Great Listener Questions & Answers #8

Marge (00:00:05) - Welcome back, friends. In this week's episode, I take on your questions in a listener Q&A episode. Welcome to Bite Me, the show about edibles where I help you take control of your life. I'm your host and certified gangster Marge, and I love helping cooks make safe and effective edibles at home. I'm so glad you're here, and thank you for joining me today. Regardless of how long you've been listening to the show, you probably know that I often use olive oil in my cooking and in my infusions. When I discovered McEvoy Ranch olive Oil, I knew I needed to give them a try. I love everything about these oils and the company. The oils come from a family owned farm that's both female, founded and led God to love that they produce these organic olive oils sustainably at their Northern Californian ranch. They've justrillioneleased a delicious signature olive oil collection that includes organic blood, Orange Award winning Thai spice, and my favorite ginger turmeric oils. The collection brings together flavors from multiple cultures to create new ways to enjoy olive oil.

Marge (00:01:12) - With this in mind, they include cards with the samples, the detail, the tasting profiles, and ways to use the oils so you can try them with any meal or with your edibles and never lack fresh ideas. McEvoy Ranch is committed to creating the highest quality, healthy, fresh olive oils that will enhance your cooking in unexpected ways. Enjoy the unique flavors and the well known health benefits of olive oil by heading over to McEvoy Ranch and enter promo code. Bite Me 15 at checkout to receive 15% off your order today. Welcome back, friends. Thank you for being here. I am so happy that you're listening along. And this week we have some listener Q and A and depending on how this goes, I may split it up into two episodes so I can keep them nice and short for you because I know you like to listen to some of the bite in the episodes in between some of your other favorite shows as well. There's so many great podcasts out there, but if you're just joining us for the first time today, buckle up because we got some great questions.

Marge (00:02:17) - And if you've been here for a while, also remember I have listener Q&A episodes one through seven ahead of this. So there are lots of good questions out there that keep coming in. And if you want to ask a question of your own, by all means feel free to reach out because I do respond to these questions in a timely manner. I don't expect you to wait to get an answer from a listener Q&A episode because I usually collect them up over quite some time, several months, and then I do a compilation like this episode here. But if you send in a question, I answer it right away, so don't think I'll leave you hanging because I wouldn't do that to you. Not cool. So before we dive in to this week's episode, I just want to say a big thank you to Vanessa, who recently bought me a cookie. And that means so much. Anytime somebody acknowledges the work that you're doing, whether it's through buying me a cookie to support the show or leaving a review to help more people discover the show, all these things go a long way to making the show more discoverable and to bring more people into the big, wide world and exciting world of edibles and beverages and topicals and all those wonderful things.

Marge (00:03:29) - So thank you so much, Vanessa. I really appreciate your support. Next, one of my favorite segments that I've been doing lately is things you can make with hemp. And in this one, we've kind of talked a little bit about it before, but I'm surprised it doesn't get spoken about more, although actually that's not true. I do know why. Oil and gas, of course. So one of the things you can make with hemp, which I thought was pretty interesting and perhaps not that unknown, is biodiesel. So I don't know if hemp is being used that much yet, but theoretically, at least, hemp could provide the world with an almost unlimited source of energy. It's probably the most environmentally friendly and cost efficient fuel crop on the planet, and it can produce biodiesel and ethanol methanol. So studies have shown that farming just 6% of America's hemp acreage would be enough to replace both fossil fuels and nuclear power. That's a pretty incredible stat when you think about it. 6% of America's hemp acreage and of course, I'm in Canada.

Marge (00:04:43) - We have a whole hemp industry here as well. What percentage of the crops could also contribute to that? We're talking about replacing fossil fuels and nuclear power. In an entire country. And the inputs are already being grown. It's sustainable. It's it's environmentally friendly. Why aren't we doing this? And of course, as somebody who lives in a country with a huge oil and gas industry, it's probably pretty evident why it's hard to make the switch. And of course, all our cars and all the rest of it are, you know, use oil and gas right now. So it's not so easy. But. It could be something to look at for the future. All right, let's get into the meat of this episode, which is. Questions that have been brought to me by listeners over the last several months, and I always keep a note with these in them. Like I was saying at the beginning, I keep a note where I put all these questions in and I collect them until I can do a listener Q&A like this.

Marge (00:05:48) - I have done seven previous ones. I'd have to go back and look through them to see how good the show notes are to those, because I often my show notes have gotten quite more quite a bit more robust over the years since I started the show. I look back at some of my early episodes. I'm like, I barely wrote anything. How does anybody know what this episode is about or what was talked about? Not anymore. The first question that I am going to tackle today. I've started listening to your podcast from the first episodes and I'm learning a lot. I'm wondering if you cover the different types of flowers and how they work best in edibles. And that question came from Glenn. And I would just want to say, Glenn, if you're still listening, thank you for the question. It's a good one. I did inquire as to when they say different types of flowers, do you mean different strains or cultivars? Mostly, I don't cover that too much because by the time you die, carb infused cook bake, a lot of the things that are going to differentiate between the different cultivars are lost.

Marge (00:06:51) - Preserving terpenes is something that you can do, but often you have to be a little more gentle with the flower when you're decarbonize it. And that means that you're probably not going to be as potent, you're not activating as much THC or CBD than you would otherwise. If you're just doing a straight D carb for potency. I have had a lot of chefs on the show over the last little while who do talk about preserving terpenes by keeping, you know, your d carb method covered. So if you're doing it in an oven, you can put it in a jar to cover the lid with some foil that will help preserve terpenes. But a lot of the terpenes are still pretty volatile. And again, once you have decarbia infused, cooked or baked, a lot of those things are are lost. And I will add some episodes that I've done with some of those chefs, chefs who talk about preserving terpenes because there are some methods that you can get into that allow you to do that. But usually, again, the potency is something that is going to be sacrificed in those cases.

Marge (00:07:58) - And a lot of chefs do like to use it. And perhaps the home cook as well can use some of this lighter flour for the purposes of food pairing and getting into that sort of thing. But if you're looking to make some straight up brownies or something like that that are going to knock you off, knock you off your feet, then you don't really need to worry about that. In the end. What this means for anybody who is looking to get into edibles, you don't have to buy the expensive flower if you're at a dispensary or wherever you're picking up your your cannabis, you can skip the expensive flour or buy it, but save that for when you're going to be smoking or vaping it. And you can focus on making edibles that you shake, trim lower grade weed and you're still going to end up with really potent, delicious edibles. The other thing actually I really like to use when I'm making edibles is already vaped cannabis. So if you do have the desire to buy this really nice flower, then one thing you can do is vaporize it and that way you can use the end product that you would normally just have to toss away.

Marge (00:09:03) - If you're combusting, you can use that already vaped cannabis in your infusions as well, and it's already discarded. So that's a win win too. But if you are growing and you have lots of shake, you have trim, you know, growers or you're at a place where they have some weed popcorn buds, some of the cheaper stuff, those will work fabulously for your edibles. Let's go on to question two. Hey, I'm curious if you have any recommendations for people who seem like they are edible immune. I've only had edibles work once or twice in the 15 years that I've been using medical cannabis. I've even tried eating multiple grams of reclaim at a time several thousand milligrams of Rice Krispie treats. I don't really enjoy smoking and would love more options. I believe this is due to the enzyme that's involved in the conversion of the THC to 11 hydroxy THC. But if you have more insight or method to create 11 hydroxy THC without the body, that would be great. Thanks, Nate. Hi, Nate.

Marge (00:10:04) - Thanks for the question. I really feel for you on this one. I know a few people who have had similar experiences that you've described, and unfortunately, there's no real solution that I know of. It's your biology that prevents you to process the cannabis, as you've suggested in your message. And without the appropriate enzyme, you won't feel the effects. And even if you do, the amount that you'd need to feel any effects is pretty impractical. I mean, 1000 milligram edibles in one sitting is a monster dose. And in most cases, I don't know how many edibles you'd have to eat. I mean, sometimes you can find legacy market edibles that have these crazy high doses. But I mean, how much is it? How much are you going to have to spend to get to that, that 1000mg or even if you're like making your own infusions decarbia and making your own infusions, that's like such an astronomically high dose. And for most people that would be not be good. For me, 1000mg would fuck me up.

Marge (00:11:00) - So unfortunately, there's not much you can do. But like you, I'm not a huge fan of smoking either. I don't really ever smoke joints, and it's probably for myself because I used to be a smoker and I just prefer not to. I don't really like the sort of lingering smell of my fingers and hair and all that kind of stuff. Even though I do like the smell of of weed when it's lit. But. Perhaps a dry hair vaporizer might be something to consider there. A lot easier on the throat than smoking a joint or a bong pipe. And they really allow the flavor of the terpenes to shine through. That's something that can really help you appreciate the cannabis that you're consuming. I personally use a packs and a Dyna vape and there's lots of great options on the market. Unfortunately for some people, that's just the reality I have. I do have a friend that is sort of in the same boat as you. He could consume easily 600mg. I know he has mentioned that a few times, consuming 600mg in one shot and doesn't feel a thing.

Marge (00:11:57) - And it's kind of mind boggling to me because again, at those levels, most people would be throwing up. Let's be honest, that is an astronomically high level. I mean, maybe you could reach that dose in some way, but I feel like you'd have to consume so much. It's so impractical that there's got to be an alternative method that you might consider. And again, the driver vaping could be the way to go if you don't enjoy smoking. I hope that helps a little bit. And I'm really sorry to hear that. Oh, let's do another one here. I made a big batch of CBD gummies using infused coconut oil. I gave them to a friend and she kept them in a lockbox under her bed. She said they were great for helping her sleep and relieving her pain, but they molded. I'm making her a new batch up tomorrow. Should she keep the extras in the freezer or will the fridge be fine this time? I'll use CBD fico that I made. Um. How long would they normally stay? Good.

Marge (00:12:54) - The THC ones I make never last long enough to be a problem. Thank you. And that message came from Twisted High. Twisted. Thank you for the question. I really appreciate it. The answer is, luckily, both. I've kept gummies in the fridge and the freezer so they'll keep longer in the freezer. You could probably keep them easily up to six months, no problem. And they'll stay for several months in the refrigerator as well. And if you're concerned, you could always pop a bunch into the freezer and then move them to the fridge When you're starting to run low, keeping them under the bed in a lock box is probably not the ideal conditions for hanging on to homemade gummies because they're just not going to have the same kind of preservatives and other ingredients that would keep them from going moldy over a period of time. But that's also a good thing. That's an advantage. You don't necessarily always want to be consuming the ingredients that would cause them to never go bad. Kind of like the McDonald's French fry that will never decompose.

Marge (00:13:51) - It's kind of uncanny. So the fridge or freezer would do the trick. You mentioned that your friend put them in a lock box under the bed, so she may be concerned about somebody getting into them. Just make sure that she labels them properly so that if someone does see them in the fridge or freezer, they're aware of what is in the container. And other than that, I think fridge and freezer is great. I freeze edibles all the time. All right. I will actually be able to get through all these questions because this episode isn't too long. But this next question comes from George out of Baltimore. I like to eat edibles with a few beers or wine. Any suggestions on what kind of edibles to eat while drinking wine or beer? And that's a great question, George. I will put in the caveat that for people who are inexperienced with either drinking and or edibles should tread very cautiously when consuming both at the same time. It is an advanced move, and if you're familiar with it, you're comfortable.

Marge (00:14:46) - You kind of know what to expect. You have your tolerance dialed in or your like your preferred potency dialed in. Now, how it's going to affect you, by all means, do what you want to do. I've done it lots of times, but for somebody who is new to it, it's an advanced move that. Crossfade So you want to be very careful because the edibles will amplify and actually cannabis of any sort, whether you're doing edibles. But of course that has that sneaky effect because they don't want to take if they don't take effect right away, or if you're smoking or vaping cannabis, they're going to amplify the effects of the alcohol, often vice versa. So you're you may feel a lot more, you might you're going to feel the effects of the alcohol a lot more. So now putting that aside, the PSA is there. Just know that if you're inexperienced with that, you want to do it in a very safe place or not at all. If it is something that you enjoy doing, you could eat whatever edible you enjoy.

Marge (00:15:39) - But if you're looking to pair something with beer or wine, I can. The chocolate coffee cake comes up, but the chocolate coffee cake would be nice with a red wine. I've made that recipe a few times by now. It's on a regular rotation in this house, but something equally as chocolatey would be nice with a red wine. If you're going for more of a white wine, a plum taught that I made a little while back would be nice. And at the time of this recording I do believe plums are in season, so that could be a nice choice if you're doing a beer. Something like a gingersnap cookie might be really nice. Mixed nuts or popcorn, something like that. So those are a few suggestions off the top of my head, but at the end of the day, you can eat whatever it is that you enjoy, because most of the time if you're eating an edible, you're not consuming a whole ton of the same thing. It's like a piece of chocolate, a piece of the the plum toward a cookie.

Marge (00:16:27) - You're not consuming a whole bunch at the same time. So but it is nice to try and pair some food and wine together. So those would be some of my suggestions. And the last question for today, I recently found your show from the High End Home Grown podcast. The reason I'm writing is for two reasons. I have been wondering about Diamond Delight Edibles. Her YouTube show stopped after YouTube shut her down and she made the best stuff. Could you track her down and do an interview, please? I also want to know how much cannabis do you generally use to infuse two cups of fat? You said you have a low tolerance for smoking, but you eat a 45 milligram cookie. I have a low tolerance for edibles and would be wrecked off of 45mg. I do notice that my tolerance goes up rather quickly if all I do is edibles though. Thank you. I will tell my friends about your show. And that comes from Jim. Well, Jim, thank you. That is a great question.

Marge (00:17:22) - There's a lot to unpack there and I really appreciate you offering to tell your friends about my show because the word of mouth really is the best. Now, you mentioned Diamond Delight Edibles, and she was somebody that was trying to work on to get on my show. I'm always looking for fun and interesting guests. And she did have a YouTube channel where she made edibles. I love getting guests suggestions. So if you're ever listening to this and you're like, Hey, I know somebody who might be a fun guest to them. By all means, send it along and I will do my best to make it happen. But in this case, it's kind of funny that you mention Diamond to light edibles, because when I was working at the dispensary a while ago, I mentioned one of Liz's recipes because her name was Liz to a coworker, and it turned out to be her mom, which is like was kind of mind blowing to me because I'd be like, What a small world. And unfortunately I lost touch with that coworker.

Marge (00:18:16) - I'm not at the dispensary anymore. But you are right that her channel was demonetized by YouTube and it looks like she hasn't posted any content since. I will link to her YouTube if it's still up in the show notes. So you can see some of the videos that she did because she was really into making Candy, if I recall. And Candy sometimes is a bit of an art in and of itself. I was following her on Instagram around that time, but when I searched her before sending replying to the email that Jim sent, I couldn't find her. So I'm wondering if she got banned on YouTube that she may have gotten banned on Instagram as well because Instagram is way less forgiving to cannabis content. Something I had to be mindful of all the time. I'm always checking to see, like if I violated anything. I know people who get banned and lose accounts all the time due to cannabis content, so that's really sad to see because she was putting out some really good content and I did reach out to her once about having her on the show, but she didn't respond.

Marge (00:19:13) - And it could be that she got a lot of messages. Who knows what's going on in people's lives. Right. But perhaps I'll keep looking and see if I can reach out to the past coworker and make something like that happen, because I think it would be pretty interesting. But as far as how much cannabis had to two cups of fat. So you mentioned that. I will say also in your question that I talked about getting wrecked off of or that I eat 45 milligram cookies. I do have a low tolerance for smoking. But that's what's interesting about tolerance for edibles, because I do know people also who have huge tolerance for smoking way bigger than mine that have a very low tolerance to edibles. Everybody, everybody's biology is different, which is why it's really difficult sometimes to say, put this much weed in your in your butter or your or your infusion or whatever. Because what may work for one person, as we saw at the beginning of the show, we could eat easily 1000mg and feel nothing.

Marge (00:20:04) - The next person is like I would get wrecked off of 45mg. It is a bit of an art and a science. So if you're uncertain and you feel like 45, 45 milligram cookie would be way too high, I would start on the low end and it's really a matter of experimentation. So you start with 3.5g of plant material. Keep in mind the bud will be stronger than if you're using shake or trim or popcorn buds. And if you find the resulting edibles aren't strong enough, you can always enjoy. You can always make something where you can have more than one piece. So maybe start with 3.5g of plant material to two cups of fat. And if you find you bake a batch of cookies and the one cookie just isn't strong enough, then you can always eat two cookies and see what happens. Or cookie and a half, that kind of thing and work your way up. And then you can always adjust the infusion the next time. Maybe go to seven grams of of plant material to your two cups of fat.

Marge (00:20:56) - I do have the bite me edibles journal on Amazon that can help you keep track of that kind of thing if you're so inclined. But do make notes somewhere so you can recall the outcome for the next time you're in the kitchen. Because I've talked about this a lot on the show as well. You think you will remember, You think you will remember and you don't. And I know this just from personal experience because I have not written things down. And then I go back to it later and like, I have no fucking idea. Keep a note, pick up my journal, keep a note on your phone. Gold leaf. Does journals have a paper notebook you pick up at the dollar store? Whatever you want to do, just make sure you have it written down somewhere and then just start experimenting. That's part of the fun when you're at the beginning of your journey to figure out sort of where your tolerance lies and what you can, what you can handle and the experimentation. Just go low, start slow.

Marge (00:21:47) - That's the old adage. But it makes a lot of sense because you really don't want to overdose of course, because that's not a fun time. But if you start slow and work your way up incrementally, then you'll figure it out and before you know it, you'll have it dialed in and you'll know every time you go to make edibles what you need to do to get the best outcome. So I hope that helps. Now that's all the questions that I have for today. If you have any comments about anything, if there's if you have more suggestions for I believe it was George with pairing beer and wine together with particular edibles or anything at all. Any comments about any of this, please send me a message. I would love to hear it and I can always do a follow up. And of course, if you have questions of your own and you would like them answered, send them along. I love answering questions. Sometimes I have to do a little digging into little research. I know a lot about edibles.

Marge (00:22:37) - I certainly don't know everything. I am learning and growing along with you guys, and that's partly what makes this show so much fun to do because there's always more to learn. Now, if you found this interesting, please share the. So with someone who might learn something from it, that really does help to spread the word about the show. And as I mentioned earlier, word of mouth really is wonderful. And again, you can stay up to date with the news events, questions for guests, all that kind of stuff that helps keep these episodes timeless by subscribing to the Edibles Enthusiast email newsletter and consider using the products and services on the Magic Men's page, because that really does help to support the show and keep it going. Running a podcast is not an expensive endeavor, but there's a lot of costs associated to running a podcast on a weekly basis, so I hope you enjoyed that episode. Friends, I'm your host, Marge, and until next time, stay high.