If you’ve been part of the cannabis community for any length of time, especially for medical purposes, you’ve likely heard a good deal about the therapeutic effects of CBD.
1. If you’ve beenpart of the cannabis community for any length of time, especially for
medical purposes, you’ve likely heard a gooddeal about the therapeutic effects of CBD.
Also known as cannabidiol, CBD is a cannabinoid with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and
anxiolytic effects. It can treat chronic pain and inflammation, regulate mood and sleep,
ease nausea, and treat seizures and muscle spasms, just to name a few applications.
Thereis an overwhelming abundance ofretailers selling CBD OliveOil on theopen
market, butit can be hard to determine the quality and purity of the product you’re
buying. Unless you’re buying from a trusted retailer (see ourCBD Buyer’s Guide to learn
what to look for when buying CBD), sorting out the good products from the junk can be
difficult.
2. First, weneed totalkaboutchoosingyour
startingmaterial.This iswhatdetermines
the cannabinoidcontentofyourfinished
CBDoil. Thisis especially importantwhen
using themethodwe'll outline below,
becauseit’snotpossibletoextractonly
CBDwithouttakingothercannabinoids,
like THC, along fortheride.
This meansthatif youstartwithahigh-THC flower,you’ll end upwitha high-THCoil. Thereis nowayto
separatethe THC fromthe CBDwithoutspecializedlaboratoryequipment.Therefore,depending onyour
startingmaterial,yourfinishedCBD oil mayormaynotalsocontainTHC; itall depends onthe cannabinoid
contentofyourstartingmaterial.
3. This methodworksbecauseCBDis solublewithnonpolarmolecules, meaning it can’tdissolve in water,but
candissolve in fatsandalcohols(technically apolarmolecule overall, butalcoholhasaspecial abilitytobond
withnonpolarmolecules in waysthatwatercannot—polarityis aspectrum,andwhile wateris farofftoone
end, alcoholis closeenough tothe middle to,well, go bothways).
The Science of At-Home CBD Extraction
4. How to Make CBD Oil
Step 1: Choosing Your Ingredients
Using acarrieroil as yoursolvent—werecommend MCT orcoconutoils forincreasedbioavailability,but
youcouldmuch moreeasilyuseolive oil, hempseedoil—heck,youcould even use butter!Ultimately,
The resulting oil is much easier toworkwith thanwhatthe alcoholmethodyields,andtherearefewer
precautionsyouneed totakethroughoutthe process.To dothis,you’ll need:
• 1 ozof flowerofyourchoosing, finely ground.Werecommend using a grinder,buteven chopping up
the herbwitha knifebeforehandis betterthannothing. Thesmaller thepieces youcan getthe herb
into,the moreefficientlytheCBD will beextracted.
• 16ozMCT oil,coconutoil, orotheroil ofyourchoosing.
• A doubleboilerorcrockpot—thekeytothis methodiskeeping theheatlow,slow,anduniform,
allowing themixtureto cookforseveral hoursover indirect,consistentheatwithoutrisking it getting
toohotandburningall yourhardworkaway.
• Cheesecloth, forstrainingthefinished oil.
• Utensils—useglass,ceramic, orstainlesssteelbowls andsilicone spatulasforease,aswell astokeep
potentiallyharmfulplasticsoutof youroil.
5. How to Make CBD Olive Oil
Step 2: Decarboxylation
Sinceyou’vegroundthe herbupfinely,the nextstep isto decarboxylate,ordecarb,the flower,whichchanges
the CBDintoits activeform,therebymaking it moreavailabletothebody.Toclarify,theCBDA foundin dried
flowersis in its non-activeform;thus,it needs tobedecarboxylatedinto itsactiveform,or whatwe
traditionallythinkofasCBD.
6. How to Make CBD Olive Oil
Step 3: Extraction
2-3hoursis sufficienttimeforthe CBDtodissolve intotheoil; though,thereis no harmin going longer.You
don’tneed tomonitorthe oil tooclosely: checking in every halfhouror tostirandmonitorits colorshouldbe
sufficient.Whenit’sadeep, earthybrownishgreen, you’llknowit’sready.
Onceyou’vedecarbedthestarting
material,mix yourcarrieroil and
decarbedflowerintothe topofa
doubleboiler andplaceover apotof
simmering water.Lowheaton most
stovetopsshouldbesufficienttoget
the waterbathhotenough toextract
the CBDwithoutrisking scorching
the oil.