Post your decarb method here!

V

Vital

Well-Known Member
If the Nova is accurate like the company claims it is, shouldn't the timed cycle run for nearly the exact same length if all variables are equal? For example, if you were to run the unit at room temperature empty and then allow it to cool down to room temperature, and run it again empty, should the run times be fairly similar?
 
Vital,
kilo

kilo

Well-Known Member
I posted this on reddit after last fall's harvest and thought it might be of interest on FC.

I met a scientist at the NORML convention in '87 and he was the first person I heard who recommended decarbing all your product, not just for edibles. He had developed a proprietary decarbing appliance but he said an hour and twenty minutes in a boiling bag would work almost as well. I didn't have access to boiling bags and used canning jars steamed over boiling water instead. The heat allowed a slight vacuum to form in the jar and seal the tops as the jars cooled. So this was guerilla-farmed weed, dried (but not "cured" to today's standards — that information wasn't available!), then trimmed and packed in the jars. The weed turned brownish and developed a nutty aroma, potency was unaffected, and it stored beautifully in the jars. I stopped doing this when I moved production indoors and had small harvests every two months. Long term storage wasn't a concern.

I started growing outdoors again a few years ago when my state went legal and one single big harvest meant long term storage again. I used ½ Gallon Mason jars and slowly brought the curing weed down to 62% humidity, let it stabilize, dropped in a Boveda and screwed the top on. Nice. I also tried vacuum-sealing as an alternative and had good results as well.

Okay, so now with these big harvests I have a lot of "surplus" weed to experiment with and I figured I'd make some salves and balms. I hadn't decarbed any weed in years so I did a little research online and learned that the water bath wasn't really the most effective method — and neither was the oven. A higher temperature than could be achieved with boiling water was more efficient at a more accurate temp than could be achieved in a kitchen oven. I've done a lot of pressure canning of fruits and vegetables before so I wasn't intimidated by the process. I knew that 10 lbs of pressure would bring the temperature close to the ideal 240º. I experimented on some small amounts and liked the result. So, then next decision was how much to process — hell, why not all of it? I have a big pressure canner and can process a dozen pint jars at a time. I liked the taste and aroma of the decarbed weed back when I was smoking and I like it now that I'm vaping. And it may be confirmation bias but it feels as if the high is a little improved as well. If I want to use any of it for edibles or medicinal application it's all ready to go.

It affects the flavor but in a positive way (taste is subjective), the weed is around 60% moisture level when processed and the seal seems to maintain that level in the jar.
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VapeEscapist

VapeEscapist

Medicine Buddha
I bought a Ninja Foodi XL 6 in 1 indoor grill as a way to have more options for cooking at home.

I soon realized I could use this to decarb for my edibles and purge my BHO.

It's basically a small tabletop convection oven that can grill, air fry, bake, and dehydrate.

I grind the flower, make an envelope of sorts out of aluminum foil, and put that in the Foodi for 25 mins at 250.

Very consistent results.

The Foodi XL is only $250 and has been worth every penny.
 
VapeEscapist,
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T

TommyBlaze

Member
trichome_renaissance said:
I usually go with: (works well enough that I haven't experimented with other approaches)


- Preheat oven @ 220F w/ cookie sheet in oven
- Break botanicals into slightly larger than a standard bowl sized nugs while preheating
- Spread out and wrap botanicals in aluminum foil pillow sized for cookie sheet
- Place in 220F preheated oven

o 220F for 10 minutes (to reduce moisture...adjust time based on moisture of starting material)
o 235 for 2.5 minutes (maybe unnecessary but my thought was to do this to try and minimize overshooting the 245F target next)
o 245 for 30 minutes

- Gradually cool down packet to encourage terpene reabsorption

o Turn oven off, open door wide and let cool for 10 minutes
o Take foil packet out and let cool on counter for 20 minutes
o Open foil packet (flowers will be somewhat browned)
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Ocd much? Lol
 
TommyBlaze,
ascendancystrains

ascendancystrains

New Member
macbill said:
Many people add soy lecithin. It is claimed to aid in absorption of THC. A couple tablespoons per ounce, i think.

If you are making brownies, you don't need to decarb prior to baking since the cooking time takes care of that.

Here is a good source: Turning THCA into THC
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I never thought of the cooking taking care of the decarb. Good thought. I'd love to see people run a real experiment to test these competing theories. We really should be at that stage by now.

vonfatman said:
i did the oven. it was pretty stinky. i read here about using mason jars to dcarb.
came upon the instipot. tried it with mason jars. it is so easy and fast, it is now my go-to method. and, there is never odor in the instapot!
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I did it in a mason jar and the jar shattered. I followed the instructions and heated it from room temp. Not sure if it was cheap glass or what but had to run a rescue mission on my precious homegrown. Not sure I'll have the courage to try that method again.

CarolKing said:
Some ovens are slightly off far as heat goes so I think it's hard to know if you are using the perfect temperature. Maybe there is a way to check to see if you are on target with the temp. Some sort of a temperature gauge. Maybe they make an oven thermometer.

The decarb process is such an important step. It can make or break your cooking project. If you have spent a lot of money on cannabis you don't want to be out all that product if it doesn't turn out.
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So true. Our oven sensor broke and the landlord decided to replace it with a new oven that didnt have a digital temp gauge so, even if the clunky manual knob is right on the money, I'm not sure it's really going to the temp it's set to, especially since this beauty doesnt even have a light to show that it is at the proper temperature. Sorry, just got triggered. Now I had a bad oven AND suspect edibles. Time to stop renting.

MinnBobber said:
...................................
I always error on side of lower temps than 245 F to save max amount of goodness and do more time , like actual 220 F for 2 hours
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For canna olive oil I follow this recipe and go with 245 F for 45 minutes then put in the crock pot on low for 4-5 hours to make sure everything transfers into the oil properly before straining.
 
ascendancystrains,
VapeEscapist

VapeEscapist

Medicine Buddha
ascendancystrains said:
new oven that didnt have a digital temp gauge
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Even if it did, from what I understand most home use ovens fluctuate +-25 degrees as they try to maintain temps.

A digitally controlled convection oven is far more accurate.

14 grams broken into chunks, 25 minutes at 250 degrees in my convection oven. 1 hour in a large mason jar in the covered crock pot on low (was filled with boiling water), this gets all the cannabinoids but less chlorophyll. Squeezed out in a cheesecloth ball in a ricer. Make edibles.

I might try using a jar for reduced smell, we'll see.
 
S

selector_plume

New Member
VapeEscapist said:
You know, I think I may be ready to get one of these. I may just have to get that FX model as well.
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Yeah it took me a bit to wrap my head around the entry fee. I make a batch about every month so this thing has paid for itself long ago. I prefer ingesting at this point over vaping, and it’s about the cost of a nice vape - that’s how I justified it. Beyond the straining step, I can make EVO infusions completely in the Nova. Highly recommended, no issues after three years.
 
VapeEscapist

VapeEscapist

Medicine Buddha
selector_plume said:
Yeah it took me a bit to wrap my head around the entry fee. I make a batch about every month so this thing has paid for itself long ago. I prefer ingesting at this point over vaping, and it’s about the cost of a nice vape - that’s how I justified it. Beyond the straining step, I can make EVO infusions completely in the Nova. Highly recommended, no issues after three years.
Click to expand...
I just purchased the FX model on eBay for $219 new. (Got $20 off with a promo)

Time to up my game and stop the stink. Thanks for the nudge!
 
shredder

shredder

Well-Known Member
ascendancystrains said:
I never thought of the cooking taking care of the decarb. Good thought. I'd love to see people run a real experiment to test these competing theories. We really should be at that stage by now.
Click to expand...

Cooking in a recipe or decarbing in oil its not the best way to decarb. The oil and the cooking mix insulates the canna oil and you won't get a good consistent decarb. This is the same reason you can cook brownies at say 325F without issues, the canna oil never reaches that temperature.

decarboxylation-myths

Another vote for the nova fx. If you use a lot of edibles it's worth it.
 
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VapeEscapist

VapeEscapist

Medicine Buddha
shredder said:
Another vote for the nova fx. If you use a lot of edibles it's worth it.
Click to expand...
I just made my first batch of oil with the FX. Definitely less smell, which is great. Gotta love just pouring in the oil right on top as well. I did 1 hour of infusion.

But I think there's less CBD/CBG/CBN being produced than when I decarb with my (far stinkier) convection oven at 250 degrees for 25 minutes.

I'm not getting the same body buzz.

I know there's a lot of factors at play so we'll see how I feel about subsequent batches. I'll be curious to see if my friends feel a difference. I was thinking I could maybe run the hotter cycle a little as well. Might be worth writing the people Ardent about. They seem to be pretty confident in their science.
 
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shredder

shredder

Well-Known Member
VapeEscapist said:
I just made my first batch of oil with the FX. Definitely less smell, which is great. Gotta love just pouring in the oil right on top as well. I did 1 hour of infusion.

But I think there's less CBD/CBG/CBN being produced than when I decarb with my (far stinkier) convection oven at 250 degrees for 25 minutes.

I'm not getting the same body buzz.

I know there's a lot of factors at play so we'll see how I feel about subsequent batches. I'll be curious to see if my friends feel a difference. I was thinking I could maybe run the hotter cycle a little as well. Might be worth writing the people Ardent about. They seem to be pretty confident in their science.
Click to expand...

I didn't get the same buzz as before when I started using the fx as well. I think before I was over decarbing. Now it's more lively of a buzz than before.

I've also doubled and triple decarbed to try for cbn. And I decarb rosin in the cbd mode. It's seems better in that mode.

Oh, and I use a 24 ounce canning jar to infuse in. Before when I just used the unit itself I got infused oil down the side and under the bottom plastic. When it got hot oil would seep out. I had to wash it in our dishwasher to get the oil out. Now I use the jar, lol.
 
M

mnocito

New Member
Being new to edibles I got tired of DYI methods for decarbing, mainly because I sucked at it. Finally I broke down and bought a decarber on Amazon. Sweet baby Jesus this was much better. Set it for 1 of 3 temps and forget it. I paid about $100 for it and I know I wasted more than that trying to learn to decarb. I was also surprised that it does a kick ass job of infusing oil based food like butter, or coconut oil). Similar to how a crockpot would. It fits about 1/2 an ounce, which is perfect for me because I cook in small batches. Of all my gear this is one of my favorites.
 
shredder

shredder

Well-Known Member
mnocito said:
Being new to edibles I got tired of DYI methods for decarbing, mainly because I sucked at it. Finally I broke down and bought a decarber on Amazon. Sweet baby Jesus this was much better. Set it for 1 of 3 temps and forget it. I paid about $100 for it and I know I wasted more than that trying to learn to decarb. I was also surprised that it does a kick ass job of infusing oil based food like butter, or coconut oil). Similar to how a crockpot would. It fits about 1/2 an ounce, which is perfect for me because I cook in small batches. Of all my gear this is one of my favorites.
Click to expand...

The description in the link you provided for concentrates was interesting. They said shorter decarb times for concentrates and hash.

I use a longer time setting (cbd mode) when I decarb rosin in my Nova fx.
 
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