Decarboxylation

[kingfish]

I'm on a quest. I am totally dissatisfied with my Tincture and am looking for ideas on decarboxylating my weed. I've been using our oven but I can't rely on the constant Temp. Can anybody give me ideas on their debarbing method? Also temp. and duration?

[Obi-Wan]

For tinctures : Gas oven, top rack in a Pyrex dish. Rinse Pyrex dish with alcohol when decarb is complete. Buy an oven thermometer that you can place on the top rack of the oven. Set the temp on the oven and check the thermometer after 15 minutes. Adjust the oven temp up or down until you dial in the desired temperature. Make a note of the oven temperature on the appliance when you reach the desired temperature on the oven thermometer.

Freshly harvested and ground: 225F for 1 hour 15 minutes

Dried & Cured: 220F for 1 hour

Fresh Frozen & ground 225F for 1 hour 30 minutes

[YYCannabis]

The oven thermometer is key. I calculate my time starting when the thermometer reaches temp. I do mine at 220 for 40 minutes with a mixing halfway. The first 20 minutes starts when the thermometer reaches 220, not when I put my flower in there and close the door. Same for the last 20 minutes after the mixing around.

I’m usually decarbing 1oz dry flower that has been ground.

[Obi-Wan]

After 20 years working in commercial kitchens I’ve learned to not trust the thermostat on an oven. You need to have a thermometer in the oven to judge the true temperature. Ovens fire at max heat until the desired temp is reached, they differ from home heating systems in this way. Because of this, I will say that if your internal thermometer reaches temperature before the appliance thermostat, your flower could enter the oven at a temperature that could potentially burn off trichomes. Household ovens generally take 10 minutes to preheat, so checking them internal thermometer after 15 minutes allows the temperature to stabilize after the preheating process. This allows for an even decarb.

Time & Temperature will always vary depending on the quantity and moisture content of the product you use. I am generally decarbing 3 ounces of trim in a 6X9 glass Pyrex dish.

[YYCannabis]

Thanks for info Obi-Wan. I’m going to follow your advice. I’ve been making Cana-ghee for years with my existing method doing what might have been causing terpine loss.

[9fingerleafs]

i like decarbing in water, you put the weed inside a double or tripple bag and put inside a boiling pot of water for two hours, you can put a spoon in the bag to force it to sink
i like to use this chart when calculating time

[kingfish]

9fingers, what type of bags do you use. I like your idea.

[9fingerleafs]

i actually use a single layer of vacuum sealed bags, i have a food saver. i put the spoon first, seal it at the bottom of the bag and then the weed on top and seal again

[smoorman]

I really do like the temperature consistency of boiling water. I have a sous vide cooker. I may try that.

[s62]

I’m hoping to get an Ardent Nova as a gift this year. That makes it evidently very, very easy

[Farmall]

Tell the ‘gift giver’ to check around for discount coupons, Black Friday stuff and web site promos... the last I saw was $30.00 off

[Schwaggy]

I have a nova... it works great but only does 14 grams or so at a time. I have to do 3 cycles in the nova which take about 1.5 hours. I think it’s depends on the humidity of the weed you are decarbing.

[Farmall]

We have had a Foodsaver vacuum sealer for 20+years. Those bags are made to be put into boiling water and the vacuum would suck the air out so it won’t float. As they come on rolls, you can make the bag any size you needed

[9fingerleafs]

yep, thats the one i use too

[Rwise]

I too have been looking art the different methods of decarb. What I read about the ardent nova is its heat is very stable and runs 120* F for 12 hours. The lower heat is said to preserve the terps.
I have use several methods, stove top in a dry skillet, in the oven inside a quart jar,,, these worked but I want to do better!
A note on ovens, the temp swing in an oven can be more than 50*,,, my oven is "slow",,, that means it is a tad under the set temp,,,

[hazenph]

buy the Nova, You will be amazed at the difference!

[kingfish]

Thank you all for you advise and ideas. I think I'm going to try the boiling water method. I think it will be easiest to keep a constant temp.

[9fingerleafs]

kinda like this, but with another small section with a spoon inside

[kingfish]

Thanks 9fingerleafs, that is exactly what I'm going to do.

[OlderNOTwiser]

Can't believe this post came up yesterday! I've been on line for hours this morning looking for "best practices" on decarb times, temps, etc...and finally did a search here. I should be ashamed.

My current question is whether I can use the mason jars as I would in canning tomatoes. I do have a food saver (haven't used it in years but it may become my new toy!) and I could do that. Do you leave some space for expansion in the bag or vacuum it right down flat?

If I can use the old wet bath canning process do you leave the water below the rims in case of leakage or stick to 1/2" above the rim and tighten pretty good?

With the bag I assume no smell?

[9fingerleafs]

the bag wont smell and you should vacuum seal with absolutely no air inside, once its hot enough, the weed will release the moisture it has inside in the form of vapor so the bag will kinda become a bit swell during the process but when you let it cool down it goes back inside the buds

[kingfish]

OlderNOTwiser, I came across this yesterday.

[OlderNOTwiser]

I've noticed while using a search engine on this topic many GWE links pop up. And in forums I'm directed to GWE and/or the forum is referenced. So good job to all of you! Off topic but I found it to be nice.

So, back on topic. In a recent thread Mr. Furley posted the boiling temps of many cannabinoids and of course I can't find it right now. It has thc and cbd about 20 degrees apart. CBD being higher. Roughly 240 and 260 F is where we need to be to get THCa and CBDa to convert if I'm remembering correctly. The many things I've read today kept coming back to smell, length of time and temperatures. The consensus I'm getting is the thc temp should be 240F for 45 minutes when using a mason jar/oven method. CBD seems to be less settled. But with Mr. Furley's information it seems that shooting for 260F at the same length of time would make sense. Or just add 15 minutes or so to the 240F time. If using thc strains for longer/hotter you may begin to degrade the thc.

Anyhow...I found this to be very informative. I must admit I read more of this post than I'd intended to. Quite good. https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/...#post-23884852

As far as a good old fashioned wet bath canning session I found this. https://www.rxleaf.com/decarb-youre-...oing-it-wrong/ Under the heading about cannabinoid loss is the answer to my question on canning equipment use.

We have a grandson currently living with us but he should be away for a few days eating turkey. I'm trying to get all of my turduckens in a row now as I'm thinking it will be a good time to play and if it gets stinky so be it.

Wife thinks I'm nuts (she is right) but I'll probably run a wet one and two in the oven. One each cbd and thc in each. Hey once the oven is hot and water is boiling no sense wasting heat.

[OlderNOTwiser]

Took me a while to find but: https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...-cbda-into-cbc post #10.2 very informative.

[Farmall]

That Foodsaver bag has zero smell as does the Ardent Nova. And as you have one, you know those bags are more than durable. Watch the color change too...it goes from olive drab to brownish

[OlderNOTwiser]

This is my wrap up on this: https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...and-canna-caps