Does anyone have any insight as to which method is the best for making edibles? Should I use distillate or decarboxylated flower which are infused in oil or butter?
I understand the distillate is a lot easier to measure out and dose, but I’m more concerned on the cannabinoids that will be lost because of the temperature things will be cooked at.
Do you guys believe one will lose cannabinoid faster than the other?
Do they have different temperature in which they start to lose cannabinoids?
And I think my final question is, is it possible to make a canna butter or a canna oil without decarboxylating and allowing the decarboxylation to happen in the cooking process?
I’m not saying that we need to decarboxylate distillate I’m specifically talking about the flower but I am concerned on the distillate and the cannabinoid lose
Cannabutter and distillate is all personal preference in my opinion but for potency and better dosed edibles and for prices distillate is your best bet.
As for the oil part to infuse it into, depends what you’re making. Gummies or baking stuff like brownies and muffins and cookies or making cereal bars? Definitely distillate for those. Just have raw distillate on the side for when you’re making cereal bars or brownies and pour it into the butter or fat you’re using for the recipe, then mix it in. In my opinion mixing the distillate and butter before hand is a waste if you don’t know what your plan is. For gummies, I pour the distillate into the gummy mix about 30 minutes before I pull it off the heat to transfer to molds. For cereal bars, I melt butter in a big pot and pour my heated distillate in there after pouring out the weighed amount in a separate jar. Then I add marshmallows and melt that all together while mixing then add cereal.
For baked goods, depending what it is, for instance a cookie I would pour the warm distillate in after you mix the butter in as depending on some cookie recipes you do not melt the butter you simply let the butter soften. Cannabutter might be good for certain cookies but also mixing distillate into melted butter and letting it soften is a good idea for certain cookies. For brownies you will melt the butter usually so just mix in distillate into the melted butter. Same with muffins.
As for temps, imo it doesn’t matter too much as you aren’t cooking it for multiple hours and the internal temperature matters the most imo. You’re only cooking at 350-400 AT MAX depending on your baked good. On stovetop it’ll be cooler for things like gummies or cereal bars. Just don’t try searing a steak in a pan with cannabutter or distillate mixed butter lol that will burn the noids.
I have learned in the 2 years of making edibles and knowledge of baking and cooking from grandma and my ma, a lot of is personal preference
This is entirely a matter of personal preference. How much do you want to have your product taste like cannabis? A butter infusion (extraction) will taste much more of cannabis even at lower potency. Are you using delicate flavors like white chocolate? If so, distillate will allow one to not overpower the flavor of the food.
Incorrect. If one has the cannabutter tested prior to making your product, there is no difference in the math.
What makes you think you’re losing cannabinoids? I haven’t seen them disappear or isomerize with and edibles I’ve seen made or made myself.
No. Well, technically, yes it is possible, but the liklihood of achieving reasonable decarboxilation within the time-frame and temperature most edibles are cooked is slim to none, at best. You’ll burn whatever you’re making before enough has decarbed to take effect. Just use decarbed product of whatever variety for making THC based edibles. With non-decarbed extract, you’ll also be unsure how much active product you have in your food without testing. This can also change batch to batch, making consistency an issue.
That’s good, as ALL distillate is decarbed.
Use that magnifying glass in the upper right of your screen and see what the forum has to say about all this. Tons of threads on edibles.
@CapitalismSucks420 @Akoyeh thank you guys for your input and information. Have you guys ever sent your edibles to get tested and came back with the exact amount you were thinking give or take 0.5? I’ve run a couple tests and I find myself having to add more just to stay consistent and never below the advertised MG. For example let’s assume 1 mL of disty test at 900 MG per ML. I plan on making 5 mg gummy’s that means I would get 180 gummy pieces testing at 5mg. However, test do not reflect the 5mg. I find myself having to add 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 more just to stay above 5mg. I don’t think its mixing I do focus a lot on the mixing part.
This^^
Its all preference. But in general distillate is better for edibles, trim/material should be saved for extracts or smoking. Thats my opinion though. As its all personal preference.
Distillate is going to be the easiest
I wouldn’t worry about degradation in anything you’re baking. The treat will suffer noticeable degradation before the cannabinoids
Yes this
That is what I mean the most in my posts. Its WAY easier to use distillate, try them both you’ll see @Henry909
And yes you’ll burn the treat first if anything before you lose any noids. I’ve had solid reviews on everything infused wise since day 1
Eh, that’s subjective.
What if the recipe calls for 1/4 cup of butter but to get the thc you need it takes 1/3 of a cup…
Confusing…
My answer: yes
What’s confusing about what I wrote?
If your recipe calls for 1/4 cup of butter but to get the total thc volume you need it takes more butter like say 1/3 or even 1/2 a cup. Then you’re fucked……
Yes
Yes
Sorry just been a while since I’ve made cannabutter so I haven’t had to worry about that issue
Make the butter in bulk is what I do
Well did
Making butter in bulk isn’t the answer. Making strong butter is the answer
I would make 4 sticks of butter with an oz, so use strong flower material
That is enough imo
What you are talking about is a different problem altogether. Lack of potency in an extract/infusion is a separate issue. If the cannabinoid product being used has been tested, the math will not change whether one is using disty or infused butter.
OP is also looking to make lower dose edibles (sub 50mg/piece I’m guessing). Don’t think the potency of a butter infusion would be an issue, but if it was (and traditional cannabutter is the desired carrier), then it’s time to look for/experiment with new recipes or get better at infusing butter. 
Yup, strong butter not bulk
I’m just saying butter is a food item. You can’t add infinite amounts of it. If my disty was low in potency, I could add more and more to get to the right point. Can only add so much butter to anything.
This is all semantics. We agree. lol
I remember using 4.5 tablespoons of cannabutter for every 15 cereal bars
Remember id make it with an oz of flower for every 4 sticks and add less then 1/4 cup water to help draw any impurity’s, melted and did the same thing again just didn’t add water. I also wrapped decarbed flower in a cheesecloth
Making butter in bulk has nothing to do with potency.
You have more butter = more room for nailing the proper potency and masking flavor
More for potency
I just dont see a point in small batches