Capsule Machines and Empty Capsules in Sizes 0, 00 and 1

Say you've got a jar of bitter botanical powder sitting in the cupboard, Kratom powder or something similar, and you'd rather not taste it again. Four things in this smartshop category handle that: the Capsule Machine, gelatine shells, vegetarian shells, and oblate pouches for people who never want to touch a shell. So it comes down to two calls, what size and what the shell is made of.

Size 00, 0 or 1: How Much Powder Actually Goes In

Capsule Machines in this range take size 0, size 00 and size 1 shells, gelatine or vegetarian. Those three are the whole range here, so there's no plate for anything roomier or tinier. Size 00 is the biggest at roughly 740 mg of powder, size 0 sits around 500 mg, and size 1 holds about 400 mg. Powder density and bulk volume are what move those weights around: light, airy stuff fills the space long before it hits the number on the label, while a dense, finely milled powder gets closer to it. A kitchen scale beats guesswork, and it beats assuming that two different powders behave the same way in the same shell.

Gelatine or Vegetarian: Same Sizes, Different Shell

Gelatine Capsules come in all three sizes and hold the same amounts as the plant-based ones, and they're the classic shell most people picture. Vegetarian Capsules skip the animal-derived part and slot into the exact same machine plates, same sizes, same volumes. Both split into two halves that seat together when the machine presses them, so the choice is really about what you want in your shell, not performance.

Tamping Tool In, Drying Bag Included, and the No-Shell Option

The machine joins and ejects all 24 capsules for you, and the tamping tool that comes with it presses the powder down so you're not left with half-empty shells. That step matters most with the fluffy stuff, since a light powder that looks like a full shell can settle into two thirds of one. Watch out for humidity: capsules swell when the air is damp and then refuse to close properly. That's why a moisture-sucking drying bag is in the box, leave your shells sitting in it and they come back to the right size. We also tap the plates out and wipe them dry between batches, damp powder in the holes is the main thing that gums the machine up.

Don't fancy filling shells at all? Easy Dose Oblate Pouches are made from 100% non-GMO potato starch, thin as tracing paper and with no taste of their own. They come in packs of 50 or 100 with a foldable funnel sheet, and they're made in Japan. Compared with the Capsule Machine there's no press and nothing to clean, though you fill them one at a time rather than 24 in one go.

First batch ever? Grab the machine with size 0 gelatine shells and see how your powder behaves. Doing this every week with a coarse powder? Size 00 means fewer presses for the same amount of powder.