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‘After the Show’ Notes

Hi, Jo. Have you ever heard of or used a Nova Decarboxylator? Since I love edibles I have been debating buying one and would love to hear your review or thoughts.

Best, Bill

Hi, Bill. It’s taken me so long to get back to you that you may have already pulled the trigger on that Nova Decarboxylator. If you did, let me know what you think. I don’t own one myself but I’m familiar with the product and ones similar to it. Here’s my take on it.

If you aren’t confident in the kitchen or you don’t like being hands-on in the process of cooking then a device like the Nova Dercaboxylator by Ardent Cannabis is a smart tool for you to invest in. It will give you easy instructions and guide you through measurements and the steps. But, if you enjoy being in the kitchen and experimenting with cannabis then I don’t think you need to spend $210 - $350 for a kitchen accessory to make your cannabis-infused oil. If you’re trying to buy less stuff and have fewer gadgets in the cabinets, making infused oil isn’t complicated.

I recognize some of you don’t love math and conversions to figure out the right dosage… and that makes you anxious about making your own oil. So below I’m sharing the step-by-step instructions that I wrote up for my girl Rose.

Doing the Math to Cook With Cannabis

1. First off, the goal is to figure out the milligrams of CBD per milliliter of MCT Oil. 

2. "Per" means divided by... So the mg of CBD divided by mL of MCT Oil will tell us the mg/mL

STEP ONE: TURN CBD (or THC) GRAMS TO MILLIGRAMS

Example: 10 grams = 10,000mg of CBD total

STEP TWO: CONVERT CARRIER OIL TO MILLILITERS

Example: 3/4 of a cup of MCT oil = 6 fl oz 

6 fl oz of MCT oil = 177.44 mL MCT oil

STEP THREE: FIND MILLIGRAMS OF CBD PER MILLILITER OF CARRIER OIL

So based on our example, 10,000 mg TOTAL CBD divided by 177.44 mL TOTAL MCT oil = 56.357mg CBD per mL of MCT oil

(Rose, if you're still using the same bottles, a 1oz container holds 29.574 mL of fluid.)

STEP FOUR: DISCOVER TOTAL CBD PER 1OZ CONTAINER - Your final answer! :)

So if we multiply the 56.357mg of CBD FROM STEP THREE by 29.574 of MCT oil to fit in the 1oz container = 1,667mg of CBD per 1oz container.

PRO TIP 1: Get a converter app on your smartphone so you can make sure you can figure measurements to fit into the formula I shared with you. (cups or fluid ounces to milliliters) 

PRO TIP 2: You can dilute it by changing the amount of oil in step two.

Edibles & Cooking With Cannabis

Prep and Process:

1. Before you begin, determine the best storage solution based on the infused oil you plan to make (butter molds, small jars, oil cruet, etc.)

2. Make room in the freezer to accommodate a tray of your finished product for rapid cooling.

3. Place the jar of coconut oil in a hot water bath so as to liquefy enough to transfer from the jar into a double-boiler set-up.

   1. Alternative Method: If you don’t have a double-boiler, place a medium-sized saucepan in a larger pot of hot water that you’ll continue to refill. The goal is to simmer the oil without burning it.

4. Cut a large square of cheesecloth and cooking twine - you’re preparing a sachet for the cannabis

5. Use a hand grinder to create a coarse texture of the cannabis. Be cautious using a coffee grinder or food processor. You don’t want the flower too fine. It will give you a sharper, more pronounced flavor profile. And I figure you’d rather NOT taste a lot of weed.

6. Place ground cannabis in a pile on the cheesecloth and wrap like a burrito - be sure to completely close up the ends - wrap and tie securely with the cooking twine.

7. Submerge the cannabis sachet into the liquefied oil and simmer. The ideal temperature is around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. You want the little bubbles forming in the oil around the pan, but never a rolling boil. This low-and-slow oil bath will decarboxylate your cannabis so I skip the oven step. You can decide for yourself. Check out these nerdy details on boiling points of cannabinoids and terpenes, plus decarb’ing and infusing everything you can think of.

8. Continue monitoring the temperature and checking the water levels in your double-boiler. Stir the oil and roll the sachet periodically to make sure it is fully submerged and saturated.  The longer you let the two marinate in the low-heat, the more cannabinoids and terpenes will be present in the final infusion. Time: 4-6hrs.

9. Remove oil from the heat source and let cool for 20-30 minutes. 

10. Cut a piece of cheesecloth and place it across the top of a funnel and filter the oil from the pan into a pourable measuring cup. From there transfer into your molds or smaller containers.

11. Place the baking sheet of molds into the freezer to set. This is an important step to maintain the integrity, color, and texture of the finished product. 

Highly Responsible Tip: Always test out your handy work and determine the dosage strength before sharing it with friends and family.

Hiya, Johanna, Talk about Casually Baked Karma…….while listening to the Corona Virus PSA, on my nightstand was Dr. Rangan Chatterjee’s book “How to Make Diseases Disappear.” The book was marked at page 80, and the content was discussing the immune system activity that takes place in and around the gut. Wow. Elyon was spot on with the science as well as being an excellent communicator. Thank you both! I guess we all have to go one step beyond the 3-day survival kits we should all have and perhaps extend that to 2 weeks for these emerging diseases.

I much appreciate the work you do. You have a strong and very positive impact.....thank you. Any guidance for an old school toker like myself during this coronavirus outbreak? I worry about my lungs, not that I smoke a lot BUT, maybe I switch to edibles or pills for my medicine. Hope you can touch on this in a future podcast. Blessings….. Peter

Peter, Thanks so much, as always, for passing along your thoughts and experiences with the content. 

To answer your question, Yes, It is certainly smart to choose alternate methods of consumption over combusting. However, I'm not an extremist one way or the other. So, Yes, I too, am smoking a bit less. But I'm still smoking a couple of bowls a day, and also vaping concentrate once or twice a day.

I think the overall big picture of how you're caring for yourself is what I'd like for you to consider. Myself as an example... I believe maintaining a daily wellness routine is critical. I start my morning with a prebiotic cleanse cocktail that I add beet powder concentrate to, along with my various tinctures, and elderberry syrup. I use that to wash down my probiotics. I also rinse my mouth with a couple of tablespoons of molecula silver and then swallow it. I didn’t say molecular silver. But MOLECULA Silver. It is antiviral and antifungal, and molecula silver behaves like a gas in your body and can permeate the cells. I've been taking molecula silver regularly since 2012. Anytime I've ever gotten a sore throat or start feeling sick, I double down on my molecula silver in-take, and I win. My body takes down whatever was creeping in.

I also ozonate my drinking water, which I discussed with Elyon in Potcast 123. and use that to clean and rinse my veggies. And I'm using my netty pot to flush my sinuses where pathogens can linger. I'm also staying my ass at home! Last week I went to the post office twice and the grocery store once. I'm less worried about my cannabis smoking habits when I'm not engaging with others in close proximity.

But I recognize we're all different ages, with varying existing conditions, and living situations. So the most important thing I can recommend is to listen to your body. And there are a few easy ways to do that.

Morning meditation and 10-20 minutes of breathing and stretching are great "listening" activities. While we're listening and noticing how we feel, these activities feed and flush our brains, bodies, and nervous system. Refreshing the oxygen in our blood and massaging our organs is an important daily rinse - especially with less physical activity than normal. I think ignoring this piece can make all of the other good things we're doing for our bodies moot. 

So keep moving. Keep listening to your body. Reconnect with yourself and your family. Find things to rave about. Do things that make you laugh or bring you joy. And turn off the mainstream news. Instead, explore ideas through books, podcasts, and picking up a blank piece of paper and letting inspiration decide what happens next. And if you’re not up for another Zoom hangout, just say no. It’s perfectly okay to feel anti-social. I’ve been missing hugs more than people these days, and I’m just going with it. I invite you to unapologetically be the center of your own universe right now and do what feels good.

I’m sending lots of love and happy, healthy vibes to you as we ride this crazy train together. But separate.

-Jo, your cannabis lifestyle guide

#WorkFromHomeLife

Work from home life is old-hat for me and I’ve been balancing the cannabis and work combo for years.

During our collective work-from-home status I bet a lot of you are experimenting with adding weed to your workday. Something you would normally not be able to do with carpool, and school dropoffs, and suiting up for big meetings at the office. Work has never been so casual. (And so revealing of people’s personal lives and style if you’re on a lot of Zoom meetings.) If you're curious to see what it’d be like to wake and bake your way into the day, I say go for it.

If people can dial into video meetings from their beds, you can explore being casually baked at the zoom team meeting.

But make sure you write down notes for anything you’re supposed to give an update on. The art is being casually baked and highly responsible. Pre-planning before you get high is the key. 

Being casually baked while working on a “thinking” type project or writing assignment is really helpful for me to get in the flow. Besides getting casually baked, having the right music helps create the vibe I need to do my best work. I also like to sprinkle in Scooby snack workouts and stretching breaks. I keep a couple of stretchy bands in my office space so I can multi-task - countering my keyboard posture with some back exercises while reading or reviewing audio. I also have a contoured floor mat by Ergodriven to stand on which keeps me moving. If you don’t have a standing desk, I bought a desk riser by VIVO about 6-months ago and it’s helped alleviate a lot of neck and shoulder pain. The one I got sits on top of your existing desk.

I think it’s a great time to dial in what you need to do your best work. If fear and anxiety are keeping you from being present right now, consider how and when you’re using your cannabis. Are you really treating it as medicine? Or are you still treating it like a recreational treat? You’re a grown-ass human and I encourage you to experiment in finding your optimum work-day method of consumption and dosage. Keep a dosage tracker and listen to your body. It might be one of the more beneficial additions to your daily routine. You won’t know if you don’t experiment.

Cheers to working smart, not hard.

-Jo

P.S. We’ve got a whole month and time on our hands. I bet we can find great ways to celebrate our relationship with cannabis. Let us know how you’re spending your 420 staycation in the comments below.