My concentrate gummies are way too weak. Decarbing correctly?

H E L P me with these weak ass gummies!! Now, before everyone tells me I’m not decarbing my concentrates properly, I’m decarbing 40-45 min at 250 and my resins definitely bubble/lightly brown so I know they’re doing something in there. Also, I’m using MCT and lecithin in my recipe.

I decided I wanted to try to make my own gummies bc buying them became rather pricey. I’ve read so many how tos and watched a lot of videos—I’m able to make a good batch and even get suitably high off of them. But here’s the problem – – the potency is way off. And by way off, I mean *super weak*.

Example: One batch using a 3.5 ounce box of Jell-O and two packets of Knox gelatin yields about 90 small gummies. The first time I tried it, I used 1g but I didn’t have much luck and I contributed that to not decarbing it long enough. In my next batch, I used 1.5 g of concentrate and while I could feel them, I found myself needing *8 to 10* gummies per dose, which was surprising. If I follow dosage charts, that’s a pretty heavy dosage of cannabis. (FYI—I don’t need that much, with good store-bought gummies, I take 20 to 30 mg (2-3) and I’m set.)

I decided to play with the amounts of concentrate, increasing them until I was doubling the potency, adding *3g* of concentrate to a batch and *I hardly noticed a difference*. I’m still taking up to 10 gummies without getting overly high. Potency calculations say that should be absolutely impossible. 8.5% of a 3g batch should have me on the floor. What the funk am I doing wrong here?

I cannot be spending $300 a week on homemade edibles. It’s frankly cheaper to buy them. That really defeats the purpose, yes? Notes: I have tried 8 to 10 different concentrates, so I know it isn’t a strain or supplier issue.

I also want to add that I’m coming off a rather recent 9 day T break (early June), so I’m certainly not over-tolerant.

KerryAileen said:

H E L P me with these weak ass gummies!! Now, before everyone tells me I’m not decarbing my concentrates properly, I’m decarbing 40-45 min at 250 and my resins definitely bubble/lightly brown so I know they’re doing something in there. Also, I’m using MCT and lecithin in my recipe.

I decided I wanted to try to make my own gummies bc buying them became rather pricey. I’ve read so many how tos and watched a lot of videos—I’m able to make a good batch and even get suitably high off of them. But here’s the problem – – the potency is way off. And by way off, I mean *super weak*.

Example: One batch using a 3.5 ounce box of Jell-O and two packets of Knox gelatin yields about 90 small gummies. The first time I tried it, I used 1g but I didn’t have much luck and I contributed that to not decarbing it long enough. In my next batch, I used 1.5 g of concentrate and while I could feel them, I found myself needing *8 to 10* gummies per dose, which was surprising. If I follow dosage charts, that’s a pretty heavy dosage of cannabis. (FYI—I don’t need that much, with good store-bought gummies, I take 20 to 30 mg (2-3) and I’m set.)

I decided to play with the amounts of concentrate, increasing them until I was doubling the potency, adding *3g* of concentrate to a batch and *I hardly noticed a difference*. I’m still taking up to 10 gummies without getting overly high. Potency calculations say that should be absolutely impossible. 8.5% of a 3g batch should have me on the floor. What the funk am I doing wrong here?

I cannot be spending $300 a week on homemade edibles. It’s frankly cheaper to buy them. That really defeats the purpose, yes? Notes: I have tried 8 to 10 different concentrates, so I know it isn’t a strain or supplier issue.

I also want to add that I’m coming off a rather recent 9 day T break (early June), so I’m certainly not over-tolerant.

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Are you decarbing your concentrate alone, or in mct oil?

Alone being better as oil can insulate and the canna oil doesn't get hot enough.

I wait until 100% of the bubbles stop. The first and bigger bubbles are water, the finer bubbles co2 signaling a decarb taking place.

Are you positive on the concentrates potency and have you weighed them after decarbing? The weight will drop after decarbing as it loses a acid molecule.

You didnt mention much about your concentrate but maybe rso/feco or an isolate, being decarbed already, would work better.

If you are using some plant material you didn’t like
You aren’t likely to get the potency you are after
For me it’s all about the quality I start with

Have you ever thought about just decarbing your cannabis, the way you're doing it (because it's correct), and putting in it in gelatin capsules? Your experience may be totally different than mine (as is my wife's), but I do 1 gram of very, finely ground cannabis buds encapsulated in a 00 gelatin capsule, four times a day, and it works for me.

Charles U Farley said:

but I do 1 gram of very, finely ground cannabis buds encapsulated in a 00 gelatin capsule, four times a day, and it works for me.

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4 grams per day? Or 1 gram taken four times a day?

Dry? If so, have you ever add coconut oil and lecithin to the decarbed ground buds?

4 grams per day? Or 1 gram taken four times a day?

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Not sure I understand, both = 4 gms/24 hours.

Dry? If so, have you ever add coconut oil and lecithin to the decarbed ground buds?

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Totally dry, and I thought about trying coco oil or lecithin but thought it would take up space that would better be utilized by more cannabis.

Seriously, I've done much cannaoil, I preferred canola, but never bought into the "reduced surface tension from lecithin increases absorption" postulate. Gastric acid in addition to the liver converting decarbed THC into 11-hydroxy-THC to cross the blood/brain barrier is good enough for me.

shredder4 said:

Are you decarbing your concentrate alone, or in mct oil?

Alone being better as oil can insulate and the canna oil doesn't get hot enough.

I wait until 100% of the bubbles stop. The first and bigger bubbles are water, the finer bubbles co2 signaling a decarb taking place.

Are you positive on the concentrates potency and have you weighed them after decarbing? The weight will drop after decarbing as it loses a acid molecule.

You didnt mention much about your concentrate but maybe rso/feco or an isolate, being decarbed already, would work better.

Click to expand...

I’m decarbing my concentrates alone. I do add my tbsp of MCT oil to it once it’s done (or I’m assuming it’s done, anyhow) before I add both into my jello mixture bc it seems to help get any stray concentrate easily out of the Pyrex ramekin I use. I’m using live resins/sugars/jellies, generally with no lower than an 80% THCA content. I’m not sure how to weigh them after decarbing– – do you mean to weigh the ramekin before it goes in the oven, and then weigh it again when it comes out (accounting, of course got the weight of the ramekin)? I just feel like I should be getting more than 10-12 edible doses out of 3g of concentrate, no? Especially when I don’t have a super high tolerance or anything? IDK. Seems sus.

Charles U Farley said:

Have you ever thought about just decarbing your cannabis, the way you're doing it (because it's correct), and putting in it in gelatin capsules? Your experience may be totally different than mine (as is my wife's), but I do 1 gram of very, finely ground cannabis buds encapsulated in a 00 gelatin capsule, four times a day, and it works for me.

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I haven’t—I haven’t used flower in a very long time, but I recall the days I’d cook with an eighth of shake in college and 12 ppl would get ROCKED from that meal so I’m seriously considering going back to it.

I think you're only ended up around 12mg THC per gummy if the 80% and 1.5g are correct. You may have a higher tolerance than that.

Charles U Farley said:

"reduced surface tension from lecithin increases absorption"

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Lecithin emulsifies, but it also breaks down cannabis oil molecules. And smaller oil molecules more easily gets through our digestive walls much better for better absorption. I've tried it both ways and adding oil/ lecithin makes a huge difference in effects.

KerryAileen said:

I’m using live resins/sugars/jellies, generally with no lower than an 80% THCA content. I’m not sure how to weigh them after decarbing– – do you mean to weigh the ramekin before it goes in the oven, and then weigh it again when it comes out (accounting, of course got the weight of the ramekin)? I just feel like I should be getting more than 10-12 edible doses out of 3g of concentrate, no?

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If you know how much your container weighs then its just math.

I agree you definitely should have greater effects from your concentrates. Something seems fishy.

LeastExpectedGrower said:

I think you're only ended up around 12mg THC per gummy if the 80% and 1.5g are correct. You may have a higher tolerance than that.

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I’m now at 3g per batch at an average of 8 gummies per dose, or 1/12 of the batch. So that’s 8x24….192mg is bonkers strong for me and for most. As I said, before I started making them myself, 3 10mg gummies were plenty so I’m completely at a loss as to why mine are so weak and therefore so crazy expensive. I love using concentrate because it lets me control the strain, but not at an average of 250-300 a week.

At 3g/80% you'd be looking at ~24mg per gummy, so you definitely have something wrong in your process, and obviously the place most likely to be at fault is the decarb. I'd try to decarb with MCT and see if that fixes things for you. I decarb before I get to the concentrate stage myself, but that would be an easy place to work from, given you're using the oil in your recipe anyway.

makes a huge difference in effects

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Thanks for the link, I'll give it a shot.

Are you getting good emulsion between your oils and your gelatin or is any separation occuring?

It seems like I am. At first I was using powdered lecithin, but it was pretty difficult to incorporate into the mixture and created a lot of foam at the top of the Jell-O mixture (and that’s mainly what didn’t make it’s way into the gummies.) I’m not sure if that’s an emulsifying issue or just a by product of the process. I did switch to ‘liquid’ lecithin, which while easier and less foamy, didn’t seem to make a difference in the potency.

Hi, I want to tell you my own recipe for decarbing, making canna oil and using that to make gummies. I use 1.5-2 loose cups of flower (no shake), busting them down as small as I can by hand. Preheat oven to 240F. Crumple foil then spread it out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle the crumbled bud across it. I bake it for 30 minutes. While it is baking I prepare 1 cup of peanut oil in an electric skillet we bought on purpose to control temps. After I decarb the buds I dump them straight into the heating oil. The skillet is set at about 180F. I leave it there, stirring gently every few hours, for up to 15 hours. I strain it with cheesecloth and put it into a jelly canning jar in the fridge. When I make gummies I use (1) 6 oz box of Jello and 4 pkgs of gelatin, 1/2c water and soften it all in a saucepan. Turn on the heat and keep stirring til it boils for a few minutes. Take it off the heat, let it cool for a minute or so, then add 1-2 tsp of lecithin, 1 tsp of citric acid and 1/4 cup of canna oil. I use a small whisk to get everything smooth. I keep a 2 cup measuring cup close by, and pour all the blended contents into it, then pour out truffle sized gummies into 2 silicone molds sitting on a cookie sheet. When all is poured out, the cookie sheet goes in the fridge for 1+ hours to set up. That way I get 15-20 gummies that I can divide up.

Sometimes I use homemade strawberry jelly in it too, adding up to 1/2 cup as I begin to boil the mixture. The pectin does not break it down as long as there are the 4 unflavored gelatins in there too. They are delicious! Very potent. I cut one in half and eat it about 8pm, and by 10 or so I'm happily enjoying the eyelid cinema and some tv until the sleepiness kicks in, then I go to bed around 12 or 1 and sleep like a baby. I get both the party and the medicine. First time I tried without lecithin and it separated and I was eating a gummy with a thick oily base, kinda gross. So, the lecithin. I've been increasing my bud with each new oil I make, testing strengths. My newest was made from Big Altai Express, a black flowering Siberian strain that is a 100% sativa landrace. it is the mildest sativa I've ever enjoyed, with a great psychedelic effect, and it does not make me agitated or anxious. Most sativa does. I am careful to harvest it with a little bit of amber to help calm it down so my head doesn't explode. Its been my favorite strain for a few years now, though we grow here many strains both inside and out. The plate in the picture is a salad plate.

Thank you for this. Truly. I came of age in the 90s, and I always cooked with flower. Big “potluck dinners“ for all my friends in college, and we (MANY of us) would get completely hammered off a 1/4 sautéed down in oil and put into sauce (dinner) and brownies (dessert ofc). I don’t trust concentrates, and I don’t think I’m gonna go back to them. Also, my tolerance got so crazy high – – I’m on day 5 of a self-imposed 30 day break due to ingesting far too much concentrate bc weak ass gummies. I love this, and when I try making edibles again, I will definitely be going back to flower. Thank you for the advice.

KerryAileen said:

H E L P me with these weak ass gummies!! Now, before everyone tells me I’m not decarbing my concentrates properly, I’m decarbing 40-45 min at 250 and my resins definitely bubble/lightly brown so I know they’re doing something in there. Also, I’m using MCT and lecithin in my recipe.

I decided I wanted to try to make my own gummies bc buying them became rather pricey. I’ve read so many how tos and watched a lot of videos—I’m able to make a good batch and even get suitably high off of them. But here’s the problem – – the potency is way off. And by way off, I mean *super weak*.

Example: One batch using a 3.5 ounce box of Jell-O and two packets of Knox gelatin yields about 90 small gummies. The first time I tried it, I used 1g but I didn’t have much luck and I contributed that to not decarbing it long enough. In my next batch, I used 1.5 g of concentrate and while I could feel them, I found myself needing *8 to 10* gummies per dose, which was surprising. If I follow dosage charts, that’s a pretty heavy dosage of cannabis. (FYI—I don’t need that much, with good store-bought gummies, I take 20 to 30 mg (2-3) and I’m set.)

I decided to play with the amounts of concentrate, increasing them until I was doubling the potency, adding *3g* of concentrate to a batch and *I hardly noticed a difference*. I’m still taking up to 10 gummies without getting overly high. Potency calculations say that should be absolutely impossible. 8.5% of a 3g batch should have me on the floor. What the funk am I doing wrong here?

I cannot be spending $300 a week on homemade edibles. It’s frankly cheaper to buy them. That really defeats the purpose, yes? Notes: I have tried 8 to 10 different concentrates, so I know it isn’t a strain or supplier issue.

I also want to add that I’m coming off a rather recent 9 day T break (early June), so I’m certainly not over-tolerant.

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Reminds me of the time I made some butter and didn't Think the residuals in the bowl would matter. So I sliced potatoes into that bowl and fried them up for me and the old lady. Then we went for a ride and I finally realized we were both sailing and figured out it had to be from the residue. It wasn't too much, just a nice buzz.

Moral of the story: Make it easy on yourself and just make butter in the slow cooker from good ol' bud.