The Hounds' Cannabis Capsule Guide with Flame-On's Recipe

So Mr Hound and I made some capsules tonight and we figured we'd do a little pictorial guide as to how we accomplish it. We want to give HUGE props to Flame-On for all his hard work and great knowledge for this capsule recipe.....we LOVE it!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

First, we start with some nice ganja (in this case SNL x NH), some coconut oil and a strainer. For this particular recipe I am using 20 grams of strained bud. It takes about 22-24 grams pre-strained but I end up with almost "powdered" bud to cook with.

Tip: Make sure your bud is nice and dry before you try to "strain" it or it will simply end up in a huge sticky mess in your strainer.

I try to keep the temp of my mixture between 200 and 250F for the capsules. I included several photos of how I check and monitor the temperatures during this process and I'm aware that not everyone can check their temps this way but it works well for us. I heat the oil, add the powder all on the high temp of my crockpot and then wait until the temp reaches approximately 225F before turning the heat to low. I check the temps quite often and stir about once an hour or so but with my crockpot the temps stay pretty much at about 230F with this method......as long as I leave the top on as much as possible and keep my fooling with it to a minimum.

As an add on.....I pretty much eyeball my coconut oil on a one to one basis with the powder.....perhaps a bit more on the oil side than the powder but nothing exact. ;)

We had issues with oil being too warm in the beginning and melting the capsules so I developed a "quick cool" method that I like to use to make sure that the mix is cool enough and also just to speed up the cooling process.

In this case I've cooked the mixture for 3 and 1/2 hours (at the correct temp) and then poured it into a different ceramic bowl. I then take a larger bowl and place some cold water and a few ice cubes in it and "float" the smaller bowl on it, stirring to help cool the mix. Doing this makes the mix cool enough to put in the capsules within about 10 minutes.

A tip....put your hot mixture into a new bowl instead of trying to cool in a "hot" ceramic bowl or cup or whatever it is you cook in. Ceramic or glass going from very hot to cold suddenly can crack and break.

The cooled mix, the empty capsules and the parts of the capsule making machine. I DEFINITELY recommend this little setup.

Amazon.com: Capsule Filling Machine 00 Size for Filling "00" Capsules Fill 24 Capsules in Less Than 2 Minutes - #CN19: Health & Personal Care

He's got WAY more patience and eye for detail than I do so he makes the capsules and does a terrific job. :thumbsup:

He spoons in the mixture and spreads it with the card that comes with the capsule machine. There is also a little tool to help tamp down the mixture inside the capsules to make sure he gets them filled as completely as possible.

The smaller side holds the tops of the capsules so once the larger sides are filled he places the tops on and puts some pressure to the top to to make everything fit together....perfectly. He then takes the top back off.

The end result: 5 "sets" of 24 capsules.....120 total. Three is plenty for me.

I gotta say that I love the tutorial and all of the pics! Those that have not tried this due to fear of failure should be pleased with this guide. It hits the nail right on the head.

Great teamwork Mr Hound, four hands is quite often better than two... and that capsule thingee is great!

Happy Capping

MVP :stoned:

Darn you guys, I'm so jealous. I remember (many years back) from the few times I was able to get stoned from cooking, that it was an awesome stone. Nice and clean feeling, or something. Different and better in a lot of ways. More powerful too, than I could ever get from smoking, or at least it sure seemed that way.

Alright that's it. I'm done fooling around. I'm going to thoroughly read Flameon's capsule thread, then this one again, then do it damn it. Just harvested, why not. If the shit fits wear it. Think I'll half your recipe though just in case.

So, do you think I can get one of those machines at a drug store, or is it too much of a specialty-type thing? Empty capsules too? Where do you recommend I look for coconut oil? I suppose you could use regular butter too, or should I clarify it first? Got any tips for people who try it without the machine? For the first time in a long time I went bowling tonight with my family. 169, 172, 162. Is that OK? My 4-year-old beat my wife 2 out of 3.

MVP, please don't change your avatar for a while. It continues to get at least a little grin out of me every time I see it.

Do you guys recommend taking the capsules on an empty stomach or anything like that? Take extra vitamin C two days before? Keep one eye closed when swallowing? Anything? I'm just thinking that most medications seem to be more likely to do what they're supposed to if I take them on an empty stomach, or at least one with only a couple bites in it. Is this just me? My sister says she never noticed that. Is it more drawn out or anything, if you take the capsules on a full stomach? Sorry for all the questions, just excited about trying it I guess.

LOL - looking at the avatar again.

Hey you guys, glad you like the mini-tutorial. We were making them and it was Oscar night so we figured we'd go a little Hollywood. :D

Opie, I don't really know about the capsule machine as far as the drugstore or Wallyworld mostly because I live and die by Amazon.com. I don't have an idea how I survived before they were around because they are gods imo. Everything there I bought off Amazon....the machine, the capsules and the coconut oil. The only things I didn't get from them were the crockpot (Wallyworld) and the candy thermometer (local market.) Oh....and the weed, lol. :D I do know that you can buy the empty capsules at most health food stores.....we have in a pinch....and I'd guess you can get the coconut oil there as well, but that IS a guess.

Opie I agree with you vs your sis in regards to meds on an empty stomach. My personal feeling is that they work quicker and a little harder (depending on what the medicine is supposed to do) on an empty stomach than on a full one.

That being said....I don't worry too much whether my stomach is empty or not but if my stomach IS full I'll usually take an extra capsule to compensate. That seems to work fine for me and comes out about the same imo in the way I feel from the capsules. If you take them and wait a few hours before eating then the high seems less affected (it's already in your bloodstream) but I haven't really found food or a full stomach to affect things too much. I DO think they take a little longer to kick in on a full stomach so that may be a factor to some folks as well. Generally the capsules take between 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours to really start kicking in. ;)

I'm someone with a pretty iron stomach but I know from Flameons great thread that the pills sometimes can cause stomach upset in some folks so it probably wouldn't hurt to drink a glass of milk or have a few crackers or something along that line to keep that at bay if you happen to have a senstive tummy. I personally keep both eyes open when I swallow. :D

Opie,

Taking them on an empty stomach is more effective for me.

Also, if I take them shortly after a workout or strenuous work around the house, etc. it seems to speed absorption and give me a better kick...

And don't worry, the AV is staying for quite a while. It cracks me up a lot, I wish I could add music to it!

MVP :jointsmile:

Can someone please measure 1 gram of powered bud and tell me how many teaspoons that is?

It's so strange because I've done this in the temperature range suggested and got very mild results. Then, I figured, what the hell, I'll just put it in the crockpot on high (which I know goes to 350F) for four hours and see what happens. This was pretty successful for me.

However, I think I'm still not getting the results I could be getting and here are two things I've found.

1) My oil is not turning dark green like everyone else's.
2) Using a 1:1 oil to weed ratio seems to give me a lot more oil than everyone else is using.

The pics in this tread make it seem like a paste and I don't have that. The last time I tried, when everything cooled, I had a layer of weed on the bottom and a layer of oil on the top, half and half. The oil was slightly green, but nowhere near the dark green I see in these pictures.

Also, It is interesting for me that you are measuring the temperature OF THE OIL and NOT the temperature of the crockpot.

So, you are saying that THE OIL needs to be at 230F? Is that correct? In my case, using my oven, the temp OF THE OVEN would have to be about 285F to get the oil to be 230F.

When you added the weed, did it sizzle? I've seen others say this and mine definitely doesn't sizzle.

Moby,

Thanks for stopping by because I think you've made several good points I'd like to comment on. Regarding temps: Mr Hound and I learned from our deep frying experiences to measure the temp of whatever is being cooked vs oven/cooker temperature because as you already know.....they don't match! What I want to accomplish is this: at LEAST two hours of the mixture itself cooked at a temp of 225F. This is what I believe is mostly likely the majority of problems rising from people trying the recipe and not getting good results. They are measuring the wrong temperature.....they should be measuring the mixture.....not the temp around it.

Obviously this is easier to do when you don't have to fool with things so often....opening doors or tops, changing air temps around, etc.... That's why Flameons slow cooker and a candy thermometer (available at any grocery store) work so wonderfully for me.

The weed does not sizzle when added....when I cooked at higher temps it did but my results were never anywhere near what I achieve with this method.

The "paste" develops partially from the cooking (it starts to become that consistency after about 2 hours) but it is also due to the fact that I have chilled the mixture and it's caused the coconut oil to thicken quite a bit as well. Those two things make the mix much easier to work with when putting in the capsules.

AND....that's also why I recommend that little machine. Opie asked if I had any tips for making the capsules WITHOUT the machine and the answer is no. I'm terrible at that kind of thing anyway but I know Flameon had some good ideas in his thread which I will post a link to shortly since his thread is the single greatest piece of work on cannabis capsules that I have ever had the pleasure to read. :thumbsup:

I personally measure my weed after straining it down instead of before. This may make a somewhat large difference if you are starting with a few grams with a huge stem or a bunch of seeds in them or whatever. It will make the amount of usable weed much less.

If you think you have too much oil, then just add less. Once everything is melted and mixed i like a few pockets of extra oil floating on the mixture when cooking. That's as far as I go in measuring oil amounts. NOT very scientific but it works for me. ;)

Original work and extensive thread from Flameon aka...THE MASTER

http://boards.cannabis.com/recipes/1...tep-guide.html

mobyone,
I just saw this a few hours ago: GourmetSleuth - Gram Conversion Calculator

Weedhound,
Why 225? Everything else I've read, including vaporizing, said to cook at 350 or the weed might not get completely decarbeloxiwhatevered. Do you think it would ruin it to bring it to 350? Also do you worry about keeping the tip of the thermometer off the bottom of the bowl, like to suspend it in the mixture? Or does that matter?

Hi Opie,

I got the original recipe for cannabis caps from this thread. http://boards.cannabis.com/recipes/1...conut-oil.html

I've tried this recipe....and variations of it (including Flameons recipe) probably about 25-30 times in the last few months, looking for something that would be easy, workable, and most of all consistent. The recipe I outlined above does that for me. When I cooked at 350-375F I got several signs that I was burning my weed (not the least of which was the fact that the high was about a 3-4 on a 10 scale whereas the ones I make now are about a 7) so that's why I love the lower temps. Above three hundred my weed smelled strongly of cooking, there was a pretty good amount of smoke and lots of sections of my mixture would turn a chocolate colored brown....ie..burned.

Ive checked the weed at different points when cooking including not leaving the thermometer in but checking temps once an hour by taking off the top and checking and I've pretty much gotten the same temps (and same results) as I do when just leaving the thermometer sitting there. My understanding of those thermometers is that they measure liquid heat....but don't quote me. ;) so I trust the results of them (so far.....:D)

My other two thughts on the low temp are that somewhere in that HUGE thread of Flame's he explains EXACTLY the whats and whys of the temperatures much better than I ever could. Lastly, when I got my mmj rec, the doctor gave me a recipe for cooking mj that she recommended........in a crockpot on low temps. ;)

And Moby,

Dont stress over a taplespoon or whatever.....throw in some weed....throw in some oil and go for it!! :thumbsup:

Pssst, I got the stuff man.

Yes it only took 7 phone calls to different health food stores and a 3 1/2 hr. drive total to two different stores to get all the stuff. No exaggeration. OK, deduct 10 minutes for a quick stop off at the hydro store for a light meter and tds meter. (Damn those truncheons, I'm pissed.) I know what you're saying. Amazon. Sorry, when I want something, for some reason I usually have to have it now. Well "have to" is of course too strong, but Amazon didn't have same evening shipping.

Here's the breakdown in case someone's interested:

- $11.29 for 16 oz extra virgin coconut oil. This is supposedly on sale at about half, not sure.
- $13.39 for 500 empty gelatin capsules, size 00.
- $13.49 for 2 cents worth of plastic in the form of a capsule filler, holds 50.
- $5.99 for the accessory tamper. I found it interesting that this was sold as an option. Wouldn't not having it kinda defeat the whole purpose of the machine? Wouldn't it make the filler not so much of a filler, but more of a holder upper?
Total: $44.16, unless you want to include gas at 13 mpg, for a total of $144.16.

Did I get all the right stuff?

Weedhound, thank you for answering my questions and thanks so much for the guide, and getting me excited about the capsule thing. Flameon, thanks so much for the guide and getting Weedhound excited about the capsule thing. God, thanks so much for the bountiful harvest and getting everybody excited about the capsule thing.

Thats IT! You have the weed, crockpot, bowl (or whatever you cook in) and candy thermometer right? You are GOOD TO GO!!! :thumbsup:

And you really can do this with small amounts as well as large...I have done it in a coffee cup as Flame-on said many times with a couple grams and a couple spoonfuls of oil with good results.....watching temps etc because that's where I'll usually miss something. It takes quite a while to get the mix to the right temp to begin with.....about an hour or so in the crockpot so that's wasted time right there. And a smaller amount of weed and oil will tend to heat up more so you have to keep a closer eye than if you are heating more "total volume" at once.

I had tried using my crockpot before with Flame's original thread but did not have good results the first few times and looking back now I can easily see that I did things wrong both ways in cooking.....not getting the temps high enough (in my personal experience below 200 seems to stop the process) and cooking it at too high temp (above 275 with a definite loss of potency) so this is what I have found works the best and it involves checking temps fairly often and keeping them on track. For awhile I went back to the VERY first recipe I tried to make capsules with which involved a small saucepan and the same candy thermometer I use today. This was MUCH more time consuming but more exact (since I literally sat at the stove with the mixture for up to three hours ) so I feel fairly confident I've learned my share about cooking ganja at different temps. :D

Good luck Opie. Hope they are as enjoyable for you as they have been for us. ;)

You got burned on the tamping thing......ours came with it and the super cool custom card. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Weedhound

You got burned on the tamping thing......ours came with it and the super cool custom card.

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Oh yeah? Well you got burned since yours only holds 24 so there. Just kidding, I know I got burned and I expected it. For crying out loud I had to go to the upper floor of a damn mall to get the tamper. I pretty much know that's about the most expensive place I can get the stuff. Now I know where all the high school kids go after school instead of to practice a sport or something, or to a part time job God forbid. Is it just me, or are teenagers more rude than they used to be?

The deal is, I wouldn't really care if this stuff cost $4, $40, or $140.44. It's not like I have money to burn or anything, but the potential coolness factor greatly outweighs that little cost difference. Kinda like you know youâ??re going to end up with a digital ballast so you just go ahead and get one. Just think of the stealth involved. That alone is worth thousands in my book. Not to mention convenience, ease of dosage control, PPP, or power pack potential (unlike smoking). I hate it when you try and get nice and toasty for a movie or something, then after all your efforts the buzz is wearing off just as you're walking in the doors. Well here it is, problem solved. Just pop a couple 3 an hour before show time, and make sure your group has a designated driver. He can smoke across the street in the burger joint's parking lot before the show.

Sorry, I just took a couple rips and that tends to make me a little chatty. Long story short, I'm doing it man. Woo hoo! and stuff. I'm pretty excited. My last few attempts at cooking have been dismal failures at best, but for some reason I got a good feeling about this one. Maybe it's my trust in Weedhound. Pretty sure that must be it, that and Flameon.

I hope you're right about the low temperatures, because they're staying around 218. Been that way for about 1 3/4 hr. now. I failed to bring home a candy thermometer or a pepper mill, both of which I intended to buy. Completely spaced it. Damn stoner. The chef in that one link said that he has experimented and the pepper mill on fine setting is the best method. I do have a meat thermometer, which seems to be working fine. The only problem is that it only goes up to 220. I've overdriven it a little and can get 225 out of her, but I'm trying to keep everything around 220 so I know I'm not going way too hot or something. I'm a little worried that perhaps it's best to at least achieve boiling temp. Thoughts? I'm on low and keeping the lid cracked just slightly to achieve that temp. One word of advice though, for awhile I think the meat thermometer was measuring the temperature of the rim of the bowl instead of the weed solution. I propped it up off the bowl and got a different set of readings, about 6 or 8 degrees cooler I think.

Years back my wife knew what temperature was supposed to come from the low and high setting, but not anymore. She said that she did know however, that there is a nice digital model on sale at Costco. I asked her if she could bring it home tomorrow.

Now that I figured out how to stabilize at a good temperature, I was wondering what would happen if it slow cooked for 7 hours while I slept. The oil doesn't evaporate does it? The THC isn't going to go anywhere is it? As far as I know it could only make it better. Any thoughts on that one, anyone? I guess that will be more for next time for me since I'll go ahead and ride this one out. I'll let you know, and thanks again.

You Dog!! I'd LOVE one of those digital crockpots but am getting the big scowl from Mr Hound when I mention it. I think it's like you said though, eventually it will find it's way here. :)

My last batch (the one in the photos) I never went over 230F on them and they've come out quite well so I really think your temps are good.

Time wise....our pot doc seems to think that you really cannot overcook the thc if you stay on low temps. In the recipes she gave me the directions w/crockpot are on low for 3-4 hours. She took a pen and crossed that out.....wrote in 6+ hours by hand. Her words to us were......"the longer the better" so I imagine overnight would be ok but I've never honestly tried it. (Pssst...once I get a digital crockpot I will.....shhhhhh:D)

These really do solve the problem of getting stoned and then having your buzz wear off just when things get good or you are someplace where you simply cannot disappear and smoke a doobie quickly or something. That idea was what started my stumbling around with this method. After smoking both cigs and weed for many years my lungs are about gone and I REALLY needed a way to ingest the weed without smoking. And yes they are easy to carry and quite discreet.....I honestly like them better than cookies (less calories as well. :thumbsup:)

Ps....While the chef was able to get by a drug dog unnoticed I personally would consider that lucky and I myself would in NO WAY test a drug dog by having these pills on me and feeling they won't set off the dog. Maybe they will or maybe they won't but I have a LOT of faith in those dogs. Just my :twocents:

Those friggen dogs are amazing. I think the numbers for bloodhounds are something like 700 times more nerve endings in the nose than humans, and each nerve ending is 1000 times more sensitive. (Discovery channel) That guy was darn lucky IMO.

Alright, I'll be trying a couple capsules in 3 or 4 hours. They turned out fair for my first time. They only ended up about an average of 80% full, and I got 38 of them from 10.1 grams of destemmed and finely herb ground AK-47. For first-timers: don't push down as hard as it looks like Mr. Hound is pushing on his tamper. It looks like he's putting most of his weight on the thing, and you definitely don't want to do that. I didn't press real hard, and I still got the stuff squishing out the top of the capsules from pressing down too hard. It got all over everything in a thin layer and was about impossible to salvage, so I ended up wasting about 2 capsules-full total. In fact I understand now why the tamper is optional. I may not even use it next time. I spread the stuff with a rubber spatula, then the card. At that point I wish I would have went through each one with a chop stick or something instead of trying to do them all at once with the tamper. What happens if air get trapped in the bottom? It won't happen with dry powder, but with this stuff it seemed to happen a lot.

I was wondering if you do anything about the fact that when you put the small part of the capsule back on, it's empty and therefore wastes room in the capsule. You guys don't fill up that small part too do you? Well I just looked at your photo again, and it looks like yours are about 90-95% full, with some of them looking nearly completely full. How did you do that, unless you filled the little parts as well?

More first-timer advice: When you float your mixture in ice water as Weedhound does, be careful and stir often or constantly. I put mine in the water, then put about 15 empty caps in the machine, and by that time much of the goop had frozen to the bottom of the bowl. I heated it up a little, which ended up being a little too much, so I cooled it again and did the same damn thing, but not as bad. I hope freezing and thawing isn't going to adversely Affect the Effect. We shall see. If so, it will be like a crap shoot; the stuff in some of the pills was never frozen. Also don't worry so much about working fast like I did. I was afraid the stuff was going to solidify before I could get it in the caps, but it basically stays malleable even after cooling some. At least I hope it's supposed to since mine did.

What else, I know there was something. Uhhh, damn head, think. Oh yeah, I was wondering what you do about the oil all over the outside of the capsules, or did that only happen to me since I squished the stuff out, and all over the capsules. I ended up wiping them off individually with a paper towel, but they're still a little greasy. Also, 4 of mine got melted ends, on the bottom as they sat in the machine. After sitting a few hours they got nice and hard again (relatively), but they look like they got elephantiasis or something. Do you think this was because the goop was still too warm, or was it more likely that I had a little moisture in the tray since it didn't happen to the other 34?

As far as I know (except the freezing thing) everything turned out the way it was supposed to. I ended up with a very dark green, almost black paste. Looking real forward to a few hours from now. Have I said this yet?: Thank you.

Now you've got ME all excited like it was my first time too, lol. Be patient....give it PLENTY of time to really get good....about 2 hours it pretty well set and gets better from there.

The melted bottoms sounds like heat...we made the same mistake the first tiime we made capsules too and ended up melting the capsules all in the machine so we had to toss to the whole thing and buy a new one.

Yes it DOES take a while to cool....in fact too long which is why I started speeding the process up with the ice water.

I know from watching Mr Hound that he doesn't put any in the smaller capsules....just in the one side. He also LOVES his tamper thingie so I'll ask him about it when I can grab him. I don't have the slightest bit of patience in the world to sit there and fill all those little holes up.....I'd go crazy. i'm pretty sure he does wipe the pills off with a paper towel after he pops them out of the machine.

Update us with a "pill report" when you can. ;)

Ps...I don't think freezing would hurt things....they put leaves etc in ice water to make some kinds of hash don't they?

Freezing won't hurt them a bit. I have 20-some capsules in my freezer right now just waiting until after I get a new job.... then watch out!

Also I only fill the main capsule and then pop the top on it. If you try to fill both halves they will have too much inside when you compress them together to seal the capsule.

Double turds!!!

Don't you just hate it when you waste nearly a half oz to experiment with cooking and it's a complete waste? I know I do. I'm sick of it, as it is the story of my life. I wonder how many pounds of good bud I've wasted over the years, trying to get simple recipes to work for me. What the hell is wrong with me? Why will cooking not work for me anymore, while my few tries in college worked wonderfully?

I took 2 of my normal capsules and my one that only got half full, so I suppose that's about like two of Weedhound's. That was more than 2 hours ago and nothing has happened so far. That's pissing me off enough so that I just took 4 more. If that doesn't do at least a little something, I am never again doing anything else with weed except smoking. Or maybe I'll take the remaining 31 all at once and see if that does anything. It's not like I'm cooking with dirt weed here for crying out loud. The AK-47 nuggets were nice and sugar coated, and they are a one hitter for the vast majority.

Lord how I want to take a hit right now, but I'm waiting to make sure I don't confuse the two methods or something. Oh, here's something interesting. I do have a very slight minty weed type taste in my mouth. Maybe its' working now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Opie Yutts

I do have a very slight minty weed type taste in my mouth. Maybe its' working now.

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Nope, it's the burps from the 4 I just took.

Spaulding! You will have nothing and like it! (Ted Knight, Caddyshack. of course.... Turds! Double Turds!! )...

Dude, usually when they don't hit ya, it means that you didn't reach the right temp to cook them at and stuff. You might wanna make that 2-hour run to get an oven thermometer, candy thermometer, and a few other thermometers to get the oil to the right temp! Or send me your address and I'll stop by and do it for you. The offer is open until I get a job that is....

Sounds like you got all the right tools, and need to get the temps right, and maybe even cook it a bit longer? That is my :twocents:

Well you're probably right, but I cooked it for about 2 hours at 218, then 3 hours at 222. This is supposed to be within tolerable ranges. It's a pretty good thermometer, but I suppose it could have been mistaken.

What did you use to measure the temps? I thought I read that you didn't have a thermometer to sick into the oil, or an oven thermometer to leave in the crockpot...

How many capsules did your ten grams make? Sounds like you did everything right to me. The temp thing makes me paranoid seriously but honestly......Opie it should work.
Are you taking on empty or full stomach?

Well wtf did you do in college that you arent doing now?

Other than the meat thingee...

Candy thermometer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Says here you can use either one.....I wonder if he just needs to wait a touch longer.....

38 pills from 10 grams....sounds about right or more per pill than mine. 6 pills would kick my ass big time.....

Wanna bet if he posts more tonight? Hard to say but I hope they put the smack down on him.

Six would have me on the couch spending hours looking for the remote and hollering at my GF to bring me munchies!!! :D

lol, I was just wondering about him posting myself. They would certainly do me to in to sleepytown. ;)