Question on cooking - Cannabis Forums Message Boards - Medical Marijuana, Cannabis Club, Dispensary, News

sd6515 · #1 (**permalink**) Nov-19-2007, 23:52

I am new to cooking with cannabis not at all to smoking and I was wondering if I had fresh harvest could I just make cannabutter etc. without drying it or do I have to dry it?

Thanks all

bogoljub777 · #2 (**permalink**) Nov-20-2007, 03:53

no i dont think you have to dry it to cook with it. i think fresh would be more potent.

Coelho · #3 (**permalink**) Nov-20-2007, 22:27

Fresh weed is not very good for cooking or smoking... most of its THC content is in form of THCa (THC-acid), which does NOT make you high... that why weed must be properly cured... cause the curing process allows the THCa be transformed in THC, which is the one which makes you high.
So, you MUST cure (or dry) your weed before cooking or smoking it. Cause even if you get high with fresh weed, you will get FAR HIGHERR if it were cured properly.

bogoljub777 · #4 (**permalink**) Nov-21-2007, 22:41

i disagree cohelo. i think thc is present in fresh plants. i think you can cook with fresh clippings.

you cna make hash with fresh clippings. why couldnt you eat it?

Coelho · #5 (**permalink**) Nov-22-2007, 00:37

Well... actually there is some THC in fresh weed, but the amount of it is GREATLY increased when the weed is properly cured.

Look at:
Frequently asked questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Link Above

In the plant the cannabinoids exist mainly in their carboxylic forms as cannabinoid acids. However, the phenolic form of THC is responsible for the psychotropic and the most medicinal effects. Decarboxylation (separation of CO2) to the phenolic form occurs readily over time, upon heating or under alkaline conditions.
The ratio of THC acids (THCA) to phenolic THC has been reported to range between 2:1 (Africa) and >20:1 (Switzerland) in leaves and flowers of Cannabis sativa. In plants grown in Middle Europe (United Kingdom) from Moroccan, Sri Lankan and Zambian seed stocks the THCA/THC ratio was 17:1 compared with 2:1 in the plants from the original areas (Africa, Asia). In hashish (cannabis resin) the THCA/THC ratio was reported to range between 6.1:1 and 0.5:1, the latter in hashish from India. Thus, the percentage of phenolic THC of all THC in cannabis products varied between less than 5% in cannabis leaves grown in Switzerland up to 65% in hashish from India.
Cannabis products with a high content of phenolic THC (e.g. hashish) may be very potent without heating, but usually the potency of cannabis products is considerably increased with heating (smoking, cooking).

See, if "The ratio of THC acids (THCA) to phenolic THC has been reported to range between 2:1 (Africa) and >20:1 (Switzerland)", it means that for one part of THC, the plant may contain from 2 to more than 20 parts of THCA.
It means that when you transform all this THCA in THC, through decarboxilation (curing), the potency of the weed can be increased up to 20 times.

sd6515 · #6 (**permalink**) Nov-22-2007, 00:46

Actually Coelho it says,

Quote:

Decarboxylation (separation of CO2) to the phenolic form occurs readily over time, upon heating or under alkaline conditions.

Meaning that, according to this document, this can occur through curing, through cooking or through introducing an alkaline enviorment any of these methods can produce this 20x effect, I know taste would benefit from curing. But thanks for finding that it did answer my question that it is ok to cook with

Coelho · #7 (**permalink**) Nov-22-2007, 00:59

Hm... indeed... youre right. My mistake...
Just note that the increase of the potency varies from 2 to 20 times, depending of how much THCA the weed contains.

sd6515 · #8 (**permalink**) Nov-22-2007, 01:03

I had to read it several times and smoke 2 bowls before I trusted myself that I finally figured it out for sure enough to stand on LOL

I wonder if the ratios mentioned have to due with the amount of uv radiation received in those areas respectively like Africa having a great ratio and Switzerland having a much worse one. In my own experiment I am conducting now with uvb and uva during flower I have seen a great difference using the uv resin production has greatly increased to the point that even the leaves have become like velvet with crystals and weigh the leaves downs, I need to get a digital camera. They are all in soil separated from the uv and the half that have not had the uvb are slightly crystal with fluffier buds the half with are dense stinky and unbelievably crystallized.

Coelho · #9 (**permalink**) Nov-22-2007, 01:34

Well... once ive read (dont remember where... possibly in erowid.org) that the THC was meant to protect the cannabis plant from the heat... and that was the reason because weed from hotter climates had a higher percentage of THC in it. But as heat and UV radiation are both from the sun, maybe its the UV radiation which increases the THC production... i dont know... anyway, your experiment is very interesting... when you have conclusive results, i think it would be nice to post the results on the cultivation sub-forums, so everybody would benefit from your discovery.

sd6515 · #10 (**permalink**) Nov-22-2007, 01:43

I am doing my best to cover it in the advanced techniques sub forum, it got merged with another thread, UVB BULBS but it is very hard without being able to upload pics, cell phones don't really pic up crystals.

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