Making mushroom capsules with a commonly found commercial pill-making device. With pictures.
[u]Shroom capsules with the Cap-M-Quik[/u]
The following is a pictorial explanation of how to use the Cap-M-Quik capsule making machine to create your own mushroom capsules. This is such a simple process that you can easily learn it from the instructions included on a business card with the machine (no kidding, they come on a plastic business card that doubles as a spreader). The purpose of this tek is to show Shroomerites the simplicity and relative efficiency of this method. I believe that many people never pursue the idea of mushroom capsules simply because they don't realize that a $20 machine can produce professional looking capsules in batches of 50 with almost no skill or dexterity required.
There are other teks on capsule making on this site. They're all great, but this one addresses a specific machine that is fairly common.
[u]Reasons capsules rock:[/u]
1) Capsules allow easy dosing (1 capsule = .5g) 2) Capsules are easy to carry. Just get a pill bottle and go. 3) Capsules are discrete. They are visually indistinguishable from common herbal supplements. 4) Capsules allow you to use finely ground powder when a grinder is impractical (like making a drink while camping) 5) If you swallow them, there's no taste, except the burp. 6) Well mixed powder gives you equally potent capsules, so dosing is more predictable and sharing is more equitable.
[u]Items required:[/u]
1 Cap-M-Quik Capsule Filler 1 Cap-M-Quick Tamper (sold separately...BUY IT!) 1 Coffee Grinder (required the best results) 50 Empty Capsules, Size "00" Mushrooms, Totally Dried (at least 25g for full capsules) 1 Pair of latex gloves
[u]Preparing the Mushrooms[/u]
This isn't a tek on how to dry mushrooms, so just understand that totally dry mean [b]totally dry.[/b] Truly "cracker dry" mushrooms should snap cleanly when an attempt is made to break them. That means absolutely no bending, just a clean, easy break. I use a box with desiccant to finish them off after they come out of the dehydrator just to be sure.
To make a full batch of 50 capsules, you will need at least 25g of dry mushrooms. Since there will be some spillage (it's unavoidable) it's best to have a few extra grams. Don't worry, you can get the spillage back after the capsules are done, but its almost impossible before they are sealed. If you have exactly 25g, you'll end up with underfilled capsules and leftover powder.
I strongly suggest using an electric coffee grinder to grind your mushrooms. Getting a superfine powder maximizes their absorption in the stomach and allows for the most consistently filled, professional-looking capsules.
Grind your shrooms to the finest powder possible. Don't stop grinding once they're just unrecognizable. Coffee grinders can make a powder that will often form a little cloud of suspended particles above it. Get them FINE! It's also a good idea to pulse the grinder and avoid any long stretches of running so that heat doesn't build up. Keep the powder in a sealed container until it's ready to be used to prevent humidity absorption.
There is always some powder that gets stuck in the grinder and is never recovered. If you want to minimize your waste, do large batches at once. The unrecoverable residue is about the same amount no matter how much has been ground, so the waste from one batch of 200g is a quarter of that from 4 batches of 50g. [u] Making Your Capsules[/u]
[LIST][*]Prepare a workspace. It's best to be on a desk or table where you can sit comfortably. Use a large piece of paper or something similar to catch any spills. Again, there will be spills. Put on your gloves. The reason for the gloves is that the powder will eagerly absorb moisture from your hands, creating a sticky mess. Capsules can also stick to all but the driest hands.
[url=http://files.shroomery.org/files/08-28/574566653-cmq_intro.jpg][image]/forums/files/08-28/574566653-thumb_cmq_intro.jpg[/image][/url] Ready to go!
[*] Put the two small spacers on the large base piece. Get them on their pegs with the taller side facing inward.
[*]Congratulations! You've completely assembled the machine! Now, while you're celebrating, separate the individual capsules into their long and short halves. Load the long halves into the machine, keep the short halves for later.
[*]There's no science to determining how much to scoop on to there - just try not to put on much more then you can fit in the capsules without compression. Spread the powder around so it completely fills all of the holes. The plastic business card is designed for this.
[*]Continue until all of the capsules are full, then remove and save any excess powder by using the card as a scoop. You may notice that some powder is spilling out around the capsules - that's normal and it's why we always grind a little extra. It's also why a good, easy to clean workspace is important. Your capsules should end up like this:
[*]Wow! That sure went down far, didn't it? That last picture above is actually from pretty far into the process - the first tamp will push the powder all the way to the bottom. Here comes the fun part, scoop some more powder on there again and repeat. Continue until you can't squeeze any more in there. Press HARD if you really want to get the most in each capsule. They'll probably store longer if packed super tight, since oxygen will have a harder time penetrating the powder.
[*]Now, if you're confident you are done cramming shroom goodness in there, it's time to drop the holder. Rotate those two rectangular tabs 90 degrees and the holder will fall down, but still keep the capsules upright.
[*]A good amount of loose powder will come with them, so make sure the bowl is big enough to catch it. Move the bowl around with a sifting motion to shake the powder off of the pills. Collect the pills and scrape up all of the loose powder. If you are doing several batches at once, you can wait until the end to clean the powder. [/LIST]
These capsules store well in an ordinary pill bottle. Many common herbal supplements look very similar to these capsules. They often have an "actual size" outline on the label that matches your capsules perfectly. Because of this, you should be very careful about where you put these. If someone was looking through a bag of yours and found a "Ginkgo Biloba" bottle full of your own capsules, they would almost certainly think that this was a natural supplement meant to improve brain function. They would be right, just not in the way that they intended.
For long term storage, refrigeration, or even better freezing, will extend the life of these capsules. Make sure that the bottle is airtight - some people like to use a vacuum bag sealer either directly on the capsules or around the bottle before putting them in the freezer. When you retrieve the capsules from the freezer, do not shake them since they may be brittle. Also, give them plenty of time to return to room temperature before opening them. If they are at all cold, condensation can form and they'll turn soft and sticky. As a side note, never freeze fresh mushrooms. Any freezing water in the mushroom material will cause an undried mushroom's cells to rupture and you'll find a pile of black goo later on.
When using the capsules, be prepared for a bit of a wait if you swallow them whole. I've seen it take over 2 hours for the gelatin capsule to dissolve in someone's stomach. The tripper will get confused and frustrated, think they just had a joke pulled on them, and then it'll hit HARD. The delay doesn't shorten the trip, it just makes you wait for it before it will begin. I imagine drinking some fluids, especially acidic fruit juices, would be good after taking the capsules to help break down the gelatin.
The real versatility is that each capsule opens easy to give you a pre-measured, .5g amount of ultra-fine ground shroom powder that you can used in a drink or on food in any situation. I think of the capsules more as containers than ingestion devices.
I hope that this tek showed you a new option for storing and using your harvests. If you want to make your own capsules, but don't mind making your own machine, take a look at: [url=/6277/Cannons-Capsule-Tek] Cannon's Capsule Tek [/url]
And remember, the eyes eat first, so you must always give some thought to properly presenting your capsules. Here are 250 that I finished while watching LA Confidential one night. Oh yeah - this is tedious, have a movie playing!
