Zoso149's In-Depth Guide to Excellent Coconut Oil Brownies

Author's notes: (Enjoy this guide. I had a fun time writing it. I hope someone can utilize my method, and even improve upon it. If you do, please offer me suggestions/input. I'm still in the learning phase, too, but I believe I have stumbled across something fabulous!)...

Introduction:

After a few year's hiatus with consuming any sort of marijuana product (in fear that it would take away from my educational potential), a friend has edged me to come back to it. Let's just say I'm enjoying my stay in marijuanaland thus far. I'm now at the point in my life where I am comfortable being there. Anyway, digression aside, this friend introduced me to one of his coworker's brownie creations, and needless to say I wasn't that impressed... I felt I could do better.

You see, this coworker used butter (without water dilution) to extract the cannabinoids from the bud he used. The overall product tasted nasty, and I hardly felt a thing; it was more of a really mellow body high that only made me want to step outside and smoke a bowl (which I later did). Anyway, I knew I could make a better product if I a) put some time into researching the best methods and b) being meticulous in said methods.

After hours of research (while stoned, I should add...), I came across some articles around the web claiming coconut oil was the best solvent of cannabinoids simply because it had the highest saturated fat content of all cooking oils. I liked that. I also read a few articles suggesting cooking the marijuana and oil in water and then separating the non-mixable solution is the best method of attaining a clean but potent oil. I liked that even more.

So, I gave it a shot. Needless to say, the results were astoundingly good for the overall cost, as well as the high itself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a cannabis connoisseur, but I did get really high from just one brownie. Others who had one of my brownies also claimed it 'did them in' for upwards of 8 hours. So, I thought I would post a very in-depth thread about my method here on grasscity, where I have collected much of my information, as sort of a thanks (as well as for further inquiries).

Here's What I Used:
(obviously double the oil and water if you plan on doubling the bud)

1. 1/8 oz. of Jack Herer dried bud (other potent sativas will work just as well) - [$45]
2. A little over 1/2 cup liquid coconut oil (oil is solid at room temp.) - [$4]
3. 1 to 1-1/2 cups water - [$-]
4. 1 medium stove-top pot, and lid - [$-]
5. A fine permanent coffee filter (this is what I used) - [$5]
6. 1 boxed brownie mix (this is what I used) - [$2]
7. 2 eggs (plus the necessary water for the brownie mix itself) - [$-]
8. 2 pyrex measuring cups

Instructions:

What I did first, actually, was grind up my marijuana in a blender. Now, had I a weed grinder, this process would have been much smoother. Nonetheless, I gave the bud a coarse chop with the blender and set it aside. I then heated up the water and the oil on high heat in a medium pot until it came to a boil. I then added the coarsely chopped bud and immediately dropped the temperature down to medium-low.

Now, this is sort of the grey area for many people: do I leave it at a semi-boil, a simmer, or just barely simmering? Obviously, the idea is to figure out the proper temperature to cook it at. And through research I have found it ideal to keep the temperature around 170F-220F, but even in that range there is a ton of discrepancy amongst articles. I unfortunately did not have a thermometer to gauge the temperature, so I instead winged it. Here's what I did: I left the water-oil-bud mixture on medium-low, keeping it at a medium simmer. I gave it a stir every twenty minutes or so as well, checking to make sure nothing was burning and that the water-oil-bud mixture was not getting to a high simmer or rolling boil.

I let this cook for 1.5-2 hours on the same heat at the same temperature. I honestly believe I got really lucky in selecting the right heat setting and the right type of simmer; I think that's what made my end product so fantastic. So heed my warning: it is inadvisable to cook on a very low simmer, and inadvisable to cook at a rolling boil. Somewhere in the middle is where you want to be.

I took the mixture off of heat, let it cool to near room temperature, and began straining it through the coffee filter into a pyrex measuring cup. Now, I selected the '4-8 cup' style permanent filter because it allowed me to pour a very good amount of the mixture in at a time. Plus, the wide rim allowed me to not use a funnel (which is just another item I'd have to clean later...), and it fit perfectly in my little measuring cup. I then took a spoon and pressed the remaining plant matter against the side of the filter, essentially getting the last bit of oil out of it. I ran some water through the filter a few times as well, and gave the bud a last few good pressings. I then proceeded to dispose of the used cannabis.

(I should mention that in pressing with the spoon my fingers were subject to contact with some of the oil, and after about 5 minutes of intermittent exposure I began to lose feeling in them; my fingers went numb!)

So now, I had a measuring cup filled with both brown icky-looking water, and pretty green translucent oil neatly separated on the top. I placed the measuring cup in the cool refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour, and was then able to physically lift the hardened oil out of the cup using a knife. I scraped the sides of the measuring cup with a spoon, too, in attempt to get every last bit of the precious oil. I then placed the brick of solidified oil in the other measuring cup, and disposed of the nasty water.

Next, I placed the solidified oil in the microwave and heated for about 30 seconds or until the oil was back to its liquid state. After taking it out of the microwave, I was taken aback by how crystal green and crystal clear it was. It also had a nice pungeance to it; not too potent smelling either. I added this to the brownie mix, including the eggs, and water required on the package. I mixed thoroughly to make sure the oil was well-incorporated and spread throughout.

I then preheated the oven to 350F, and followed the instructions on the box. I greased a glass (I wouldn't recommend glass, but it was all I had) 8x8 pan, and poured in the mix. I let the mix cook in the oven for roughly 40 minutes (be sure to read the instructions on the box!), took the brownies out and let them cool on the stovetop. I then made two parallel/perpendicular cuts like a tic-tac-toe board, giving me 9 brownies. I then individually wrapped each brownie in saran wrap and put them all in the freezer for later use.

Result/Conclusion:

About 1.5 hours after consuming just ONE (1) of the brownies I'd made, I was gone out of my mind. Like 'sitting-and-being-incapable-of-doing-anything-but stare-into-space' gone. My body felt really great, my mouth and eyes were really dry, and I was enjoying sitting there thinking about something stupid for minutes at a time. Plus, the brownies smelled and tasted great. I could hardly tell they had the infused oil in them.

But here's the thing: this was not a traditional high I experienced after eating one of the brownies. During the high it wasn't really like I was incapable of doing anything. I discovered that if I put my mind to it, I could be perfectly normal (maybe a bit giddy perhaps, but still...). I could still think properly, but everything was just so much better and so much more fun, along with the fact that my body did really feel fantastic.

Here's an excerpt of my experience in writing:
(bear with me, I was coming off of the high )

After a few days being sober off of that initial high, I tried another brownie, and begun to literally trip. Now, I'm not saying I was seeing colors and walls melting, but what I'm saying is that I started to feel 'so-high-that-it-became-irritable'. I got the spins a little, and things seemed a bit too intense for me. Of course, I'm not experienced, but I'm also not a novice either, so I knew in not getting anxious about it I would be fine; I ended up enjoying the rest of the experience. But for sure, that one brownie did me in big time. I was glued to my chair and felt a bit nauseated (of course I also felt really high, too!).

Overall, this method/product was a great success. It was kind of fun, actually, making the brownies, and I'm very pleased that I did not waste money by making an ineffective batch. I guess I got lucky in my approach. I do thank some of the research I did beforehand, though. That certainly helped a lot. And to think, I only used an eighth of bud! 9 perfect gooey-fudgey brownies that can keep me really high for 6-8 hours!

Further Questions:

I've done some more research regarding trying to make my edibles even stronger (not like I really need to), but in trying to sift through lots of different perspectives on the web my search has been inconclusive. I know my dosage/potency works, but I'm curious about a few things (and I'm looking for concrete, proofed answers):

1. I plan to try using mids instead of headies in my next batch to save money. My plan is to use 1/4 oz. of good-grade mids instead of the 1/8 oz. of headies (to compensate, and then some, for the lesser cannabinoid content), as well as bump up the number of brownie servings in a batch from 9 to 12. Is this feasible, and will this produce the same-quality or better product?
2. I've heard mixed reviews on utilizing the crock pot method. Some say to use the 'low heat' setting, others claim using the 'high heat' setting produces a better product. Which setting is best, and how long should one cook the water-oil-bud mixture for? What will extract the most cannabinoids? I believe my method to be pretty darn good as-is, so I am skeptical about switching technologies.

 

Well given it was good bud, and one batch made only 9 brownies. Plus, if you do the math, each brownie contained around '0.39 grams-worth' of bud. I believe I have read somewhere that 0.5 grams per edible is the proper dosage, so I'm just about there.

And I do believe that Jack Herer bud has 15-20% THC content, versus mids which usually have 7-9% (everything is on average of course), so I'm essentially cooking a 1/4 of mids or a 1/8 of high potency weed. This is also why I plan on trying a 1/4 of mids to test to see if it still works as well.