The benefits of hemp and CBD are becoming much more widely known, and there are plenty of reasons for this fact. However, many people don’t do a good job of explaining those reasons, telling you to trust their word. We, however, would like to help you become as educated on this subject as possible. To that end, let’s go over the basics of CBD before telling you how you can make your own CBD oil at home from hemp flower.

What is CBD?

CBD is a chemical substance that is naturally found in the Cannabis plant. This includes both hemp and marijuana, although the amount of CBD in a particular strain or batch of product, does vary a lot. Because hemp contains little to no THC (the psychoactive ingredient that gets you high), it does not get you high like its more potent cousin. CBD offers most of the health benefits associated with the Cannabis plant, and that is why CBD extracts are so popular these days.

Why You Should Use Hemp Flower To Make CBD Oil?

As of this writing, CBD is not very well-regulated. It simply hasn’t been on the market long enough for effective controls to be established. When you buy CBD products, you are trusting that the manufacturer did everything safely, cleanly, and according to the law. None of these things, however, is universally guaranteed.

Here is a disturbing story for you: A team of researchers and journalists decided to test a wide variety of CBD products for purity and safety. They found that 70% of the products contained things like lead, arsenic, other heavy metals, and pesticides. The bottom line is this: Homemade CBD oil is a lot safer because you’re the one who’s making it. But it’s only safe as long as you’re making it from hemp flower.

Where Should You Buy Hemp Flower?

You can buy hemp from a lot of different suppliers, but we would urge you to use caution. You could always grow some hemp if you want to be 100% sure of its purity, but that isn’t a realistic option for most people. We would simply recommend that you research a large number of sellers and make sure that they have a good track record without too many bad reviews. For example, Mr Hemp Flower wholesale is a popular hemp flower seller that is well known for providing high quality hemp flowers without the contaminants found in the research mentioned above. You should still ask questions and do your due diligence before buying from anyone, but Mr Hemp Flower seems like a company to trust to provide high quality flowers.

Different Ways To Make CBD Oil

Although you can get plenty of CBD in your system by smoking or eating hemp, it is more efficient to extract pure CBD from the plant material. Not only will this result in a higher potency product, but it will also increase its shelf life dramatically. To extract pure CBD oil from your hemp flower, you can use one of the following processes.

Oil Method

The simplest and most common method is to extract the CBD using a carrier oil. Most types of oils will bond with the CBD molecule, allowing them to act as vehicles for extraction. Technically, you can use any kind of oil for this process, but coconut oil seems to be the most commonly used by far. You should begin by decarboxylating your buds. This is just a fancy term for gentle cooking, which is meant to activate the plant’s internal chemicals.

To do this, just wrap your flowers in aluminum foil and bake them on a low heat for 90-100 minutes. You will want to poke a few holes in the foil so that air and steam can escape freely. Next, get out a mason jar (of an appropriate size) and fill it halfway full of chopped hemp flowers. At this point, you have a choice as to how you would like to proceed. If you want extra potency, you can allow this mixture of oil and flower to sit for three days to a week.

If you choose to let your mixture sit for a while, it is imperative that you shake the jar from time to time. Otherwise, the plant material that floats to the surface will begin to grow moldy. You don’t even want to imagine the foul smell when you eventually remove the top! You should shake that jar twice a day: Once in the morning and once at night. This method is similar to that used for making essential oils.

When the oil has sat for long enough, remove it from the jar and heat it gently. The idea is to kill any microbes or bacteria that could have formed and to evaporate trace amounts of water vapor that may remain. Once that is done, filter the oil through cheesecloth while it is still good and hot. Cool the resulting mixture and seal in an airtight container.

Alcohol Method

This method is a little bit more advanced but should be well within the capabilities of most people.

Start by gathering your plant material and putting it in a large bowl. This bowl should be glass or ceramic and should be sized for the portions being used.

Add enough alcohol to cover all the hemp flowers. Stir for about six minutes or so with a wooden spoon. If a thick resin forms on top of the alcohol, scoop it out and throw it away.

Next, you will need to separate the solids from the liquid, which you can do by filtering. Just use a kitchen sieve to do this, although there will be tiny particles of hemp flower remaining. Next, you will need to heat and filter the remaining liquid. You can do both of these steps at once by using a coffee machine, which you will need again later.

Now, you will need to extract the remaining alcohol and separate it from the CBD oil. To do this, you simply take advantage of a natural property shared by all alcohols.

All alcohols will evaporate with relative ease, while CBD does not. Therefore, gentle heating will cause the alcohol to evaporate away, leaving pure CBD oil behind. You can achieve this gentle heating with a double boiler, or by simply setting your mixture on the heated base of the coffee machine.

When you are done, you will need to test your CBD oil to make sure all the alcohol has been removed. To do this, just use a steel pin to extract a tiny amount and then attempt to light it on fire. If it is flammable, it needs more time: Simple as that!

Best Hemp Flower Strains To Make CBD Oil

As a general rule, it is very easy to find the best strains of hemp flower for making CBD oil. Since you are only looking for one ingredient here, the choice is obvious: choose only strains that have the highest levels of CBD.