How to Make Full Spectrum CBD Oil Homemade
Author: Jason Beverly
It is hard for consumers to find quality CBD oil at an affordable price. The lack of federal regulation in the CBD industry has compelled some companies to create low quality CBD products with one goal, profit. But there's another way people can get their daily dose of CBD, by making it home. We've developed a comprehensive guide explaining every little detail about how we create full spectrum CBD oil. We've our full spectrum CBD oil recipe a secret for too long and it's time we share it with the world.
Table of Contents
- What is CBD?
- What’s the difference between full spectrum CBD and CBD isolate?
- What are the benefits of making homemade full spectrum CBD oil?
- How much money can I save by making my own full spectrum CBD?
- Homemade Full Spectrum CBD Oil Recipe (Full Detailed Version)
- Homemade Full Spectrum CBD Oil Recipe (Quick Version)
What is CBD?
CBD is one of several cannabinoids found in the hemp and marijuana plants. CBD has taken the health market by storm these last few years due to its potential health benefits. Some of the most common benefits of CBD include: relief from anxiety, pain relief, decreased stress and an overall heightened feeling of well-being.
What’s the difference between full spectrum CBD and CBD isolate?
Although full spectrum CBD and CBD isolate both contain CBD, their effects can be different. Let’s take a look at the properties of each CBD type.
CBD Isolate - CBD isolate is the result of a specific extraction in which the CBD molecule is isolated from all the other cannabinoids. It usually comes in a powered form and it can easily be added to any carrier oil such as MCT oil. One benefit of CBD isolate is that it doesn’t contain any THC (the active and intoxicating cannabinoid found in marijuana). This property makes CBD isolate the preferred choice of people who are regularly drug tested.
Full Spectrum CBD – Full spectrum CBD (also known as whole plant CBD) contains all of the cannabinoids found in the hemp plant. As we mentioned earlier, the hemp plant contains over 100 cannabinoids! Researchers still have a lot to learn about all of these cannabinoids but one thing we do know is that these cannabinoids are most effective when consumed together. The idea of all cannabinoids working together is called the entourage effect. This is why we prefer to use full spectrum CBD over isolate-based CBD products. In summary, full spectrum CBD is more effective because of the synergistic properties of all cannabinoids working together.
What are the benefits of making homemade full spectrum CBD oil?
- Save money. Consuming CBD everyday can be expensive. On average, most users will pay roughly $65-75 per month to consume full spectrum CBD oil daily. We’re going to show you how to lower your costs significantly.
- Better quality. CBD is not regulated which has led to tons of companies deceiving customers to make a quick buck. Leafly tested 47 different CBD products and found that about half of them contained the advertised amount of CBD. By making your own CBD oil, you know the precise ingredients going into your oil.
- Make your CBD oil strain-specific. There are hundreds of different hemp strains and they each have a unique set of cannabinoids, terpenes and other phytonutrients. The unique properties found in each strain are known to provide specific effects. For example, some strains are great to consume in the morning because they boost energy and creativity while other strains provide a heavy relaxing feeling which is best fit for night. When you buy full spectrum CBD oil online, the company rarely explains which strain the CBD oil is derived from. You can also mix in other cannabinoids such as a CBG (cannabigerol) hemp strain.
How much money can I save by making my own full spectrum CBD?
The answer is a lot! Let’s run the numbers to see how much you can save per year.
First, let’s see how much a 1000mg Bottle of Full Spectrum CBD Oil Costs. CBDfx sells theirs for $64.99 which is actually a good price compared to others. Most companies will charge between $75 and $100 for full spectrum CBD drops.
With this recipe we used:
- 1/2 oz of Bubba Kush from Berkshire CBDÂ Â $65
- MCT Oil (8 oz)Â Â $5
- Ardent Nova Decarboxylator (one-time purchase)Â Â $230 (after $30 discount with coupon code CBDBENEFITS)
This recipe makes 2 1000mg full spectrum bottles with a total cost of $70 (not including the one-time purchase of Ardent Nova) while 2 bottles of CBDfx Full Spectrum cost $130. Â After you pay for the Ardent Nova, you save almost 50% on all CBD bottles you make. You save even more by doubling this recipe and making a full ounce.
Now that you know more about full spectrum CBD and why it’s best to make it homemade, let’s get to it.
Homemade Full Spectrum CBD Oil Recipe (Full Detailed Version)
1. Buy CBD flower & supplies
- CBD Flower - When we were first starting out, this was the most difficult step. It’s important to look for a quality CBD hemp flower seller that grows and procures hemp the right way. If you are going to look for high CBD hemp flower on your own, make sure that they provide a COA (Certificate of Analysis) aka Lab Report for the bud.After trying several hemp flower vendors, we came across a gem which is now our main supplier, Berkshire CBD. They have over 12 different quality hemp strains and they have a CBG hemp strain too. Their hemp is grown in Oregon and their quality is second to none. Berkshire CBD lists the breakdown of cannabinoids online and with a paper report which ships with your order. Due to the Farm Bill, CBD hemp can legally be shipped to all 50 states.For this recipe, we chose one of our favorite Berkshire strains, Bubba Kush.
- Ardent Nova Decarboxylator - required (coupon code CBDBENEFITS)
- Glass Jars - required
- MCT Oil (3.5 oz minimum) or any carrier oil such as butter, avocado and coconut oil - required
- Cheesecloth or some other way to strain plant matter - required
- Tincture Bottles - optional
2. Prep CBD flower & decarboxylate it.
For those of you that don’t know, when CBD is grown in hemp flower, its original state is known as CBDA. As I’m sure you noticed, there’s an extra ‘A’ on the end of that phrase which stands for acid. I won’t go into detail but essentially the process of turning CBDA to CBD is known as decarboxylation. This is not optional and it is a requirement if you want your oil to actually contain CBD.
Decarbing (short for decarboxylating) can be done using a simple machine, the Ardent Nova Decarboxylator. This machine makes the process of decarbing extremely easy and effective. Before this machine, people used the oven and it was difficult and it smelled up the whole house. Spend the money, it’s worth the investment.
- We’re going to take our CBD flower and break it down into smaller buds.
- Place the broken-down buds into the Ardent Nova silver cylinder. Close the top and press the power button.
- Let it run a full cycle. The light will turn green when the cycle is complete.
- Open it up and stir the bud with a utensil. Then close it and run another cycle. Note: You need to run two cycles if you’re using CBD and one cycle if you’re using THC.
- Once the light turns green, the cycle is complete. You now have a full ½ oz of decarbed CBD hemp. The bud should be a brownish color.
Decarb CBD flower - Step by step with images
3. Infuse the oil with CBD.
For this recipe, we will use the Ardent Nova to infuse the oil with the CBD. Yes, it can decarb and infuse! But first, you’ll need to follow these very specific instructions in order to maximize the amount of oil being infused.
- First, you’ll need to buy this exact glass jar or something in similar size.
- Next, we will cut a small slice in the purple rubber cap from the Ardent. You will need to use scissors to cut a tiny square out of the rubber cap. This will allow the jar to fit snuggly when we close it for infusion. This will not harm your Ardent. Please cut the cap as shown in the image.
For this recipe, we chose to use MCT oil as our carrier oil. You must use some type of carrier oil to delivery the CBD into your system for better absorption. MCT is known to be one of the most potent carrier oils. Other options of carrier oils include: butter, avocado and coconut oil.
We will use 3.5 oz of MCT oil and pour it into our glass jar. Next, we’ll add all 14 grams of the decarbed CBD flower buds. Make sure all of the buds are submerged into the liquid.
Then we’ll place the jar inside the Ardent Nova and securely fasten the purple insert and plastic lid. Then we run it for one cycle. Again, the light will turn red when the cycle is on and it will turn green when the cycle is complete.
CBD Oil Infusion - Step by step with images
4. Strain the plant material from the liquid.
There are several ways to strain the plant material from the CBD oil but we prefer using cheesecloth. Cheesecloth can be purchased from Amazon for a few bucks.
In this step we fold the cheesecloth over two times. Then we place it around the top of the glass jar. We also get another glass jar which will receive the liquid when we strain out the plant material.
This step must be done quickly. When everything is ready, flip the full jar over and the plant material will fall into the cheesecloth. Simultaneously, the oil will start to flow through the cheesecloth into the empty jar. Now you will start to wring the oil from the cheesecloth by twisting and squeezing. Do this until you can’t get any more oil out. Finally, you can toss the plant material and rinse the cheesecloth for next time.
CBD Oil Straining - Step by step with images
5. Transfer the CBD oil to tincture bottles (optional).
We like to take our CBD using a tincture bottle with a dropper. The dropper helps to regulate how much CBD oil we’re consuming. You can buy a pack of tincture bottles for around $10.
Transfer CBD oil to tincture - Step by step with images
6. Calculate the CBD oil potency.
You can calculate the total amount of CBD milligrams with the following formula.
How many grams of CBD hemp?  14 grams
What was the percent of CBD contained in the hemp?  14%
Total CBD Milligrams = 14 x 14 x 10 = 1,960mg of CBD
If you transfer your CBD oil to 1 oz tincture bottles, it should fill about 3 bottles total.
Then we can figure out how many milligrams of CBD are in each bottle.
1,960mg / 3 bottles = 650 mg of CBD per bottle
Finally, we can figure out how many milligrams of CBD are in a full dropper. Each tincture bottle contains roughly 30 full droppers. Note: A full dropper is the most amount of liquid that can fit in the dropper (roughly 1mL).
650 mg / 30 droppers = 22 mg per dropper
If you’re new to CBD oil and you’re not sure how much to take, you can use our CBD Dosage Calculator to get personalized dosage recommendations.
Quick Recipe
How to make full spectrum CBD oil homemade
Equipment
- Ardent Nova Decarboxylator
- Glass Jars
- Cheesecloth
- Tincture Bottles
Materials
- 1/2 oz Berkshire CBD Hemp Flower - Bubba Kush choose any strain you'd like
- 3.5 oz MCT Oil
Instructions
- Break down CBD flower into small pieces removing all stems
- Place the broken-down buds into the Ardent Nova silver cylinder. Run full cycle. Red light indicates cycle is in progress.
- Green light indicates cycle is complete. Remove cap and let cool for 20 min.
- Stir CBD flower in cylinder with spoon. Place cap back on and run for another cycle. CBD must undergo two cycles in Ardent Nova.
- When light turns green, remove the cap and let cool for another 20 min. The CBD bud will now be a brownish color.
- Make small cuts in the Ardent Nova purple rubber cap. This will allow us the jar to fit into the Ardent Nova.
- Move decarbed CBD flower from the cylinder to the glass jar.
- Add 3.5 oz of MCT oil into glass jar with CBD flower. Stir the oil and bud together to ensure all bud is submerged.
- Place jar into Ardent Nova. Add purple rubber insert and secure black plastic cap. Run for a one full cycle.
- When cycle is complete, let the device cool for 20 min. Remove the jar from the Ardent Nova.
- Cut a 12in by 12in square of cheesecloth. Get another 8 oz jar ready.
- Place folded cheesecloth over the top of the jar containing the CBD flower and oil.
- Flip over the jar quickly, allowing the oil to filter into the empty jar. Keep in this state for about 60 seconds until liquid flow has slowed.
- Remove top jar and let the CBD flower plant matter sit in the cheesecloth.
- Wring out the rest of the oil to maximize oil amount.
- After complete, you now have full spectrum CBD oil in a jar.
- Transfer CBD oil to a tincture bottle. This makes it easier to measure dosing.
- Pour CBD oil into funnel until the tincture is full.
- Use the tincture dropper to dose full spectrum CBD oil.
Video
Thanks so much for your detailed illustration. So 14g is 14000 mg. How do you know it’s 13% cbd and why are you using 15 x10 in the calculations? Where did that come from. Trying to understand calculating. Thanks.
Thanks for reaching out! We actually mistyped one of the numbers which is why it wasn’t adding up. The CBD flower we used in this recipe was 14% CBD in total instead of 13% that we had originally listed. We’ve corrected the numbers. To answer your question, first you need to calculate the total amount of CBD mg per gram. You can do this by taking the CBD percent (14) times 10 which equals 140mg per gram. Next, you multiple that number by the total amount of grams used, in our case that’s also 14. 140mg times 14 = 1,960mg… Read more »
Wow Jason…!! That oil you made even l@@ks healthy! The oils I’ve been taking are supposed to be high grade – but the color in them is *nothing* compared to yours! Really does make you wonder if they’re as concentrated & “whole” as they say.
Is it possible to produce a 3000 in a 60mL concentrate?
Do you think theres a truly high percentage cbd hemp that’s best?
Thanks so much for the post & the detailed instructions – it’s really great Jason!
Hi Ron,
Thanks for the feedback! It is definitely possible to create a 60mL tincture with 3,000mg of CBD, BUT it is not possible with the method used in this recipe. In order to reach that high of a concentration, you would need extraction equipment. Hope this helps!
-Jason
Hi Jason, just wondering why you need to decarb twice in the Nova? What would happen if I just run the cycle once? Thanks so much 🙂
Hi Kat,
Ardent has stated that it’s best to run two cycles when you’re decarbing CBD flower. Here’s more info from Ardent on this subject, but in summary, 1 cycle got them about 80% of CBD from the flower and the 2nd cycle got them 95%. So, if you’re trying to save time, 1 cycle will work just fine. But if you’re trying to maximize the amount of CBD extracted, it’s best to run 2 cycles.