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

[Flameon]

Part 1 - Acknowledgements and thanks.

Iâ??d like to begin with a big thank you to weedhound and sickpup45 who inspired me to experiment with Cannabis Capsules in the first place, and to Opie Yutts who â??nudgedâ?? me into writing this â??step-by-stepâ?? tutorial for the forums. Cheers guys!

Secondly, Iâ??ve tried to keep this guide as simple as possible, but, as the box says â??Some assembly is requiredâ??, and therefore, this guide might not be suitable for everyone. It needs some ingredients to be measured (with a teaspoon), and the purchase of a few essential (and some optional) items.

Where possible, Iâ??ll include detailed descriptions of everything you might need, where to get it from and roughly how much it might cost etc.

To give you an idea of the unit cost (excluding the price of the weed), if you made 1000 capsules (enough for 1 person to remain high for a year!) the cost would be around $51 or £25 for the ingredients (oil/butter and capsules). Thatâ??s less than $0.05 cents or £0.03 pence each!

Including the cost of the weed (based on an average price of $15 or £7.50 a gram), youâ??re looking at around $1.30 or £0.65 per capsule (for caps made from hash or kief) or $1.90 or £0.95 pence (for caps made from prime bud).

Still reading? OK, here goes:

Hereâ??s what weâ??ll be making.

The following â??step-by-stepâ?? tutorial outlines the tools and techniques needed to convert quantities of bud, hash or keif into tasteless pill capsules that can be swallowed to give a measured dose of potent, active THC to the user.

For simplicity and economy weâ??ll just be using 1 gram of hash or kief (or, one and a half grams of bud) and making it into 12 cannabis capsules, each containing around 0.08 grams of activated THC.
As a guide:
1 capsule can be taken by medicinal users for strong pain relief.
2 capsules will give a regular smoker an intense 4 to 6 hour trip.
3 capsules (experienced tokers only) a 6 to 8 hour plus â??wild rideâ??.

To make larger quantities of capsules simply increase the ingredients pro-rata.
i.e. To make 24 pills just double everything, for 48 double everything again and so on.

Flameon Reviewed by Flameon on 11-12-2007. Cannabis Capsules â?? A step-by-step guide. Part 1 - Acknowledgements and thanks. Iâ??d like to begin with a big thank you to weedhound and sickpup45 who inspired me to experiment with Cannabis Capsules in the first place, and to Opie Yutts who â??nudgedâ?? me into writing this â??step-by-stepâ?? tutorial for the forums. Cheers guys! Secondly, Iâ??ve tried to keep this guide as simple as possible, but, as the box says â??Some assembly is requiredâ??, and therefore, this guide might not be suitable for everyone. It needs some Rating: 5

[Flameon]

The essential cookery â??Equipmentâ??:

1. A Slow Cooker (see the first picture). Also known as a â??Crock Potâ?? in the States.

Or:

A medium sized pan, a mixing bowl and a lid (see the second picture), and some hot water.

2. A quantity of size 00 Gelatine Capsules. They can be bought from some pharmacies, health food shops or online in quantities of 100+ (see third picture).

3. A teaspoon (hopefully everyone will have one of these).

The essential cookery â??Ingredientsâ??:

Either: 1 gram of good Hashish (not soap bar).
Or: 1 gram of fine grained â??keifâ??.
Or: 1.5 grams of good â??Budâ?? (no stems, no seeds, or pointy leaves).

And: 7 grams (one and a half teaspoons) of Coconut oil or clarified butter*.


The optional cookery items:

A capsule holder to help when filling (see part 3).
A syringe or pipette to fill the caps with a measured dose of oil (see part 3).
A set of accurate measuring spoons (see part 3).


OK, assuming youâ??ve got access to a â??crock potâ?? (or a least a pan and a mixing bowl), and a little â??weedâ??, what else is required?

The other main essential items are the capsules to put your activated mixture in, and (possibly) a few other extras to help in the measuring and filling process, and thatâ??s it.

[Flameon]

The essential items:

Empty pill capsules come in several sizes, the ones I recommend are 00 sized, as the smaller ones are a little fiddly to make and donâ??t hold much, and the bigger sizes are a little hard to swallow.
Also, select only the Gelatine variety not the vegetarian ones as they can leak when exposed to fats and oils.
An internet search for â??empty 00 gelatine capsulesâ?? will no doubt give you a variety of sources. Expect to pay â??roughlyâ?? $3.00/£1.50 per 100.

Ideally, youâ??ll also need a jar (or tub) of Coconut oil, or failing that some clarified butter (or â??Gheeâ?? as itâ??s called in Asian cookery). If youâ??re struggling to find either, donâ??t panic, itâ??s easy to make your own Ghee using ordinary butter (Iâ??ll explain further on).

Coconut oil (solid depending on room temperature) can be bought from some health food shops and other specialist food stores.
Go for the â??extra virgin organic coconut oilâ?? if you can find it, as Itâ??s one of the safest oils to cook with, contains no â??trans fatsâ?? (unhealthy fat), is high in saturated fat, and most importantly is â??digestion friendlyâ?? (unlike certain other monounsaturated or polyunsaturated oils) meaning the THC can be absorbed easily by the stomach and liver, and therefore passed into the bloodstream to do its job without loss of potency.
Expect to pay between $7/£3.50 for a 200 gram jar. Enough for around 336 capsules, plus itâ??ll keep for years in the fridge.

[Flameon]

In addition, there are some items thatâ??ll help in making the capsules easier to measure and fill, but you can get by without them as long as you have a steady hand and some patience. However, for those people who are likely to repeat the process, they are inexpensive to buy and make it much easier and quicker to make regular or larger quantities.

They are:

A) A capsule filler container. The one shown in the picture is a â??Cap.M.Quikâ?? model which holds 50 capsules. Expect to pay around $20/£10 for one.
N.B. Make sure it is sized for 00 capsules.
Typically, if you buy one from ebay youâ??ll be offered it with the capsules bundled together (usually 400/500) for around $40/£20.

B) A syringe or pipette. To siphon off the activated oil and â??injectâ?? into the capsules (the one pictured is a childrenâ??s liquid medicine dispenser and holds exactly 1 teaspoon (5 ml).
For sale in most pharmacies for around $2/£1.

C) An accurate set of measuring spoons (a â??niceâ?? to have). The ones pictured can be used to scrape exactly the right amount of â??solidifiedâ?? Coconut oil or clarified butter out of the jar or tub (assuming itâ??s straight out of the fridge). Once youâ??ve levelled off the spoon, youâ??ll have the precise amount, 5 ml (Useful for dosage control). These can be bought from most household or cookery stores for around $5/£2.50.

[Flameon]

The key to making effective capsules is in the THC extraction process.
In short, the secret is to expose the bud, keif or hash to prolonged, low heat (simmering) in an oil or butter high in saturated fat* in order to thoroughly break down the structure of the resin heads and allow the THC to â??bindâ?? to the fat molecules.
If the temperature is too high, you run the risk of losing potency due to the vaporisation/evaporation of the THC (if the smell is strong, youâ??re doing it wrong). Too low, and you wonâ??t convert the inactive compounds into active, or allow them an opportunity to effectively combine with the oil/butter.

This fat is then added to the capsules, which once swallowed, release the concentrated THC directly into the stomach for maximum absorption into the bloodstream.

*The type of â??short chain fatty acidsâ?? that are found in Coconut oil and Ghee (clarified butter) are excellent conductors of THC, and much easier for the human digestive system to metabolise. Therefore, where possible, go for an oil or butter high in saturated fats rather than monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. Although theyâ??ll still work, much of the potency will be lost, requiring much greater amounts of weed to eaten in order to achieve similar results. As coconut oil is far cheaper than good weed, youâ??re better off investing in a jar.
N.B. 1 gram of weed in a firecracker is good for only one hit, 1 gram in this capsule form is good for about 12.


For a more detailed explanation of how to make Canna-butter and the science and techniques involved, check out my other Cannabis cooking thread:

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


To make the capsules weâ??ll be following the exact same procedures, but using smaller amounts of oil/butter. (If you havenâ??t time to read it, donâ??t worry, as everything you need to know is contained within this guide).

[Flameon]

I usually recommend using â??hashishâ?? or â??kiefâ?? over â??Budâ?? when cooking, because it is a quicker and simpler process of conversion, and the effects are (slightly) more predictable. However, if you only have access to â??Grassâ?? donâ??t worry, you can still make them just as easily using the following method.

Grass method:

Due to the difference in THC strength, youâ??ll need to use 1.5 grams of good quality well cured bud in order to match the potency of 1 gram of hash or kief. Firstly, remove any stems, seeds or obvious leaf material* then grind to as small a grain (powder) as you can manage, then just follow the rest of the steps as detailed below.


The Canna-oil Method: If using a Slow Cooker (Crock pot).

The beauty of slow cookers is you can pretty much switch them on and forget about them.
Typically, a slow cooker will have 2 or 3 settings (low, medium and high).
Due to the size of these â??cookersâ?? I recommend placing your oil/butter in a much smaller â??oven-proofâ?? container otherwise itâ??ll just make a thin coating on the bottom of your pan.
In my case I use an eggcup (or a coffee cup when making larger quantities) the shape makes it easier to â??siphonâ?? off the oil and to scrape out the residue.

Simply set the cooker to â??lowâ?? (around 80/90 degrees centigrade), add the ghee/oil and then the hash/kief or bud and leave to slowly simmer for the required time.

1 hour for hash.
1 and half hours for kief.
2 hours for bud.


The Canna-oil Method: If using a Pan and Mixing Bowl

Pour around three inches of boiling water into your cooking pan, then sit the mixing bowl in the water so that itâ??s floating just off the bottom (very important â?? see picture), add the oil or Ghee (clarified butter) to the mixing bowl and let it melt, then add your hashish, kief or powdered bud and dissolve slowly while keeping the lid on and the boiling water just barely simmering beneath.

N.B. Floating the mixing bowl in the water and keeping the lid on prevents â??burning offâ?? the THC which evaporates/vaporises at high temperatures (around 140 centigrade plus). The boiling water keeps the butter/oil at the perfect temperature of around 100 degrees centigrade (boiling point) to slowly â??wringâ?? out every last molecule of â??spacey goodnessâ??!.

[Flameon]

Now that youâ??ve made your concentrated THC saturated oil/butter you need to get it into your capsules.

Firstly, wait for the oil to cool down a little otherwise you run the risk of melting the capsules.
Both the coconut oil and Ghee will remain liquid around the 24 degrees centigrade mark for quite a while, therefore itâ??s easier to add the oil while itâ??s still in this form assuming you have something to draw up the liquid like a childrenâ??s medicinal syringe, pipette or similar.
Just add it in equal measures to the capsules.

Once youâ??ve added even amounts of the oil to your caps youâ??ll need to scrape out and add the residue. Iâ??ve found that the handle of a teaspoon or coffee stirrer is ideal for this process, however if you want to take it to another level you can always purchase a laboratory spatula or spoon like the ones in the picture.

N.B. Depending on whether you used hash/kief or ground bud will dictate how easy this process is. For example hash and kief will be mostly oil with a small residue at the bottom, while ground bud will be more like a paste, and as such hard to draw up in a syringe.
In this case (or if you donâ??t have a syringe), you may want to pour the oil/butter onto a small plate and then put it in the fridge until it sets. Later, using the tip of a sharp knife, cut the butter into twelve equally sized pieces and poke them into the capsules using a chopstick/match etc.

[Flameon]

If using bud, remember â??no stems, no seeds or pointed leavesâ??.
Anyone whoâ??s grown and studied their plant under a x30 jewellerâ??s loupe will be able to describe the microscopic thorns that the pointed leaves are covered in. Even when finely ground, some of these thorns can survive and irritate the stomach lining.

Also (contrary to most advice given about eating cannabis), I donâ??t recommend you take cannabis capsules on a completely empty stomach. Remember, normally when you eat a firecracker or space cake your eating weed that is bound to (and diluted in) some form of food. Therefore by eating something like: a slice of toast, a sandwich or a packet of crisps beforehand, youâ??re preparing your stomach to digest food and thereby activating the gastric juices which will break down your capsules quickly and efficiently.

Any other questions, please feel free to fire back.

[Flameon]

â?¢ The ultimate stealth â??medicationâ??.
â?¢ Highly concentrated form of THC
â?¢ Requires only very small amounts of bud.
â?¢ Great for stealth cooking as the low heat creates virtually no smell.
â?¢ Extremely potent due to the type of saturated fats used.
â?¢ Simpler to make and keep than a firecracker.
â?¢ Incredibly cheap
â?¢ Theyâ??ll blow your tits off â?? Guaranteed!


N.B: Effects will start to â??kick inâ?? after about an hour and a half, and last for around six to eight hours (depending on how many you took). Should you begin to feel overwhelmed you can shorten the â??tripâ?? and reduce its effects by eating sugary foods, or drinking fruit juices rich in vitamin C.


For those people who give it a try, Iâ??d love to hear how you get on.
Hopefully, you can keep this thread alive by posting up your experiences so everyone will get a chance to see them.
Oh yes, and it took me a while to write all this up, so a sticky or any rep donations gratefully accepted lol.

Cheers and enjoy
Flame.

[NLX2007]

Thats freaking awesome. So detailed, a lot of time and effort went into this and I plan to try it ASAP. I'll post my experience. Thankyou very much for sharing.