How To Make Cannabis Capsules Step-By-Step
- 1. Why make your own capsules?
- 2. Ingredients and material
- 3. How to make cannabis capsules step-by-step
- 3. a. Decarboxylation
- 3. b. Making you cannabis capsules
- 4. The pros and cons of cannabis capsules
- 4. a. Cons
- 4. b. Pros
- 5. Cannabis capsules and microdosing
- 5. a. What is microdosing?
- 5. b. How to start microdosing?
- 6. In conclusion
As cannabis seeds become more popular all over the world, new ways of consuming precious cannabinoids are becoming more popular, so here’s a way to medicate without dealing with the smoke or smell. Cannabis capsules are really easy to make and allow you to medicate at any time while only needing weed, gelatin capsules, and coconut oil. Cannabis capsules are an easy and efficient way to put cannabinoids to good use. Unlike taking extracts straight out of a bottle or syringe, they involve zero mess. The ability to unscrew the lid of a bottle, pick out a couple of capsules and slam them down the hatch makes them an attractive choice for recreational users looking for an easy high, or medicinal users that need to take cannabis extracts on a routine basis. If dosed correctly, cannabis capsules also serve as a means to consume a measured and accurate amount of extract.
No longer do you have to risk taking too much and getting far too stoned, or not enough and falling victim to disappointment. Finally, because taking cannabis capsules is classed as oral ingestion, it offers a different way of feeling the effects of your favorite herb. Unlike smoking and vaping, oral administration sends cannabinoids, such as THC, through the digestive tract. From here, THC passes through one of our major detoxification organs—the liver. During processing, THC is converted into a metabolite known as 11-hydroxy-THC. Much like THC, this degradation compound binds to the CB1 receptor of the endocannabinoid system within the human brain. This causes a subsequent wave of dopamine and the feeling of being high. However, 11-hydroxy-THC binds much more potently to this important site. Hence, edible cannabis products catalyze a much more intense and prolonged psychoactive experience.
1. Why Make Your Own Capsules?
As medical cannabis legalizes and cannabis consumption grows, you will find products that are not up to par with the quality standards followed by most legal countries and unfortunately, this can be dangerous, depending on where you live.
There have been cases of people getting hospitalized due to consuming extracts that haven’t been purged properly and still contain solvents, so to help our readers, we’ll teach you how to make a 100% safe extract using basic ingredients.
2. Ingredients And Material
So, first of all, here are the things you’ll need. Even if you don’t already have some of these things at home, they’re relatively easy to find, the hardest being good quality buds.
Buds
This recipe is designed to be made with 5.5g of good-quality buds but you can make it with trimmings or less (or more) weed, depending on the potency you prefer.
Extra virgin coconut oil
You’ll need 60ml of coconut oil, coconut oils are preferred because it’s healthy, has a nice smell and it’s easy to work with but you can use whatever oil you want.
“00” gelatin capsules
These capsules are where you’ll put your cannabis oil, so make sure you buy good capsules, they can be found online, at pharmacies, or at health stores, depending on where you live.
Slow cooker
As when making infused butter, for example, you need a slow cooker that has a “warm” setting to avoid evaporating the terpenes and cannabinoids.
Cheesecloth
You’ll need an effective way to strain the plant material out of the oil, you can use whatever you want but a cheesecloth will prevent tiny pieces from going through.
No-needle syringe
As you may know, the capsules will be super small so it’s almost impossible to fill them up without making a mess so the syringe serves to be able to fill the capsules without spilling precious oil.
3. How To Make Cannabis Capsules Step-By-Step
Here’s a short version for those who already have experience when making this type of cannabis product.
- Grind the buds
- Decarboxylate
- Mix weed with oil in slow cooker.
- Cook on warm or medium setting for 3 hours.
- Strain and fill capsules.
But, if you want the full detailed guide, read along for the complete step-by-step.
Decarboxylation
So, first of all, you will need to decarboxylate your weed, it doesn’t matter if you’re using buds, hash, extracts, or trimmings, you will have to activate the cannabinoids, have in mind that this can end up stinking your house so take the proper measures.
Step 1
Preheat oven to around 107°C and cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Step 2
Weigh your cannabis and grind it, have in mind that you shouldn’t grind it completely, just break it into smaller pieces.
Step 3
Spread the ground up cannabis all over the baking sheet, make sure you spread it evenly so it decarboxylates thoroughly.
Step 4
Place the baking sheet in the oven for around 1h, just remember that all ovens are different so you should keep an eye, once the weed has turned slightly brown, it’s ready.
Making you cannabis capsules
Now that you have your weed decarboxylated and ready to go, it’s time to make your capsules, so store your decarboxylated cannabis in a container and follow the steps.
Step 1
Plug in your slow cooker and let it heat up.
Step 2
Add 60ml (around ¼ of a cup) of the coconut oil to the slow cooker.
Step 3
Grab your decarboxylated weed and grind it into a fine powder, you can use your grinder or a food processor.
Step 4
Add the finely-ground plant material into the slow cooker and make sure the coconut oil completely covers it.
Step 5
Let the oil + coconut oil in the slow cooker cook for 3hs, mixing it once an hour. Make sure you don’t use a plastic spoon to stir it because it may affect the flavor of the final mixture.
Step 6
Remove the cap of 50 capsules and get them ready to be filled.
Step 7
Get a small glass bowl or any small container, fold a piece of cheesecloth over the top and place a rubber band to hold it in place.
Step 8
Turn off the slow cooker and let the mixture cool down for around 15 min, once it has cooled down, get a spoon and pour the contents on top of the cheesecloth so you strain the plant material.
Step 9
After you’ve strained everything, remove the rubber band and fold the cheesecloth so you can squeeze out all the oil absorbed by the plant material.
Step 10
Dispose of the plant material and cheesecloth safely so no animals end up eating it.
Step 11
Use the syringe to suck up the oil and fill in the capsules, make sure you don’t overfill the capsules.
Step 12
Close the capsules and place them in a container, you must keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to consume them. Have in mind that they might change color due to the coconut oil solidifying but there’s no problem at all.
4. The Pros and Cons Of Cannabis Capsules
Apart from being easier to consume than smoking a joint or taking a dab, there are several other benefits to capsules that completely overshadow the cons, although you should have in mind that there is a downside to cannabis capsules.
Cons
- Takes time to experience the effects
A disadvantage of cannabis capsules is that you may have to wait up to 2hs before feeling the full effect of the cannabinoids, just like edible, capsules need to be absorbed by the digestive system so you should have that in mind when consuming cannabis this way.
Pros
- Convenient
Cannabis capsules are super convenient if you need to medicate throughout the day because you don’t need a lighter, a bong, a pipe, or even rolling papers. This is highly convenient especially to parents who need either THC or CBD to medicate their kids.
- Easy to make
Cannabis capsules are easier to make than edibles, not only you won’t have to bake cookies or brownies to medicate but you won’t be consuming sugar, which is a great benefit. Also, nobody will eat them accidentally, which is a huge pro if you have kids at home.
- No respiratory harm
Due to the lack of carburation when ingesting pills, you won’t be inhaling smoke which can be a danger for people with respiratory problems or for those who smoke a lot. Avid smokers usually deal with respiratory irritations and other problems that will be avoided when consuming cannabis this way.
- Potency
As you may know, when eating edibles the effect may be much stronger than when smoking cannabis, and this is the case with capsules. Also, orally ingested weed can be more potent because you are not destroying cannabinoids like it happens when vaporizing or carburating.
5. Cannabis Capsules and Microdosing
Microdosing is a practice usually associated with other substances such as LSD and mushrooms but microdosing cannabis has become popular in the cannabis community as consumers want to enjoy cannabis without affecting their everyday chores or productivity in general.
What is microdosing?
As the name suggests, microdosing consists of consuming tiny amounts of a certain substance throughout the day, instead of one large dose at once, in order to get mild and sustained effects. With psychedelics such as LSD, consumers would ingest small doses throughout the day to boost creativity, for example. With cannabis, it’s fairly similar although the goal is not to feel high, if you’re feeling high when microdosing you’re not microdosing correctly! When microdosing cannabis, you want an almost unnoticeable effect that will not affect your work or chores while still providing a light relaxing effect that will help you deal with stress and can even boost creativity and enhance productivity in some cases. Microdosing also can be used by medical patients who don’t want to deal with the side effects of consuming high doses of THC as consuming THC in large doses can cause panic attacks, for example, but at low doses can have therapeutic effects.
How to start microdosing?
If you’re looking to start microdosing cannabis, the first step is to find the right dosage as everyone is different. In order to find the right dosage, it will take some experimenting and it’s a delicate process as you will have to consume relatively large and low doses until you find the right amount.
The best day to do so is to write down how much weed or weed product you consume per day, and if you’re buying your cannabis products in a dispensary, write down the total THC percentage as this will help you find the right amount. But in the case that you cannot do this, a good starting point is 1 - 2.5 milligrams of THC. So start with this THC dosage for a few days and gradually increase 1 milligram every couple of days until you find the sweet spot, you will know it’s the right dosage when experiencing the effect.
6. In Conclusion
Cannabis capsules are of great help, even though it’s not the same as smoking a joint, it’s the only resources for some medicinal patients and can be of great benefit for those looking to microdose with cannabinoids. If you have your own recipe or some tips to make better quality cannabis capsules, please help fellow growers, leave a comment in the comment section below!
External references
- Prescribing medicinal cannabis. Australian Prescriber. - Arnold, Jonathon & Nation, Tamara & McGregor, Iain. (2020).
- Medicinal cannabis. - van den Elsen, Geke & Hout, Florentien & Vries, Marjan & Rikkert, Marcel & Kramers, C & Verkes, Robbert-Jan. (2019).
