{This post is sponsored by Flower Child CBD}
Recreational marijuana became legal in the state of Oregon in 2015, and I fully supported this law. Cannabis is a plant that was created by nature, god, mother earth, or whatever your belief system may be. This past summer, we grew the four plants that we were legally allowed in containers in our backyard, next to our tomatoes and squash. We harvested it in the fall along with our other vegetable and herb crops. We grew varieties that are high in a compound called CBD, which stands for cannabidiol. CBD does not get you high like THC does (another main component of cannabis), and is highly medicinal and pain relieving. I decided to make some CBD infused oil for topical use using the Harlequin variety that we grew, which is extremely rich in CBD.
Disclaimer: I only endorse you making infused CBD oil at home if recreational or medical marijuana is legal in your state, and you have any required cards and/or licenses to do so!
If you are unsure what the marijuana laws are in your state, here is a handy guide from NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).
Legality of CBD in the United States
There is a bit of controversy and misunderstandings surrounding the laws about CBD itself. There are many claims that pure CBD extract is legal in “all 50 states,” but that is actually not entirely true. The wonderful folks over at Project CBD (such a great resource!) have spelled this out in clear detail when I questioned them about it:
“In the United States, CBD is classified as a Schedule 1 Drug, whether derived from industrial hemp or cannabis. CBD is not yet legal federally and it’s not legal in all 50 states, as is often claimed. The FDA has not approved CBD as a dietary or health supplement. All cannabinoids, whether psychoactive or not, are scheduled. All researchers attempting to study it must get a license from the Federal Government in order to do research. If it was legal, then there wouldn’t be so much difficulty getting more studies conducted on this compound. Selling CBD products in non-medical states seems to be a grey area in the law, but FDA recently busted people selling CBD in Massachusetts and Wisconsin. It isn’t out of the question to have legal action brought towards those selling CBD if they aren’t in a state recognized cannabis law.”
They also have a great page titled Sourcing CBD: Marijuana, Industrial Hemp, & the Vagaries of Federal Law that is an excellent read for more information on this.
High CBD Cannabis Varieties
You will want to use a high CBD cannabis strain to make this infused oil. Some popular CBD strains are Harlequin, ACDC, Remedy, and Charlotte’s Web, but there are many others to choose from. Check with your local cannabis pharmacy to see what they have in stock.
If you are interested in growing your own I recommend buying seeds from Seedsman. They have a large selection of high CBD varieties and ship to nearly everywhere.
Here is a video that explains more about CBD:
Where to Buy CBD
If you aren’t able to make your own, I have found an amazing place to buy super high quality organic CBD products! I searched high and low for a cannabis company I could recommend, and Flower Child CBD is it. They are a Colorado company, where recreational marijuana is legal, but they use pure CBD extract from organic hemp, so they are able to ship their products nationwide!
FlowerChild CBD created a 10% off coupon code to share with my readers. Use this code when you check out to get the discount: growforage10
If you’d like to try CBD but are worried about the legal issue, or don’t want to use cannabis or hemp derived CBD, check out this Humulus Oil (I’m on the search for a new source). It’s made from hops which are in the same family as cannabis and also contain naturally occurring CBD.
Cannabis CBD Infused Oil Recipe
Now let’s get to making this CBD infused oil! This recipe is intended for use as a topical pain relieving oil that can be used as is or turned into a salve. I will be making a salve from this oil, you can see my recipe for that here.
The first step once you have your dried buds from a high CBD strain is to decarboxylate them. This is actually an optional but recommended step, as it will make more of the CBD bioavailable to the body. Luckily, it’s an easy process as well. Simply spread your buds out in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake at 230°F for 40 minutes.
As you may have noticed, we did not trim all of the inner leaves off of these buds, because they were covered with crystals that we didn’t want to go to waste!
Then put your decarbed cannabis buds into a jar and completely cover them with the carrier oil of your choice. I used a blend of approximately 25% unrefined coconut oil, 25% sweet almond oil, and 50% extra virgin olive oil.
Cover the jar with a lid and let sit in a dark place for at least six weeks. You may want to gently heat your oil a few times while it’s infusing, especially if you did not decarb your buds first. I like to do this in my Excalibur dehydrator, as it has excellent temperature control. I don’t like to heat my oils at too high of a temperature in order to preserve the quality of the oil and to keep it from going rancid. This is not as much of an issue if you are making edibles rather than topicals, as they are generally consumed within a much shorter amount of time.
When you are ready to use the CBD oil, strain out the buds with a fine mesh seive. If you want to make a super strong CBD infused oil, place a second round of decarbed buds into the oil and repeat the process.
You will end up with a highly fragrant and beautiful CBD rich oil!
There are many amazing uses for this oil, but the most popular use is probably for its pain relieving properties. Here is a list of all the medicinal benefits of CBD and its products, such as this oil.
I decided to turn this oil into a topical healing cannabis CBD salve, check out my recipe! Or if you’d prefer, you can see my homemade cannabis CBD tincture recipe here.
Is medical or recreation cannabis legal in your state? If so, will you be growing it or using it in any way?
CBD Infused Oil
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Pint Mason Jar
- Fine Mesh Sieve
Materials
- 1 ounce high CBD cannabis buds
- 10 ounces carrier oil (I used a blend of approximately 25% unrefined coconut oil, 25% sweet almond oil, and 50% extra virgin olive oil.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 230°F.
- Decarboxylate dried buds by spreading your buds out in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Put your decarbed cannabis buds into a jar and completely cover them with the carrier oil of your choice (use more oil if needed to cover).
- Cover the jar with a lid and let sit in a dark place for at least six weeks.
- When you are ready to use the CBD oil, strain out the buds with a fine mesh sieve.
I’m interested in creating CBD infused olive oil for consumption – using the already done CBD oil. Is the “processing” time the same? And what is the ratio of CBD oil to olive oil? Thanks so much!
Just wondering how you know how many mg of CBD are in your infusion. Thank you.
You would have to get it tested at your local lab. If you know the concentration of your flower you can get a rough estimate doing calculations with some assumptions, but the only way to know is to test it.
Hi Colleen thank you for creating such a nice website. I have a question for you. I would like to make the oil for myself to help with RA. However I bought regular almond oil and not the sweet. Is the regular oil okay to use?
Thank You,
Lorrie
I’m actually not sure about that, I’ve only ever used sweet almond oil.
Can you tell me a recipe for the salve if I use tincture?
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!! It has helped my back problems so much. I cannot believe how far this goes. It should last for a long time.
Hi: Is there any THC in the final product? If yes, how much? If No, how does is differ from making a THC oil/tincture?
Buy your seeds from Barney’s in Europe. Great yield and purity.
Hi! I am using your recipe to make infused cbd oil from ac/dc hemp flowers.. Is there a way to determine the final mg amount of cbd in the final product?
Question: I just bought cbd oil in paste form and want to use it to make suppositories to treat BPH. What is the best way? I have a tray to make suppositories using coconut oil but am now unsure whether the paste is just too thick (I bought a small amount in a tube}. Thoughts?
I have a question about botulism forming in the jar while infusing. Do you know if this has ever been an issue. Thank you, Veronica
This should not be an issue if you are using completely dried buds.
Would it still work after vaporizing? To make the cbd oil I mean. Thx
I think I over baked my cannabis. Believe it or not I got busy and forgot! It is brown and not very strong smelling now. It was actually lightly smoking on the pan..Should I just start over?
Would this oil also have THC in it? Curious if It’s possibly to make CBD oil/product that does NOT have thc properties out of a marijuana plant, as opposed to a hemp plant. Thanks!
Hey Colleen;
I have made oil from regular weed not using any solvents just high pressure a 12 ton press no heat not solvents very pure oil very strong. . Can you help me figure out how to make this oil into a tincture . That I can use for chronic pain ?
Thank you very much. I’ve just ordered hemp flowers to make my own because of your tutorial.
I also found a process that takes less time on the CBD Reddit page. It goes as follows:
-Grind/break your bud up. Not too fine.
-Pick out low-grade material— stems and seeds
-Put it in a small oven-proof dish with a lid
-Pour over enough oil (MTC coconut oil recommended) to just cover the herb
-Cook it in the oven at 120*C for 45m – stirring occasionally
-Pour off the first batch of oil through a sieve
-Cover with fresh oil and cook for another 1h30m stirring well
-Combine the two batches and filter through a sieve to remove plant matter
-Let stand overnight
-All the fine stuff will settle to the bottom leaving completely clear oil on top
-Pour that off into a dropper bottles
That’s it!
Again, thanks for your post.
To make an edible CBD oil you can use any edible oil. My aunt with MS infuses organic coconut oil.
Regarding growing your own from SEED – don’t bother! Cannabis does not grow “true” from seeds. You need to purchase a CLONED PLANT of the STRAIN you want. Seeds are used by breeders to create new strains of plants by crossing different varieties. But, even if you get seeds from a particular variety and plant them, each baby plant will be different than the mother (cloned) plant because you can only get seeds if the mother (female plant) is fertilized by a father (male plant), and each seed produced will vary in its genetics (just like people and other animal offspring).
As far as the smell of the growing plants, when growing outdoors, many people surround them with highly aromatic herbs such as lavender to mask the smell. Indoors you NEED a good ventilation system or else the plants will succumb to mold.
Decarboxylating the buds does NOT magically turn a high CBD strain into THC, nor vice-versa. The heat chemically alters WHATEVER COMPONENT EXISTS into a more bio-available form so it is more easily absorbed by your body. Think of it as similar to the Maillard Reaction in cooking. Searing (browning) a steak changes its chemical properties and taste, but it does not turn it into a pork chop! Decarboxylating cannabis is similar to malting barley before you make beer; the end product is still a barley beer. Comparing high-THC Cannabis to high-CBD Cannabis is like comparing wheat plants to rye plants – they are related plants, originating from the same parents thousands of years ago (and altered more intensely by humans in recent times), but baking a loaf of bread made from 100% wheat until its crust turns brown does not chemically alter it into becoming a rye loaf!
How much of the buds (ounces) should I use in 16oz of MCT oil? If I use the decarbec Harlequin bud is there any way to know how much CBD will be in my oil?
Thank you!
Steve
Do you have a recipe for CBD Oil that would be taken orally? I presently use a commercial oil that seems to be based in a “lower-quality” olive oil. I have purchased Colorado Cherry Hemp seeds and plan on growing my hemp for later infusion as an oral CBD Oil… I would use a higher quality olive oil or perhaps even a hemp oil… (I am in culinary school and understand infused oils, but most certainly it isn’t “that straight forward” of a process, or is it??).
Thanks for any light you can shed for me.
It is a pretty straight forward process… just put decarbed buds into whatever oil you like and let it infuse for several weeks! Basically the same process as I do here 🙂
Because you decarbed your cannabis,does this make the thc active as well? If you ate this oil mixture would you get high?
It’s not likely to make you very high if you ate it because I used a strain that is very low in THC and high in CBD. So it really all depends on the strain that you use.
I just left a comment…waiting to be monitored.
As I posted it, I remembered something that may be of interest to you.
Many moons ago I used to buy Sliver jewellery from Taxco, Mexico and retail it in Jersey UK.
On my travels I befriended an indigenous Indian, ( who took me on a privileged walkabout, in Palenque ).
He informed me, they bind soaked cannabis to their joints for 24 hours, ( knees, elbows etc. )
You may be aware of this, know you know.
Kind regards…..
Hi Colleen, I’ve just made my first cannabis cbd oil! Love it! Used the MediHaze available to us here in Mesquite, NV – plants are not yet available to us. Took my first dose today – only 1/2 dropper – my joints and muscles are pain free with in just a few hours! I’ve bought several types of cbd products in the last year, none have worked as well – and at a fraction of the costs – which really will help, since I don’t make a lot of money and am hoping to retire in one year. Thank you so much for the recipes – I truly enjoy them – I also made your lavender, lemon cookies and everyone went wild! – Have a great weekend, Mary
Hey! I was wondering what the difference between this oil and THC oil is. I make edibles occasionally and this is similar to the process I use. I’m wanting to make pet safe CBD edibles but it seems like this recipie would also have a high THC content which is not something I want to be giving my dogs. Or am I wrong? I just wanna check before I start anything.
This oil is made with a high CBD and low THC strain of cannabis 🙂
Thank you for all the great information.
I generally try to avoid heating infused oils over 120 degrees as it can make them go rancid fasterdo you think 120degrees Cel. or Far?
do you think 120degrees Cel. or Far? I hope you can explain to me lot of things.
Fahrenheit
I’m wondering what you did with the bud once it has soaked and made the oil? Are there any other uses for it or is it spent?
I am so pleased to have found your site/page. My wife has horrible chronic back pain from auto accidents over her lifetime, I also have chronic pain but it is pretty much limited to sciatic nerve issues. We live on the south Oregon coast so now that we can grow our own legally I really want to give this a try.
What strains have you tried and or recommend? I would like to try the salve as well as a tincture, we already make tinctures of various herbs like dandelion root, licorice root, ginger, and so on.So my goal is to find the right method to help relieve the pain and there by reducing the amount of Rx medications she takes or if possible not need to take them at all!! I am very encouraged from what I am reading.
Hello, I read that heating the buds will make THCA into THC and it will have psycho-active effect. Would you skip this process if I want mostly CBD without much of THC? Than you.
Hi,
Using your recipe, what is the overall percentage of purity? From what I’ve been able to discern, the range of pure CBD in all the tinctures, and salves, goes from 1% to 5%, all claiming to be super dooper.
Thanks,
RagnarB
I have a question. I make healing salves and want to add CBD oil to them. But I don’t want to get high. On your recipe it says to decarboxylate the buds. But if I do that wont I get high if I use the the salve? I want to be able to give these to family and not have them worry about how much they use because it might make them too high. Can I just add coconut oil to an ounce of buds and let that mix? Or cook it less than 200 degrees? Thank you in advance.
Hi Kimberly, CBD doesn’t get you high, that’s part of what makes it so great. So if you are using strains that are high in CBD and low in THC you won’t have that problem. Decarbing them just makes the compounds more bioavailable, whether they are CBD or THC, so I wouldn’t skip that step. Just make sure you are using a high CBD low THC strain and you should be good 🙂
Can you use hemp plants. I read it has higher CBD. What are your thoughts?
I prefer to use high resin CBD varieties like Harlequin over hemp, as it will be much higher in CBD.