When President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law, hemp production suddenly became legal in the United States. This led to a massive increase of CBD-based products. CBD is a chemical compound that is naturally produced by the hemp plant. While you might be satisfied with buying CBD products at your local vendor, you may also prefer making CBD gummies on your own. Doing it yourself allows you to know exactly what is going into your edibles. Plus, it can end up being fun and cost-effective.
Although it’s not that difficult to make your own CBD gummies, it’s important that you know what mistakes to avoid so you don’t end up with an insufficient product. So continue reading and we’ll take you through everything you’ll want to know!
1. Sacrificing Flavor for More Potency
No matter what kind of food product you’re cooking up, it’s important that it tastes good. If you don’t like how your gummies taste, then you’ll be less inclined to eat them and you’ll literally be left with a bad taste in your mouth.
It’s important to remember that cannabinoids such as THC and CBD can naturally have a hemp-like or bitter taste. The taste profiles can change at higher concentrations.
If your potency ratio is more than three milligrams of CBD to one gram of gummy, then the hemp taste is going to be harder to cover up. A sour or sweet coating can lessen the bitter taste but if it becomes strong enough, the gummy will taste less like candy and more like a plant.
2. Overlooking Consistent Potency
Aside from taste, it’s also important that your CBD gummies are consistent. You should be getting the same amount of CBD with each gummy. This way, you can accurately know how many gummies you need to eat in order to take in the appropriate dosage.
It takes a lot of attention and focus in order to make sure that you’re delivering consistent potency across all of your gummy batches. Simply adding the same amount of CBD won’t necessarily lead to total consistency. In order to distribute the CBD evenly across the batch, you should use an emulsion that’s specifically engineered to play well with other gummy ingredients.
When you’re testing for consistent potency, it’s a good idea to take samples from the beginning, middle, and end of production. This will ensure that the mix times are able to produce a homogenous batch.
3. Not Understanding the Limitations of the Ingredients
CBD isn’t the only ingredient that can lead to problems when you’re making gummies. Gummies are generally made up mostly of corn syrup and sugar. They also usually contain pectin, gelatin, or starch.
They also tend to have a little bit of color, acid, and added flavor.
There are many different gelling agents that you can get for your gummies. Each of these agents works differently and needs to be accommodated appropriately.
Take pectin and gelatin, for example. Some gummy makers prefer to use pectin because it’s vegan. However, gelatin is much easier to work with and gives the gummy a nice transparent color.
Pectin is more difficult to work with and isn’t thermally reversible.
Also, after you’ve picked out all of your ingredients, you probably won’t be able to simply swap out pectin for gelatin, or vice versa. You should start the process with specific ingredient selections and an understanding of how the ingredients work with each other.
4. Using the Wrong Tools to Make CBD Gummies
You’re going to need a few specialized tools in order to make high-quality CBD gummies. Most importantly, you’ll need a water activity meter and a refractometer. A refractometer is a device that can measure the sugar content of the gummy syrup.
Also, if your water activity gets too high, then the gummies may experience mold growth. Having a water activity that’s too low can dry out your gummies and make them hard.
5. Improperly Curing
Each CBD gummy recipe is going to be different. It can take gels anywhere from one to two days to set and dehydrate properly. This will all depend on certain factors, such as the type of mold (silicon or starch), the temperature, the formula, and the relative humidity of your curing room.
If you have too much variation in these conditions, then you could end up with poor outcomes and inconsistencies. By better understanding how the curing process works for your specific formula, you’ll be able to more likely avoid curing issues.
6. Buying Impure CBD
CBD cannot get you high. However, THC definitely can get you high. THC and CBD can both be found in the cannabis plant.
If you don’t buy pure CBD oil, then you could end up with CBD oil that also contains THC. This means that you might accidentally end up with an intoxicating high when all you wanted to do was relax before bed.
Make sure that your CBD is of high quality and lab-tested.
The Importance of Knowing the Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making CBD Gummies
When you’re making CBD gummies, it’s important that you prepare before you start. That means knowing what ingredients you’re going to use and how you’re going to run the process of making the gummies. When you do that, you’ll be less likely to make mistakes and will be able to more quickly enjoy your CBD gummies.
Are you looking to buy high-quality CBD products? If so, then contact us today and see what we can do for you!