Some questions about cooking with Cannabis...Suggestions?

[partially_veiled]

Hey GrassRoots!

I'm writing this thread looking for some suggestions, so anything that any individual wants to contribute here is very much welcome and appreciated.

Here is the scenario: I have tried baking with Cannabis many times, everything from making tea, butter, oil, leary biscuits, brownies, cookies, etc...I've not once been able to make it work. Wasting all that bud is very discouraging, especially when you're a non-grower like myself paying premium prices for low grade bud. I came close to making this work with some tea once, and I think I got the buzz I was looking for...but it was a long time ago, and I had taken many other substances that particular night, so it's very hard to gauge. I've been a more or less daily MJ smoker/vaporizer for a little over 10 years, so my tolerance is relatively high.

On to the new information: I am going away this Friday (so only one full day to work this out; I know, cutting it too damn of short) and I want to try baking again. All of my friends drink quite heavily, and this weekend is a weekend that has been designated simply as time for us to all get together and get nice and ripped out in the wilderness. I however do not drink. Not very often anyway. When I do, I barely find it enjoyable anymore, and my tolerance is very sensitive...one too many glasses of wine, and the room spins...no fun. You can probably see where this is headed, but to make it clear I'll continue on.

My mission: I want to make some sort of edible cannabis treats which will be easy to put together within a short amount of time. Because I happen to be in a market where the lowest of the low grade is disgustingly expensive (and that's all you can come across here, anyway...not seen any more than 3 or 4 bags of true "Kind Bud" in all the years I've been loving this plant...), dedicating another 1/4 or 1/2 oz of bud to something that I may or may not get right the first go around is simply not an option.

My thinking then is that I'll have to make a very small batch of whatever it is I'm making, just enough for myself. With this in mind, and due to the downright appetizing look of this recipe, I thought I would try out BB's Kind Granola, found here http://forums.mycotopia.net/feasts-f...na-recipe.html (BuckarooBanzai presents: Kind Granola (an edible marijuana recipe)) . My thinking is if I cut that recipe in half, and only use 4 grams of bud, that would be a perfectly acceptable amount for me to dedicate to this project. That would also leave me plenty of bud to smoke all day, which I know I'll be doing whether or not I decide to bake some. I would love to eat in the morning and then just keep upping my dose throughout the day, seeing as this is an all day party type of deal. So...

On to the questions: does this sound like it should work? In my mind it makes complete sense, use half the bud then just halve the rest of the ingredients as well and you'll get an identical end product, only half the size. I do a fair amount of baking, so I have no problem following the rest of the recipe to a T, including using a makeshift double boiler and measuring temps. (just because I am a nervous kind of fellow) etc. To me, it makes sense...but before I sacrifice the bud I thought I'd check in with the knowledgeable folks that hang around these parts.

If anyone has any comments, suggestions, or recommendations of how I might be better served making a very small, personal sized batch of MJ edibles, PLEASE chime in. I am only writing this because I realize that many here have much more experience than myself, and it's your experience and wisdom which I seek and which I before. Any help is (as always) very much appreciated.

[myceliummatt]

That recipe sounds good. I make and use butter quite frequently. I find it is the way to go when consuming bud( although I love to smoke). I am not too sure how you prepared your bud before in the experiments that did not work, but I can share with you what works for me. I usually extract the Thc into butter as you may or may not know, that is one of the things that will extract THC is fat. Combine that with some low heat and time and it works quite well. I use a slow cooker on the hold warm setting and heat the butter, water and ground up bud or shake for anywhere between 12 to 24 hours. After that I strain it through some cheese cloth and squeeze out as much of the butter and water mixture as possible in to a large glass bowl. I then set it in the fridge and the butter separates to the top and hardens after a few hours. Then use a hot water bath to re-melt the butter into your selected container, I use mason jars. I let it solidify again and then store it in the freezer till I want to use it in a recipe. The length of time that it is heated for (really important if you want to get all of the goodies) and the low heat does a really good job in extracting the THC.

I hope this helps!



Matt