperature, the high for 2 hours seemed awfully hot and made the room pretty stinky by the time it was done... maybe ill warm up on high for 30-45 mins, then put in the bud, do 30 mins on high, switch it down to low 30 mins, then stir and put back to high for 30 and then low for the final 30. sound ok to you guys?

and one more thing... i have a decent amount of duff that has been piling up ever since i got my volcano... any insight on whether or not the recipe could be changed to use duff instead of bud? (i realize youd have to use more duff then bud, but any idea how much more?)

thanks again guys... this board has done wonders for my pot/science hobby =P

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Hi guys! Don't you just hate it when you write a long detailed answer and click submit only for canna.com to go down and you lose it all? :mad:

Ok, I'll try again..
tjcioffe, great work and a good idea!
I'm with you regarding swapping the temperatures from high to low and back, especially as it sounds like your crock pot may be running too high. It always worries me if people report a strong smell after cooking.

simplesmoke - First post? Welcome to the forums!
Sorry to hear you've had problems, maybe the recent 'troubleshooting' posts will help. Without knowing more it can be difficult to guess, but the obvious answer would be to check your crock pot or the strength of your weed (I try to avoid using regs for this very reason). In your case you mention a temperature of 185/190F which although fine, is only slightly above the THC melting point. It may be that your crock pot is slow to reach maximum temperature, and therefore when it drops (i.e. when you take the lid off to check the temp or stir the oil), its taking a long time to recover and therefore not reaching its full potential. If you think that sounds possible, perhaps you might have more success in following the 'oven method'?
Anyhow, good luck and cheers
flame :thumbsup:

Thanks for your response Flameon. I get what your saying about the temp dropping when I stir/check except that the last time when I put the stuff back in to cook again I left the house and kept it going for a good 4-5hrs or so without opening it. If the temp dropping is the problem shouldn't those have worked?

I'm thinking I'll try the oven except that my regular oven is ancient (from the 60s-70s) and I doubt it gets to any temp that it is supposed to. Would a toaster oven be sufficient?

If I just wanted to make 2-3 pills to test it how much bud/oil would you recommend?

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Flameon

simplesmoke - First post? Welcome to the forums!
Sorry to hear you've had problems, maybe the recent 'troubleshooting' posts will help. Without knowing more it can be difficult to guess, but the obvious answer would be to check your crock pot or the strength of your weed (I try to avoid using regs for this very reason). In your case you mention a temperature of 185/190F which although fine, is only slightly above the THC melting point. It may be that your crock pot is slow to reach maximum temperature, and therefore when it drops (i.e. when you take the lid off to check the temp or stir the oil), its taking a long time to recover and therefore not reaching its full potential. If you think that sounds possible, perhaps you might have more success in following the 'oven method'?
Anyhow, good luck and cheers
flame :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by simplesmok

Thanks for your response Flameon. I get what your saying about the temp dropping when I stir/check except that the last time when I put the stuff back in to cook again I left the house and kept it going for a good 4-5hrs or so without opening it. If the temp dropping is the problem shouldn't those have worked?

I'm thinking I'll try the oven except that my regular oven is ancient (from the 60s-70s) and I doubt it gets to any temp that it is supposed to. Would a toaster oven be sufficient?

If I just wanted to make 2-3 pills to test it how much bud/oil would you recommend?

Thanks!

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Ah, in that case, it may be the other extreme that might be causing you a problem.
Here's a similar question and answer I gave earlier that might help:

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Originally Posted by Alotsa

Hey flame great guide here, i especially like the small portion. I have a few questions though.
Id like to make a single dose and was wondering if you had any advice about making such a small amount and if you think it would be wasteful to make any smaller amount than you've suggested. Also could you confirm my measurements?

Here is my plan. Your recipe divided by 4 so 3.75g of coconut oil and about .5g of good bud. Ill use a slow cooker and because its such a small amount ill put the oil and ground up bud in a coffee mug inside the cooker set to low and cook it for at least 2 hours.

Also if time is not important is it possible to cook it to long? or the longer the better? Is there a time i should not exceed? And is a coffee grinder effective or would i loose to many "goodies" the techranomes or whatever.?

Thanks a lot, and your advice will be greatly appreciated.

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Hi Alotsa, and good question

Assuming your confident about the THC content of your bud, 0.5 of a gram is fine (it's a good way to get the technique down without risking too much weed). As for cooking, the trick is getting the crock pot or cooker hot enough to melt the resin, but not so hot that it damages or degrades the potency of the weed.
Again, if your happy your 'hitting' the right temperature range don't 'overcook it' two or three hours is fine, but I have some reservations about going too much further beyond that, as some anecdotal evidence suggests it may weaken potency.
A coffee grinder is fine, also, someone in another thread mentioned using a pestle and mortar which I hadn't thought of before, and sounds like a good suggestion.

The toasting oven might not be a bad idea (but do watch out for a strong smell after the first hour, you may need to regulate it up or down as needed), the above advice was given in respect of using 'good bud', if your a bit dubious about the potency of what your using (regs, I think you said) you might want to increase it to 0.7 or 0.8.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Thanks again for your reply Flameon.

I only let it cook for the extended time period once, and those were pills that didn't work so I squeezed them out and recooked (as I saw you suggest to someone previously) them with a little more oil/bud.

I'll try a single batch in the toaster oven with some mids tomorrow and see what happens.

Thanks again!

p.s. I forgot to ask earlier, but your weed is cured and dry I take it?
If not, give it 15 minutes in the oven first before you cut/powder/grind it up. Same temperature.

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Originally Posted by Flameon

p.s. I forgot to ask earlier, but your weed is cured and dry I take it?
If not, give it 15 minutes in the oven first before you cut/powder/grind it up. Same temperature.

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I just threw in a small batch using .7g of mids and just under a tsp of coconut oil. It looked to be just about a 50/50 mix.

I took your advice and put the bud in the oven first. I also threw in a tiny nug to smoke to see if I noticed any difference. It was really dried by this point so it wasn't the best for smoking but I can say that I can feel a notable difference. (After 3 hits the helicopter passing by sounds like its in my bedroom.) It was also so much easier to grind (I don't have a coffee grinder). I used my cheapy plastic grinder and then ran a knife through it a couple of times. It was the finest I've ever gotten it, looked like a fine powder with a few tiny pieces thrown in.

I used the toaster oven this time, set at 250F. After melting the oil (before throwing the bud) I checked the temp of the oil and it was @ about 198F. I'm going to check it at 30 mins and then let it be from there.

I'm hoping this batch works. I have a good feeling :thumbsup: (maybe because I'm high.)

Also, I was planning to make 3 caps with this and take them all later tonight. Do you think that would be good or should I only take two?

an update on the high/low experiment -- it doesnt seem to have worked as well as simply cooking on high for 2 hours did. well, to be fair, i went back to bud this time... so, one final experiment: bud on high for two hours. this should remove the possibility that kief was what made the capsules work last time (i really really hope it does lol).

after i get this working, ill start messing around with using duff and let you all know if i get any tangible results.

oh, and edit for clarification-- high/low batch: 1 capsule had me lightheaded for like an hour... 2 had me feeling somewhat high but a friend felt nothing... 3 this morning had me feeling good for about 3 or 4 hours... so not a complete failure, but not the resounding success of my last batch.