Instant Pot - Decarb & Extract

tom32

Active Member
Isn't it sealed? Where are they gonna go?

Strains are what, < 5% terpenes? Usually < 2% by weight? I imagine them boiling off and sticking to the decarb chamber, and then they are left behind when you transfer into a new container to infuse. That's the allure of an in-place oil decarb/infuse in a small mason jar: the terpenes boil off into the oil and stay there.
 
tom32,
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Ramahs

Fucking Combustion (mostly) Since February 2017
Strains are what, < 5% terpenes? Usually < 2% by weight? I imagine them boiling off and sticking to the decarb chamber, and then they are left behind when you transfer into a new container to infuse. That's the allure of an in-place oil decarb/infuse in a small mason jar: the terpenes boil off into the oil and stay there.

You make a valid point, my friend.
 
Ramahs,

Easywider

Simple is the way
I thought it would be a good time to stock up on edibles just incase my lungs need a break in the near future. I've done canna coconut oil with a crockpot for years and always thought it would be cool to see if one could decarb in an instant pot.

I decided to search google today and looky looky first recipie I find brings me right back to my favourite playground. Have my first batch decarbing right now, I have 4more strains to go if I like the results of this one.

@couchlockcannabis were you able to try different decarb times and is there a noticeable difference in effects?
 

Cwglazier

New Member
Nice write up. 40 minutes seems like a long time though. I can cook a bunch of chicken legs in 40 minutes.

When I cook artichokes, I usually put two in my IP for 25 minutes.

I might have thought the time was too long for the temp but it isn't my recipe and admit to not trying my PC to do this. Good idea though. Under pressure you shouldn't need as high of a temp or possibly cooking time. Should be able to figure out a correct ratio of time/pressure. I'm just thinking low temp is almost always better to preserve terps ect. Even though they are trapped in the jar.

My instapot brand I can pretty much control the temperature directly, so it shouldn't be a problem, and yeah, I was told the same 118°-220°F is supposed to be ideal to break the chemical bonds without destroying them. I saw this really cool idea, a "beer can chicken rack." a circular doohickey that sits in the bottom and can hold the jar up, then pour water up to half way up the jar; fill it with product, seal the jar and presto chango! (ok, so there is more to it, here: Ah yes, the smell, or lack thereof, of success)
I totally wanna try it, but use the temperatures recommended that we're talking about, and not for butter, but for carboxylation. The good thing, if the jar ever explodes (it's not under pressure the entire time, and not under high pressure), it never goes anywhere, any the smell will be absorbed into the water (a friend tells me.) I was also told, if you are worried about the smell at all; when you vent the pot, vent it into a bathtowel (like when I blow my vape in Big Brother's house LOLOL.)

I havnt done it in awhile but I love shopping kitchen gadgets at resale. Good find and idea, chicken thing. I once found an hourglass shaped pyrex "vase" at resale for 1$ they didnt know what it was and neither did I but I got it. Found out it was a 60$ chemex coffee maker. Good deal. Most pots and pans too just cause good ones can be cheap.

I regularly use a manual pressure cooker in my kitchen for food and have not used it for decarb because I have been told to decarb at 220F. The OG pressure cooker is a few degrees higher than an IP. I have even thought about buying a small IP just for decarb - but I see that you show it at 240F on high. Are these temps OK to decarb? Should I spring for a small IP just for this purpose? And if I use it just for this can I work directly in the IP?
For what it's worth, if you are using it for just this or maybe even other stuff (easy to clean I'm assuming) , you should be able to work right out of the pot if you wait for it to cool naturally and preserve the stuff you were trying to save to begin with without releasing it all in the steam. That could be a much larger batch I guess but also could do several jars at once.
 
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Cwglazier,

Popcorn Lung

Well-Known Member
NOTE for anyone wondering if this works with small batches of cannabis. It DOES!!!

I decarbed 3g. of lemon cookies in an 16oz. mason jar. I used a piece of foil folded over in substitution of a new seal and closed finger tight.

When done I let cool until the jar was cool to the touch or room temperature for some of you.

I poured over .5 cups (*erroneously) of mct oil, covered with the same foil/lid and closed finger tight again.

When done I let jar cool again and strained into a 8oz. mason jar.

Experience:
Day 1 dosed 1tsp.sublingual for three min before downing and felt very slight body high. 6 hrs later dosed another tsp. but also started vaping.

Day 2 dosed 2tsp. and this was a huge difference. First hour I just felt slight body high and started to think I really over did the oil. Second hour still just feeling it but started to notice my mood enhanced. Going into the third hour I realized I was peaking nicely. Actually that third hour I was on really really peaking. Its now hr. 6 and I can still feel the effects.

I found my perfect personal dose for my first batch of instant pot mct/cannabis infusion tincture. I want to add the oil is extremely tasty. I can taste the lemon cookies on my lips.

I used .5 cups of mct oil which should get me approx. 24tsp. I've used 4tsp. Which leaves me 20tsp. and 10 days worth if I dose once a day at 2tsp. a dose. Not bad.


*erroneously
The mct oil ratio was a mistake on my part. I am not following the conventional 1 cup oil to 1 oz. cannabis recommendations. I meant to add .25 cups of mct oil.

I plan on trying this again using a 1 oz. oil to 2g. of cannabis recipe I read about. I will use 1g. of cement shoes and .5 oz mct oil.

I will do it in the next two weeks and report back.
 
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Easywider

Simple is the way
Mine worked out well. This method is so much easier then oven decarb, I have been converted.

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rotnot

Member
Hello.
First time posting here, but this thread is very interesting.

In the past I used this method quite a few times and apparently the decarb/infusion just works as it is, but considering "time" is not really an issue for me, I started thinking about using "Low Pressure" and longer decarb/infusion times (also considering I want CBD decarbed/infused) instead.
You may wondering why in hell I would want longer infusion times...

Well, for example, I know MCT oil doesn't really like high temperatures...


Afaik, both THC and CBD are decarbed at "similar" temperatures.
I could even find a study about this showing how CBD might take a tad longer to get almost-fully decarbed.


source: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/can.2016.0020

Also considering I'm up on a hill at around 850m (around 2750ft), do you think it would be fine using 60minutes "Low Pressure" to decarb and 40minutes "Low Pressure" to infuse my fat of choice (MCT oil, this run)?

What about different infusion times and tempetatures for different type of fats?
I suppose classic butter could just take the heat of the "High Pressure" setting, but (virgin) olive oil might not really like that.

I would love to read what you guys think about this.
 
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Chicken&Cheese

New Member
I just got an instant pot had no idea it could do this.

I've been making butter by boiling abv with oil or butter and letchin in a mason jar for 2 hours stirring the mixture every 25 minutes.

Unless I've picked this up wrong, I just put the jar in the pressure cooker for 20 mins and it would be the same potency as my previous method?
 

vinnyzan

Well-Known Member
Has any one done it without a new lid ? Also did any one have any trouble getting the band off the jar ? I thought I was going to have to break out the power tools. I guess I just have to leave it looser next time ?

I have 2 instant pots they make cooking certain things so easy, glad I found another way to put them to work !
 

CurryLeafTreehugger

Well-Known Member
New lids can be had at most grocery stores, Valdemart, some hardware stores, etc. You need the LIDS (flat thingies) not the bands (the part that screws on, these are reusable). They're cheap - but price check. Your average tony grocery will charge too much, Valdemart should be in the ballpark, other places may be cheaper yet. I hesitate to say how cheap currently as my experience with canning spans 57 years so ... not sure I have current prices slotted in there LOL!

The bands are only there to hold the lids in place while they seal. They don't need to be put on tight, pressures created during canning/processing will take care of snugging the lids down. Just don't put them on that tight to start with.

Lids are reusable only in non-sealing applications (like putting an opened jar of whatever in the fridge). If you want/need a seal always use new lids.
 
CurryLeafTreehugger,

hroark

Member
I am curious if anyone decarb and infuse in oil, in one shot. What I have been doing since the beginning is that I put ground up weed in the oil and set the timer to around 70 minutes. The oil has been effective as several different friends and family had been using my oil for a long time. The reason I do both decarb and infusion within oil is to preserve the terpene.

So yeh, if you guys have never tried it this way, do it. It's quicker, less messy, and has more benefit than just decarbing without the oil. You can play around with the time. I've been using 70 and 80 minutes. When I take the mason jar out, I can still see quite a good amount of bubbles which is indicative of the decarbing process. I am ok with not completely decarbing the weed as THCa and CBDa have been found to have benefit too. If you want complete decarb, then run it longer.
 

Paperback Writer

Im a Rastaman not a Dreadlock
I am curious if anyone decarb and infuse in oil, in one shot. What I have been doing since the beginning is that I put ground up weed in the oil and set the timer to around 70 minutes. The oil has been effective as several different friends and family had been using my oil for a long time. The reason I do both decarb and infusion within oil is to preserve the terpene.

So yeh, if you guys have never tried it this way, do it. It's quicker, less messy, and has more benefit than just decarbing without the oil. You can play around with the time. I've been using 70 and 80 minutes. When I take the mason jar out, I can still see quite a good amount of bubbles which is indicative of the decarbing process. I am ok with not completely decarbing the weed as THCa and CBDa have been found to have benefit too. If you want complete decarb, then run it longer.

High hroak,

Wondering what temp you use to decarb and infuse in your instapot? I have infused oil in a mini Crock-Pot before with good results in my opinion. My latest batch of tincture, I decarbed and then ran QWET. It makes me super sleepy so I was thinking about going back to infusion in oil.

Thanks
 
Paperback Writer,

hroark

Member
High hroak,

Wondering what temp you use to decarb and infuse in your instapot? I have infused oil in a mini Crock-Pot before with good results in my opinion. My latest batch of tincture, I decarbed and then ran QWET. It makes me super sleepy so I was thinking about going back to infusion in oil.

Thanks
I use an Instant Pot so the max and consistent temperature is around 240F at High Pressure. I would let the whole thing (ground weed and mct oil barely covers the weed) sit in the IP for 70 to 80 minutes. Don't stress about whether you are decarbing and infusing at optimal temperature and time because THCa, CBDa, and other "non-active" acid form cannabinoids had been shown to be beneficial for the body/mind, that is if you're making this stuff for medicine.

Now, most edible or oil (sativa or indica) are usually sedative anyway, from my experience, but I did not make them so who knows what and how they made them. If you can, perhaps buy some strong energizing sativa and cook it and see whether the result is more energetic or sedative. The infusion method can make the oil sedative if you cook it too long and most THC / THCa is converted to CBN which has been anecdotally reported to be sedative. Make sure you vape the flower or concentrate first and see if it's actually energetic to begin with. Maybe I will experience with this on my next cooking project.
 
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hroark

Member
Through another website/blog dedicated to extraction, the guy there said the all in one decarb and infusion will for sure trap the terpene but he also mentioned that decarb the dry ground up flower in mason jar in Instant Pot would work just as well in term of not losing terpene because it's a closed system.

Amazing extraction blog! Highly recommended! extractcrafter dot com.

Next time I'll try this method of decarb without mct oil and see, as in the OP of this thread. I think both methods work well equally. Only lab tests of the oil would allow one to know which method is better. But either way, less than 100% decarb should be fine as mentioned that THCa and CBDa are actually very beneficial. You search for those research papers. I'm not pulling that out of thin air.
 

vonfatman

Well-Known Member
amazing. i am sold the suggested decarb/extrat at one time. used it for mct oil with a 1/2oz of flower and another with concentrate. both in different jars in the same pot at the same time. did 20 min, then another 20 with the long cooldown. WowMomWow....this is so easy. one step. no smell.

i sampled the concetrate oil as it was ready first. Oh boy!
 

pudgewack

Well-Known Member
Based on comments @vonfatman and @hroark , I decarbed (and I guess infused) some shatter in the Instanpot. Used 3g of shatter and about 30ml of coconut oil/sunflower lecithin mixture (probably 4:1-ish). Put all of that into a mason jar, sealed it, and used high pressure for 90 minutes. Once finished, I used a manual pressure release, let the jar cool, and then filled 30 gel-caps. My calculations show this should be around 70mg per cap.

I did enjoy the simplicity of decarbing directly in the oil. Allowed me to fill the gel caps as soon as the mixture cooled without any filtration and no additional mix-ins. The process was very simple. And the mixture was easy to move from the jar to the caps with using a pipette.

After trying a few caps, they definitely work. But they do not appear to be anywhere near 70mg. My guess would be closer to 30mg, which is fine by me. But it makes me curious how I can improve the process in the future.

The 90 minute decarb may have been too long. Was thinking the extra time was needed since the shatter was decarbing in oil. Not sure if I created CBN. Or possibly didn't decarb long enough and left some THCA in the mixture. But I will definitely try again with different times. I am out of shatter though, so the next attempts will be with different forms of concentrates.

Thought I would share in the event someone is looking to do something similar.
 

Tuck

Well-Known Member
So, I use the original method for my ABV, with some deviations. Yes, I decarb my ABV and I probably don't have to, but old habits die hard and if I'm going to do all of this, I might as well try to convert all that THCA to THC right?

I do a decarb for 5 minutes on the Instant Pot. 5 minutes at pressure and another 20ish minutes coming up to temp so 25ish minutes at around 220-240F seems plenty for ABV. I don't natural release usually unless I get tied up with something.

For the extraction, I use a Cup of Coconut Oil per Cup of ABV (14-20g-ish) and a half a cup of water in my Mason Jar. I add water because I think it helps make it easier to squeeze it out later with a Potato Ricer over a coffee filter over a mesh strainer and hopefully it absorbs most of the chlorophyll. I go 45 minutes here.

Then throw it in the fridge for the water and coconut oil to separate.

If the ABV Coconut Oil has too strong a smell, I'll do a water wash or two in my Instant Pot setting it for 5 minutes again. I'm still chasing that holy grail of non-smelly ABV Coconut Oil. Any recommendations beside the water wash would be great. I've been thinking about throwing fresh Mint leaves into the wash but haven't tried that yet. I am afraid it will just taste like Minty Shit.

Once my ABV is washed, I throw in an RSO syringe from the dispensary to kick everything up a notch and then I make the recipe on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies - it calls for 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter. If you use a Tablespoon to drop your cookie dough, it'll make about 7 dozen or 84 cookies.

Mason Jars and the Instant Pot, seem to contain all odors and this way is wife-approved. She would get frustrated when I made her kitchen smell like an Amsterdam Coffee Shop.
 
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