Gummies Made

 New gummies made:

The large ones should have ~70mg THC, the small ones about a ¼ of that. I air dry for 12 to 24 hours before putting them away in the fridge.

There is a box of brownie mix on the shelf and several oz. of 2022 harvested weed next to the mix. It may be time to make desert.

I've started a "Cannabis Growers" Meetup group, first meeting for coffee at the W. Grant IHOP here in Tucson on the second Wed. of December. We'll see if anyone is interested enough to show up.

Making Cannabis Gummy

 My Cannabis gummy setup:

From left to right: Small saucepan, double boiler, back row; jelly jar with THC oil, pack of Potassium Sorbate, jar of dry Lecithin, Knox Gelatine, blowl to "bloom unflavored gelatine, Jello 3oz box, oranges for juice, front row; whisk, juicer, measuring equipment and gummy molds.

Important: the Cannabis must be Decarboxylated before infusion.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water or juice divided
• ▢3-4 packs of unflavored gelatin  
• ▢½ cup THC oil (MCT infusion)
• ▢2 teaspoons Lecithin powder or liquid
• ▢1 teaspoon juice or mold inhibitor 
• ▢3 ounces Jello: small box
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• In a small bowl ½ cup juice or water and the unflavored gelatin to bloom.
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• To the top of the double boiler ½ cup THC oil and Lecithin. Bring lower pot to a simmer. Whisk well.
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• To the small saucepan add pack of Jello, ½ cup of juice or water, the mold inhibitor, and the bloomed gelatin. Bring to a boil then add to the top of the double boiler (THC oil, Lecithin mixture), wisk for 10 minutes (very important) or use a immersion blender until well incorporated. 
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• Fill molds, let cool for an hour before removing gummies from molds. 
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• I like to air dry for 10 to 12 hours before putting away in the fridge.  
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• Figuring dosage can be a problem with edibles mostly because of the time delay between consumption and feeling the effect. If you can get a good reading on %THC you can get close with a little math.
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• Find the total THC in the Weed you use to infuse (if you use a Nova or FX the Decarb is close to 100%, oven or other ways Decarb is only about 70%). Infusion with the FX and MCT is about 90% of available THC for first infusion, second pass using the first infusion oil and fresh Weed will infuse ~80% of available THC.
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• This batch of Gummies started with 12g of 27% THC Super Lemon Haze in 12oz of MCT for the first infusion then using the same oil I infused another 12g of the SLH for an expected 5500mg of THC in ½ cup of oil.

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If, and it is a big if, my numbers are correct each gummy should have ~100mg of THC. The only way to be sure without sending 'em out to a lab is self titrating, starting slow and then adding a bigger bite as needed.

Making Edibles with Cannabis

 Edibles can be a good way to enjoy the benefits of THC without the smoke or vapor from joints, bongs, pipes or other appliances. The downsides can be a steep learning curve and the cost of the equipment that makes it easy to Decarb and infuse. Another possible downside is the difficulty in titrating correct dosage without testing equipment mostly because it can take up to an hour or so to feel the effects of THC kicking in where with vape and smoke you can enjoy the warmth with the first puff. Also the high from edibles can last four to five hours vs. usually less than an hour from smoke or vape.

I use a Nova FX for both Decarb and infusion. Ardent Nova FX , it ain't cheap but wasted weed isn't cheap either. The Ardent line of Decarb and infusers can save a lot of work, time and ruined weed. Last week was an example, a friend wanted me to show him how to make "gummies", as always I suggested he buy a Nova FX but he felt it was too expensive and so he pulled out instructions on using an oven for Decarb and a "Crockpot" to infuse. You can do both that way but...in life there is almost always a "yes, but". The yes, but in this case is oven Decarb at best will only result in a ~70% conversion of THCa to THC where to Nova FX is virtually 100% conversion. By Decarbing in a oven you are throwing away 30% of your weed. Anyway back to my friend and his first attempt to make an infused THC oil, he burned up close to an oz. of Cannabis at $250 USDs/oz he would have almost paid for a Nova and had his THC oil and the Nova for the next time he wanted to make edibles. 

Once you have Decarbed your Cannabis it can be used as is, ground up and sprinkled over your food or drink or even just ingested directly. The other use of Decarbed flower is in either infusions or tinctures. For infusions almost any oil will work, I like MCT oil for most things, for tinctures you need ~190 proof Alcohol. The Nova makes infusing automatic as well, just add an equal amount of oil to the just Decarbed weed and turn the Nova on. It is that simple.

Making gummies with infused oil next.

ken  

Back From Houston

 The autowater system worked like a champ over our nine day trip to see the kids in Houston. One plant shows a little stress, I expect from a clogged "dripper", and it isn't bad. A little extra water and we're good.

 The interesting one is in the lower right corner, it sprotted normally but took weeks to do more than break ground. It has been putting on Cannabis looking leaves but they are very small along with little vertical growth. Maybe I have a "Bonzi" Cannabis. Whatever, I'm going to keep taking care of it to see what happens, the only worry is it could go "hemi" and as small as it is would be very hard to catch.

The rest of the plants went into flower while we were gone. From the looks of 'em I'd say they are about 6 or 7 day in flower. 

Houston is an interesting place and has become a food "Heaven". I expect only NYC may have a better selection but what makes Houston special is not only almost any ethnic/regional type but it is as good or even better than original. This trip I did Oysters on the half/shell, tacos at a counter in a small grocery store (it had a meat counter to die for), Vietnamese grilled pork sandwiches, English Pub fish and chips, Fried Gulf Coast shrimp and of course Tex-Mex. 

Speaking of Tex-Mex. I very selfishly almost wish "Mama Nifa" had been born in Nogales, AZ and moved to Tucson. Instead it was Harlingen, TX and moved to Houston where she changed the world of U.S. Mexican food. With her introduction of Tacos al Carbon/now known as Fajitas in 1973, it was no longer a #1 with one taco, 2 enchiladas, rice and beans. It very quickly became "Fajitas" which now describes any meat grilled with veggies. It would be wonderful to go around the corner for her Tex-Mex instead of the 1000 miles it now takes.