math applies.
Infusing CBD at home
The best way to pick up a new skill is to do it. Because infusions are so time-tested and safe to make and use, now is a great time to dive in. You’ll need a few items that may already be lying around your kitchen if you delight in trying out new or specialty recipes. To be fully prepared to begin, grab a grinder or mortar and pestle, something to cook the infusion in (more on that in Step 3), and a fine mesh strainer. Cheesecloth also works!
1 Figure out the concentration.I explain the math for this process in the preceding section.
2 Grind the flower.Grinding the flower makes exposing every little bit and immersing it in your oil of choice easier.
3 Combine the base oil or fat in the appropriate volume to the cooker.Olive oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, sesame oil — the options are endless from an oil standpoint.As for the cooking device, you want something that controls the heat over time so you get a proper infusion. A host of tools are readily available, from stovetop double boilers to slow cookers. You can also get options made specifically for the cannabis and hemp market. Levo and Ardent are two great brands.
4 Cover the cooker, set it to high, and cook for one hour.
5 Turn the cooker down to low and cook for two to three hours.The slow and low heat is important here because the heat and time create a chemical reaction necessary to activate the cannabinoids in the CBD flower. This reaction is properly known as decarboxylation.
6 Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth to remove the plant matter.
7 Store your infused oil in an airtight container.An airtight container is important here because when you expose cannabis to oxygen over a long period, it activates prematurely. That early activation ultimately degrades the potency and flavor. If you use butter or animal fat, put it in the fridge or freezer if you don’t intend to use it all right away.
Using CBD Extracts to Make a Product
Whether you make CBD extract at home or you buy one of the many available in stores, making, cooking, or preparing CBD anything at home is easy breezy. It’s as simple as having another ingredient to add to whatever you’re making, as long as what you’re making requires some sort of fatty or oil-based substance.
Creating a useable topical or consumable product
Creating an effective home product by using CBD is quite simple if you stick to fatty oil and animal fat extracts. (You can use extracts that have other compounds in them or that aren’t fat-soluble, but that’s outside the scope of this book.) The most important piece is knowing how to create proper doses within your recipe. The formulas are pretty straightforward:
Amount of CBD in container (in milligrams)/Size of dose (in milligrams) = Number of CBD doses per container
Volume of vial for your final product (in milliliters)/Number of CBD doses = Volume of product dose
Here’s an example: Say you have a 315-milligram tincture vial of CBD, and your personal dose is 15 milligrams. Plug those numbers into the formula, and you find that you can get 21 doses from that vial:
315 milligrams/15 milligrams = 21 doses
Now look at the size of the vial for the infused product you’re creating. Divide that by the number of doses (21) to get the size of your product dose (basically, one serving size of your infused product):
30 milliliters/21 doses = 1.43 milliliters/dose
For this example, 1.43 milliliters of your infused product will give you the 15-milligram dose of CBD you’re looking for.
Including complementary substances
To get the most out of your CBD, invite some other ingredients to the party! Technically, whatever base you use is the first complementary substance in any homemade CBD product because it’s a complement to the lipid-based CBD chemical that needs a carrier. But you can also add other compounds or ingredients that may enhance CBD’s effects. This list is endless, and it starts with a whole host of other plants that contain similar plant chemicals to cannabis, like terpenes, from linalool to myrcene. (Flip to Chapter 2 for more on terpenes.) It also means vitamins like B, C, and E, found in oils and minerals like sodium, and magnesium found in salts and Epsom salts.
For example, the best-recognized properties of CBD are its anti-inflammatory effects. To double down on those benefits, pair CBD with other anti-inflammatories. Natural anti-inflammatory plants include arnica, turmeric, and black pepper (just to name a few). These options are great additions for any topical. (Actually, you can use turmeric both topically and internally.)
Two other famous benefits of CBD are the improvement of sleep and stress relief. Melatonin, found in tart cherries and goji berries as well as chamomile and jasmine (among many more), may assist with sleep. Lemon and other citrus fruits, peppermint, and lavender are popular, effective solutions for stress and anxiety. Combine any one of these ingredients with hemp flower in a nice tea.
Chapter 5
Doing the Math: The Pluses and Minuses of CBD
IN THIS CHAPTER
You’ve picked up a book on CBD. You’re curious; maybe you have a condition that has been hard to treat, or you have symptoms from a chronic condition and aren’t happy with the current options. That feeling is totally understandable, and you’re completely right to pursue something a little off the beaten track if you aren’t finding the relief you need.
Surprise: This chapter looks at some general pros and cons regarding CBD use. There’s no shortage of chatter about the potential benefits of CBD, but proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that CBD does what marketers and brands say it does has been hard. Supposed benefits include relief from fibromyalgia, advanced arthritis, sleeplessness, fatigue, GI conditions, neuropathic conditions, topical inflammation, and chronic pain, among others. But the information available is basically some rudimentary science and some serious compilations of anecdotal/experiential evidence, so no one can say with 100 percent certainty CBD does any one thing. It is largely recognized by scientists, researchers, and users alike to alleviate symptoms of inflammation, which is a component of tons of conditions, including the ones I just mentioned.
Beyond the sheer volume of misinformation