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Decarb.... big surprise to me

So, today I made my first batch of cannabutter. I have a cannabis cookbook that is very good and it tells you that when you decarb you weed it does in fact increase potency slightly. Of course it doesn't say how exactly with any stats/tests. It basically states if you are trying to maximize thc content in your edible cooking products you should decarb it. I crumbled it up and put it in a covered casserole dish for 20min at 250F. The instructions in the book also says that most recipes tell you to grind up your stuff finely, however this book specifically states not to pulverize it into dust. The THC is on the weed not in it. Pulverizing to a fine powder will only introduce more plant matter - which we leave a more pronounced taste of cannabis (some dont like that - i dont mind it :) ).

I used:
- 14 grams (1/2oz) of decarbed weed
- 7 grams of trim (also decarbed in the same dish above)
- 1 1/4 cups of unsalted butter (they say use unsalted as most recipes call for unsalted, more than likely you'll be adding salt to the recipe itself)
- cheese cloth

1. Throw all that in a crock pot on low for 6 hours.
2. Let cool and dump/scrape into cheese cloth (which is over a large bowl)
3. Squeeze everything out into the bowl. As much as possible
4. Dump that into an airtight container.
-- After that I did more research and found that you could potentially get more. See below, comments welcome --
5. Pour a hot kettle of water over the left over cheese cloth/ plant material ball.
6. Squeeze all of the water out of that (When cool) and into the same bowl you used earlier
7..... This is where I am at currently... Apparently the water and the oil butter will separate. Sounds logical, oil on top of water. once separated you can skim the top and get the excess.

If anyone has any comments on any above - it would be greatly appreciated.
 
This is a similiar recipe in the Magical Butter Machine book. I have their decarb box and thermometer which I’d suppose is to keep the oven temps around 240 and the silicone box helps to retain the odors within the box. As I understand it so far...the Ardent Nova decarbing is so efficient. The resulting product is significantly improved for potency.

Of course what’s not to say the the claim is huge and the performance is not so huge....we’ll find out and time will tell. If the performance is that good, it easily extends the harvested volume by a lot. Since you’ll need less. A friend used the magical butter machine to make cannabutter and other than a greenish color, it went right back in the butter stick molds and wrapped up in it original paper. He wound up with 8 full 1/4 lb sticks.
 
WWW: I'd try a small amt. in the oven. Oven temps fluctuate a lot and you risk losing a lot of terpenes--that's what I've read on Ardent's website.
 
uncledoug For you, my friend, and in the spirit of scientific investigation, I just took some bud out of my 8 weeks + cured Northern Light (cup winner) by RQS, ground it and vaped it. This could be entirely subjective, but I think it's better than the bud I decarbed a few weeks back. It produced an incredibly smooth and strong high.

It's like decarbing bud before it's been properly cured does make it psychoactive, but it is NOT the same as proper curing. I'm totally convinced now. The cure is the bomb.
 
I originally purchased the Nova so I could decarb bud for tincture, and that worked like a charm. If you go to the Ardent website, you'll see a couple of articles on what you can do with decarbed bud. For folks who prefer not to smoke or vape, this machine allows you to take your medicines any way you want: just chew up a bud if you want.

From all the research I did last year, I concluded that the Nova was going to expose the Cannabis to the least amount of heat, which is exactly what I wanted so that I could preserve terpenes. Except for decarboxylation, heat is no friend to Cannabis: it degrades the chemicals. I would never attempt to dry weed in the oven because I'm a finicky Cannabis connoiseur. My goal is to grow the best bud I can and then handle it in such a way so as not to disturb trichomes. I know, I know: these are first world problems... But I love all the new technology, even tho I loved the 60s-70s dearly. I'll stick with this Cannabis today.
 
alltatup, I'm curious how your 8 week NL cured in jars would compare to the same 8 week NL but decarbed at 8 weeks? I'm wondering how 8 week regular cure would compare to the same bud if it was decarbed at 1 or 2 weeks regular cure? Does decarbing just speed up the cure process if done early so it's more potent than 1 or 2 week regular cure? I'm thinking it may depend on when the decarb is done. Hope this makes sence because I'm getting confused just writing this. :)
 
uncledoug I think I understand you... I think. I will have to decarb a bit of the 8 week cured NL and see if I can detect any significant difference. If I vape early in the morning, that's when I can make clear assessments.

I think decarbed bud after 1-2 weeks in jar is going to be better than vaping/smoking the raw. That's basically what I did to get through: I decarbed a little of this and that after it had been in the jars for a week or two. I wanted to leave all of it to cure (cept for enough decarb to get me by), but I had a couple of buddies in serious need.

I'm finally convinced of the wonders of curing. On the past year, I pretty much decarbed all the bud within a few weeks of putting it in jars and getting it down to around 62% RH. I'm not gonna do that any more. I'm a cured convert. I mean a curing convert. You know what I mean...

45 minutes later...

Lord, I'm such a stoner. I forgot that I have been vaping the 8 week cured decarbed NL. I decarbed some last week, so it's been a few days that I was vaping it and it was my favorite. I like the raw better, I think.

But part of the problem is that I get way higher at some times than at others. I don't know why. I wonder if it's that way for most everyone. The raw is getting me really high today. I'll try the decarbed NL in the morning: no telling what I'll have to say tomorrow. Stoners. Crazy crew.
 
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Yup, I'll try a little bit in the oven and see what happens...if nothing else I can use the result for oil/tincture/lip balm if I'm annoyed by the taste. I'm also leery of using the oven because I have no idea what this mystery strain is and terpenes/flavors might go a ways in actually identifying it (in late flower my room smelled like cloves/spicy herbs and I'd love to keep that).
 
If the Nova is as good as perceived... I would like to propose an experiment. Roll up a few joints of each (decarbed buds and fresh buds). Smoke them first smoke of the day on separate days with out telling the smokers which was which. Then have the smoker report on which buds they think they smoked durring the experiment.
 
Or VAPE. Only problem for me is I have one weed buddy and he has 2 yr old twins, so I don't see him that often. I will volunteer to be the guinea pig.
 
Lol. Understandable. But you know what they say... “a friend with weed is a friend indeed”.
 
Damn Toker 1.... that is funny, never heard it but you can bet I’m guaranteed to repeat it

And.... got home from work today and the Nova had been delivered....only 5 days

let the experiments begin
 
I love my Nova. I decarb my bud, grind it in a coffee grinder (pulverized in seconds, bitches!), and serve it from a spice shaker, like you find at a pizza restaurant with the pepper flakes and parmesan cheese. I shake it into yogurt or quesadillas. I've also swallowed teaspoons of ground bud, but that is unpleasant.

I also dose dogs with it. Subjective and variable, but 1 "shake" their kibble is enough to make a 10 pound dog walk a little sideways, but not tip over or freak out.
 
Hey Dingus, what was it like when you swallowed the ground bud? How high did you get. Shanel the CEO of Nova says to stick a piece of decarbed bud under the tongue and let all the good stuff infuse into your system--at least I think I saw that on the site... been wanting to try it.... haven't had the nerve...
 
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