today is a canna work day ... going to stick around the spaces, get some stuff done, and hide from the pandemic pandemonium roiling away in our grocery stores and shopping malls ...
start with an episode of :
What's Going On In Bluters' Kitchen ?
most of my grow is medical. easily 75% or more goes into pills, and topicals. over time i have simplified the processes to just a few infused base oils. i make the final products from those base oils. the largest breakthrough was finding the amazing
@SweetSue 's instant pot cannabis oil thread.
the instant pot method simplifies the oil infusion process, and the instant pot replaces machines costing hundreds of dollars more, which do not do the job as well. i strongly suggest to anyone interested in medical to get one.
i am not repeating Sweet Sue's thread. the instant pot infusion method can be found
here
today i am making a cbd based body butter. it is primarily an anti-inflammatory. i also make a thc based butter, which is aimed at straight pain reduction. i usually recommend using both, but some folk report preferring one or the other, depending on what they wanna relieve.
about 70% of what i make goes to my parents and a few other folk.
first i make a base infused cbd oil using the instant pot method. i do a double cook on all my oils. all that means is i run the cook in the instant pot through two cycles, with an 8hr or longer cool down period between. it is covered in the instant pot thread.
i use grapeseed oil as a carrier oil for all my topicals. grapeseed oil is a fantastic carrier, is readily available, and crosses the skin barrier to absorb better any other oil at it's price point. it will sink in to the skin quickly with less of a lingering oily film than other available carrier oils.
i make a slightly larger batch than the instant pot thread, but all the proportions are the same. i usually infuse :
24 - 26 grams of dried bud / 750 ml of carrier oil.
to the base oil we'll add a shea butter and palm butter mix. i normally prepare it ahead of time and will have it on hand, like i do with my infused oils. both of the butters need to be kept refrigerated, as they melt with room or body temp.
i use a 2 : 1 palm butter / shea butter mix. this seems to be a popular proportion for other applications, i did not arrive at it scientific. just copied. also the stuff is kind of expensive, so i use less of the pricey shea butter.
just a note : you could infuse the shea and palm butters directly , but they are not great carrier oils, and your cost effectiveness wouldn't justify it.
i melt the two butters together in a double-boiler. you can use other things, but i highly recommend a double boiler. i use it throughout the process. it's easy enough to fake one with a metal bowl and a pot. my favorite double boiler set up is a discarded restaurant steam table insert i use with a trusty old pot...
put a little water in the bottom and add the butters at low to medium heat on the stove...
melt them slow ... usually start a bit under medium and lower it as the water in the bottom heats ..
the actual measurements are 500g : 250g palm butter / shea butter
you get the idea. pour into a handy glass container when done. will look like a rather large urine sample. tell your kids that's what it is while it cools so they leave it alone ....
i generally let it cool overnight then refrigerate for longer term storage. it turns white after cooling. tell your kids not to eat the solid white urine ... lol ... actually i don't store any of this stuff where children could access. neither should you ..
ok. now we have the basics. the great thing about this method is it can be broken down in steps. all the stuff to build the final product can be made and stored ahead of time, then put together as needed.
clean up that double boiler and put some water in both top and bottom. heat your base oils up.
i like to heat everything up so it marries together. you don't want it too warm. the bottle should never be too hot to handle. about the same as warming baby formula. you don't wanna cook stuff a second time, it will ruin the effectiveness.
in a 250 ml jar i will use about 150 ml of the infused grapeseed oil, and 100 ml of the palm/shea mix. you can measure. i do it all by eyeball ....
the key is about 2/3 infused oil to 1/3 palm and shea butter mix ... start with the infused oil, then warm up the palm/shea mix and add...
i had some palm/shea mix previous, which was enough, i just remelted and used it. this a good visual of the amounts.
it's a good idea to add some essential oils to the mix at this point. it only takes a few drops. with a little research, you can find essential oils targeted to the area you wish to treat. it's a great compliment to the canna oil, adds nice aromas to the weedy smell (mom loves it), and is a direct signal that this is a non ingest-able topical product.
i used frankincense and a little eucalyptus - both useful in inflammation and joint pain ...
it only takes 4 - 8 drops of each in a 250 ml mix
go easy if you use eucalyptus. 3- 5 drops in 250 ml. the aroma is rather strong. it is one of my faves tho, along with frankincense. it's a popular combo with cbd based topicals i make. i use japanese mint oil with the thc based topicals alot. often with frankincense as well.
now we have most everything we want in a jar. but it's not gonna really get solid on it's own, and leaving it in the fridge to keep solid is not so handy for a bunch of folk. the palm/shea butter mix melts at room temp, and the grapeseed infusion is so light it never gets solid.
so we're gonna add some organic beeswax ....
beeswax comes in few different forms pellets, blocks, etc... if you get it as a block, i recommend getting a grater ...
beeswax is inert, nontoxic, and edible. at least the non commercial stuff. the local organic sourced beeswax costs less than half of the amazon etc offerings. grate some of that goodness up ....
doesn't take a bunch ....
looks like cheese lol ...
recommend getting a cheap dollar store grater to do this. and leave it as a dedicated beeswax grater. it's near impossible to clean all the wax off the grater after using.. there's nothing about it that will hurt you, except whipping the grater out to make dinner in front of your girlfriend after using it for beeswax...
at any rate .. i have a snazzy new food only grater now ....
and a beeswax grater ..
back to the beeswax ... i use between 8 - 12g of the beeswax for a 250 ml jar. less and the final product is looser, more and it gets a bit firmer. you can go as high as 18 - 20 grams for a firm product. i shoot for a consistency about the same as butter - food butter lol.
add it to your warm oils ....
cap the jar and give it a good shake / tumble. the wax will disperse more evenly through the mix. the wax is actually denser than the oils, but it traps more air, even when melted, and will eventually try working it's way to the top.
pop it back in the warm double boiler ...
and let everything warm up to liquid and mix. i like to give the mix a spin in the boiler or take it out and give it shake / tumble every once in a while. watch your temps. it can take a bit of time ...
take it out of the double boiler once everything is all liquid and married up ..
and let cool slowly. no more than room temp for the first 8 hours. in the winter i like to put the jar on a cool window sill to help a bit at first ..
the key to cooling is slow. stuffing it in the fridge is gonna cause issues. the different oils, wax etc, all have different densities. cooling it slowly, makes sure everything mixes through consistent. otherwise stuff will separate and the butter will not be near as effective.
i will sometimes reverse the jar to get oils consistent all the way through in cooling. even when done slow, the infused grapeseed is so light it will like to separate, and this forces it to flow through everything ....
my grandma taught me that ...
about 6 - 8 hrs in you should be close to finished passive cooling ...
at this point you should have something that is close to soft butter in consistency ...
essentially it is good to go. it will never get looser than this consistency once cooled to room temp. at this point i like to pop it in the fridge and let it get a bit firmer, or keep til needed.
it melts with body temp and is applicable even straight from the fridge. it won't even feel cold.
have never had a jar go rancid. do recommend long term storage in the fridge. i know most aren't, or go through it faster than it would go sour. mine has lived on the bathroom counter for the past 6 months with no issues.
this recipe is for a bit larger amount. i will often remelt this in the double-boiler and divvy it up in to smaller jars for handier use or gifts. if you let it cool slowly in the smaller jars and do not invert them, you will get a nice smooth hollywood top on the surface ....
and that's how i make my topical butters. i'm gonna shamelessly cross-post this in the instant pot thread as it kind of belongs there as well....
