Decarbing

[whelksemengmail.com]

I was under the impression that the best way to make cannabutter was to decarb the weed in oven first and then infuse with butter after... Guy on different forum says he a chemist etc and that he infuses first then just heats the oil up to decarb afterwards. Can anyone shed any light on this please?

 

[Dub_City405]

I decarb in the oven before I use the product to make what it is I'm making. Activate the thc before creating the final product.

 

[Saul.Goodman]

I guess it would depend on the application. Both ways would work however I've only ever decarbed prior to infusion with oil.

If you're doing a lot of baking and making of edibles that require cooking you are still decarbing, just using a different method.

I would be interested to know if there is a difference in the longevity of shelf life and/or potency between the two ways

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

I make RSO and it gets decarbed in the oven after I do the alcohol extraction. I've done it both ways with no noticeable difference. Doing it this way saves me a step in that I run the oil in the oven at 240F anyway to remove the final traces of alcohol...decarbs everything at the same time.

 

[Garbage_bear]

If I am making butter or coconut oil I will decarb the buds first. If I am making an ETOH extract I just decarb the oil at 240º until it stops bubbling. Usually 15 or 20 minutes.

 

[Moe.Red]

The cannabinoids don't care when you cook them, but the substance you are putting them in might. For example, cooking butter for 45 minutes at 250 is not something a chef would do...

 

[PipeCarver]

The cannabinoids don't care when you cook them, but the substance you are putting them in might. For example, cooking butter for 45 minutes at 250 is not something a chef would do...

I decarb first but there is a lot of variation in the temperatures and times people use to decarb weed. its very confusing and hard to find 2 people that use the same temps & time to do the decarbing its self......

Anyways.....

I was led to believe we have to decarb first. So I decarb @ 230f for 30 min because the oil or butter we use to infuse into doesn't get to the temps needed to decarb without burning.

I then use a double boiler with coconut oil for about 2 hrs, the water only reaches 212f@ boil but only about 200f in the pot. .

I'm probably screwing up in some eyes and I'd like to be enlightened but my processed chocolates puts my wife to sleep and that's my goal.

 

[Moe.Red]

I decarb first but there is a lot of variation in the temperatures and times people use to decarb weed. its very confusing and hard to find 2 people that use the same temps & time to do the decarbing its self......

Anyways.....

I was led to believe we have to decarb first. So I decarb @ 230f for 30 min because the oil or butter we use to infuse into doesn't get to the temps needed to decarb without burning.

I then use a double boiler with coconut oil for about 2 hrs, the water only reaches 212f@ boil but only about 200f in the pot. .

I'm probably screwing up in some eyes and I'd like to be enlightened but my processed chocolates puts my wife to sleep and that's my goal.

I don’t think you are screwing up at all. What works works.

I did a series of 5 videos maybe 2 years ago that shows the results of different decarb times and temps using TLC to measure acids / cannabinoids. Most people quote times for THC but there is a whole world out there and all the cannabinoids have their own temps for best results. It’s a balancing act.

 

[mancorn]

Ardent post on why you should decarb before infusing.

Why Decarboxylate Cannabis Before Infusing | Ardent Cannabis

Wondering if you have to decarboxylate cannabis before infusing it? This article will clear up the question of decarboxylation for infusion.

ardentcannabis.com

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

The THCA is still there and waiting for the right heat to activate it....before and after infusion. Like Moe said, the cannabinoids don't care when they have the A removed. Ardent wants to sell their products.

 

[mancorn]

The THCA is still there and waiting for the right heat to activate it....before and after infusion. Like Moe said, the cannabinoids don't care when they have the A removed. Ardent wants to sell their products.

Fair enough about Ardent wanting to sell product. But their conclusion (decarb then infuse) doesn’t effect the use of their product. It’s the same machine - you can just use it to decarb and then rerun the same process to infuse. Obviously it would make the machine MORE desirable if it could decarb/infuse in one step instead of taking twice the amount of time. There’s no advantage on their side to suggest the 2 stage method, if a 1 stage method (infusion alone) has the same outcome.

 

[Moe.Red]

Fair enough about Ardent wanting to sell product. But their conclusion (decarb then infuse) doesn’t effect the use of their product. It’s the same machine - you can just use it to decarb and then rerun the same process to infuse. Obviously it would make the machine MORE desirable if it could decarb/infuse in one step instead of taking twice the amount of time. There’s no advantage on their side to suggest the 2 stage method, if a 1 stage method (infusion alone) has the same outcome.

This is all true.

I think decarbing first when making cannabutter is the better more reliable technique. Not true for some other extractions. With EtOH I wait until the very last step.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

It’s the same machine - you can just use it to decarb and then rerun the same process to infuse.

I'm not familiar with the machine but my question would be, what is the temperature the machine operates at? Infusion and decarbing can take place at the same time but I think decarbing needs higher temperatures which is why after the machine did its thing, there was so much THCA still waiting to be activated. So I question if running it a second time would do anything at all to the THCA.

For example, when I make my RSO, I boil the extraction at 186F to remove the alcohol but that is not nearly hot enough to decarb, which needs 240F, hence I decarb the oil after the extraction is complete.

 

[mancorn]

I'm not familiar with the machine but my question would be, what is the temperature the machine operates at? Infusion and decarbing can take place at the same time but I think decarbing needs higher temperatures which is why after the machine did its thing, there was so much THCA still waiting to be activated. So I question if running it a second time would do anything at all to the THCA.

For example, when I make my RSO, I boil the extraction at 186F to remove the alcohol but that is not nearly hot enough to decarb, which needs 240F, hence I decarb the oil after the extraction is complete.

Don’t have a link, but at one point they were suggesting that the decarbed material wasn’t further decarbing while infusing. Not because the machine was running at a different temp, but because the oil kept the temp of the cannabis material low. I assume this is the same dynamic where a cookies internal temp is ~180 when baking at 375.

 

[Moe.Red]

I agree with @mancorn. From a purely engineering perspective, you up the mass and density of the heated materials and it will take longer to get the entire mass to the desired temp. If this is butter you are cooking, I'm thinking the changes from all that heat are gonna make it nasty.