Batch Variability and consistency

Hash and Stuff Edibles
1

Hey all,
i just started as a pastry chef for a new upstart edibles company and we have been having some consistency issues when we are testing our products. Currently we are only offering a variety of rice crispys using distillate (waiting for permits to build out our kitchen).

For the life of me, i cant figure out whats going wrong. Anybody have any suggestions i can try? and special machinery i should look for??

any help or suggestions help, thank you.

1 Like
2

Are you making the distillate in house? Are you homogenizing the distillate before testing? How are you mixing the distillate into your edibles?

2 Likes
3

You say that you are making rice crispys using distillate so im guessing you are mixing distillate with butter then making your rice crispy recipe? if so id think your inconsistency is coming from the fact your portion of the snack thats infused(butter or whatever fat) is very hard/ near impossible to consistently mix in with larger objects like puffed rice ? just my guess

1 Like
4

Hi. Welcome to F4200! :slight_smile:

I had some questions about your process.

  1. How are you taking the sample to submit for testing?
  2. Do you know what kind of testing they are doing at the lab where the testing is occuring?
  3. Is the method you are using like snorwax said - mixing the distillate into the butter, or are you using a different method?
  4. When you say “consistency issues” for testing your products - can you be more specific? Are you expecting potency level X and getting Y? Or are you having different crispies from the same batch coming out with different levels? Or is it across batch differences you are looking at?
  5. Are you always using the same ingredients and method for making your edibles?
  6. tetrametylsilane has some good questions too - how are you homogenizing your starting material and at each ingredient mixing step? Are things being kept at temperature?
  7. What is your potency in milligrams per gram of edible supposed to be? Sometimes if you have really low micro doses it can be even harder to get consistency.

Looking forward to walking this adventure with you. There’s always something new to uncover and solve here on F4200.

2 Likes
5

Welcome to the community if you like I’ll give you a free hand on how to properly disperse your mixture into the batches & can help formulate if needed. I will MAKE SURE all math is correct & proper above board for you. :call_me_hand:t3:

1 Like
6

we are using coconut oil as our carrier for the distillate

7

we buy our distillate from a local manufacturer. we use coconut oils as our carrier and yes the mixture is homogenized before its added to the product

1 Like
8

hey thanks for the response, im happy to be here.

  1. we randomly select pieces from each batch to send to the lab

  2. i was told, just standardized THC cannabinoid testing

  3. we use coconut oil to carry the distillate then it is homogenized

  4. all our edibles are 150mg, and portions from the same batch are testing a different levels

  5. same ingredients and same procedure everytime

  6. we use a homogenization device, (not sure of the brand)

  7. 150mg per crispy

9

that would be amazing, im really struggling with this

1 Like
10

Dm me whenever :call_me_hand:t3:

1 Like
11

I’d be happy to help as well if you want to shoot me a DM if you have no other solutions yet. I cook often as a hobby and have experience doing formulation chemistry and producing my own edibles, although they have been primarily gummies.

12

What’s the mass variability between individual crispies?

13

what do you mean? (sorry, very new to this side of the industry)

14

When the rice crispies are finished, does each individual piece (serving) weigh the same amount?

15

yes, plus or minus 5g

16

What’s that 5g difference equate to in terms of mg THC? I assume you have a theoretical mass that ideally each individual serving will weigh? And at that mass it should have X mg of THC. If the mass is off by 5g what’s the difference in mass of THC in the serving?

I make chocolates and a 5g difference b/w servings will have a huge difference on the potency. I’m sure your crispies weigh a lot more than my 5g chocolates though.

17

Is there a pattern with the differences in potency results? Are the consistently testing lower than they should? Consistently higher? Or are some high and others low?

I had an issue with potency coming back considerably lower that was not resolved until the testing lab adjusted their sample prep method to work with some of the ingredients in the edible.

Also, when you mix the distillate into the coconut oil, how long are you mixing for? What is the tool that you’re using? Can you describe the details of that part of the process some more.

1 Like
18

Whats the potency of your distillate?

Are you taking that into account every time you get a new batch of disty?

If not then that’s probably where your variability is coming from. Also, +/- 5g seems like a lot to me. You should probably try to dial it in to less than 5g honestly.

How big are these treats?

Lets say the disty is 5% of your total formulation and your distillate is 87% THC. You need to adjust your percentage of disty to make it actually 5% total active. Very simple equation 5% / 0.87 = 5.75%

If you’re having inconsistencies across the batch then there is another idea that comes to mind. When you get a jar of disty and the potency is 87% I would hope that they homogenized their distillate before taking a sample. If they didn’t then the results you have could be skewed. If they did and you are the one not homogenizing the distillate before sampling then that could be the issue. THC is a dense molecule and will tend to sink to the bottom of your jar of distillate. Lets say you use 1/4th of the jar at a time. The first fourth is much less potent than the last fourth if your jar has been sitting for a while. Also, you said you are using coconut oil as your carrier oil, I personally would switch to MCT or sunflower oil. A lot easier to homogenize than clumpy coconut oil.

Hopefully that helps! Answering some of the questions posed above will also help get you on the right track. Let me know if you have further questions and I can try and think through this a little more completely with you.

19

See: How do you Homogenize?

Then VERY specifically tell us about all the steps in your process.

Realistically, you’re either failing to homogenize your distillate into your coconut oil, or you’re failing to homogenize your coconut oil into your rice crispies.

3 Likes