Add the butter, with one cup of water into the saucepan and start to heat it slowly. The water helps regulating the temperature and your butter won’t burn. During this process, the liquid shouldn’t reach boiling point. When you’ve decided to stop with the water curing process, squeeze out as much water as possible from the water cured ABV. The process of making AVB oil is similar to that of making Cannabutter. Boil your AVB in your oil for about 20 minutes.
Make sure to take a spoon to the plant matter to squeeze out it’s goodies every hour. For more consistent water cure abv you want a vaporizer that heats your herb evenly, and to a precisely controlled temperature. You can mask the taste with a flavorful spread like peanut butter or Nutella. Or ice cream, yogurt, or any other foods you can think of. If you’re going to cook with your AVB right away, you can stop here and just start using it in your recipe. Otherwise you’re going to want to dry it out more fully, to keep it from developing mold as you store it long-term.
Otherwise, Like me, jump straight to the drying process. You will see during your water changes, that there is a good reason to water cure. The waste is disgusting, but after 2-3 days you will notice it starts to run clear.
Save, water cure, and effectively extract your AVB for potent edibles. Put it onto a baking tray or pan, or in a casserole dish, into a preheated oven set to 200° F (95° C). Don’t turn up the heat higher, or you might lose some cannabinoids. If you’ve got a bit more time, one full day is a great option to be able to use your AVB relatively soon, but still significantly improve the flavor. And if you don’t need your ABV anytime soon, doing it for 4 or 5 days could be the sweet spot, in terms of effort. This is really helpful because when you’re vaping on the go, it’s not always easy to clean out and reload your vape.
This time they’ve come up with three great uses for already vaped bud. Mix the remaining ABV in your possession into a mason jar with some high-proof alcohol like Everclear. If you’re the proud owner of a Volcano or similar vaporizer, you’ll know all about ‘already vaped bud’, or AVB for short. Since it has already been decarboxylated in the vaping process, there’s no need for any extra steps before eating. Since the AVB was already vaped (uh duh?) that meant that the decarb process already happened.
However, the effects are more delayed as the capsule breaks down and dissolves. Water curing is a technique that’ll remove that ‘weed’ taste if you just can’t stand that distinct flavour. But if you can’t be bothered, pair your AVB with strong flavours – think Nutella, peanut butter, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, etc. Dump the water and refill it with some fresh room temp water.
I was excited to skip the decarb process in the oven. BUT through a bit of online research, I was introduced to a new procedure that I would swap in for the decarb process. I have read many articles on water curing, but I have never done it. The most likely use would be in the water curing my AVB. If I do that I need to get the excess water out before making the tincture or waste large amounts of ethanol. The price of ethanol and the fact that I really filter my tinctures and I decided against it.
I keep the oven door open slightly to maximize airflow and hasten the process. Give the AVB a mix every 30 minutes or so to allow everything to dry out evenly and quickly. It took about 2 hours to dry the AVB completely, this will vary though, just be sure there is no more moisture. Just remember, you need to leave room for the press to go down without the water coming over the edge. The first time you fill it with water, the AVB will swell so you will have to put the plunger on top and use it to push the material under the water line.
Filter the remaining milk with a cheesecloth or a handy coffee filter before adding the remaining content to your favorite freshly brewed coffee or tea. The main benefit of water curing your cannabis is that water cured weed is easier to enjoy in edibles. It both tastes better and is easier on the stomach than already vaped bud straight out of your vaporizer.
The cannabinoids THC and CBD are not water soluble, meaning they do not dissolve in water. So when you put them in water, they will stay in tact. The trichomes contain some of the THC in the plant, but these little hairs are so small that the amount of THC you’d lose is negligible. Once it has finished the water cure process, you can untie the cheesecloth to expose your final results.