The Decarboxylation Thread

[FastForward]

Greetings fellow extractors. This thread is for all to share their knowledge and experiences with decarboxylation of THCA into THC.

I'm making tinctures at the moment and I've read a shitload around the net on decarbing, but there's a lot of different views on it. A consensus view seems to be that the optimal temperature is 106c, but some do a lot lower for longer, others higher (but below the THC vape point of 185/190c) for shorter.

So...let's hear it from the horses mouth....(and what lovely horses you are :))....how do you cook your weed?

Also, for any tincture gurus.... can I decarb a green/glycerine mix by heating and stirring at 106c, or should I decarb the green first and then add to the glycerine and tumble?

 

[Kalcu]

I think you would have more risk decarbing the green first, although there is something that sounds pleasing about that method. Maybe more gets out of the buds that way, I wonder about the heat and stirring/tumbling while you have the green in the glycerin; then filter.

Sounds like something good to do with dry sift plant material after a knocking and maybe some bubble material after drying out (given no mold set). Or even less desirable bags, but I think I would turn those into oil with some less desirable dry sift.

Do you filter your glycerin? I think a vacuum pump and a good filter would separate any and all plant material.

 

[KingCrimson]

tinct. with vegetable glycerin is my next project for use in various foodstuffs and more importantly, e-cigarettes. I'll be pulling up a chair for this thread as I need to refine my technique.
In my limited experiences cooking w/herb low heat and long time has always yielded the best results, no matter what proponents of the quickness have told me. Maybe its just me but either way, thats my story and I might just stick to it.

 

[FastForward]

That's really interesting KC.... I've got some tinc tumbling right now that was heated to 70c for 2 or 3 days...but the lid was on, so I don't think there was enough decarb going on :(

 

[Redux]

I had an opportunity to chat a bit with Phillipe Lucas from The Vancouver Island Compassion Society and know he's had someone do some HPLC analysis of finished bud but don't know if he did that when developing Cannamist but does seem to know quite a bit about the subject.

Cannamist:
A tincture is an alcohol-base solution of a non-volatile medicine (in this case cannabis). In this case alcohol is not only the solvent used to separate cannabinoids from the plant matter, it is what makes this type of application (particularly in fine-mist form) more bio-available and therefore effective.

In whole-plant cannabis, THC content is expressed as THCA (tetrahydrocannabolic acid) prior to decarboxilation into THC, which takes place when cannabis is heated during cooking, and smoked or vaporized ingestion. THCA is a mild analgesic and anti-inflammatory but does not have good affinity with our CB1 receptors, so in order to make a THC-rich tincture that has many of the same therapeutic effects as smoked ingestion (including rapid absorption, quick relief and ease of self-titration), we must convert the THCA in the plant matter into THC prior to extracting it through an alcohol soak.

Supplies:
Converted cannabis
Alcohol (50% is preferred, but 40% vodka works just fine)
Organic mint
Organic honey
Large mason jar, x 2
Cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve

Dry heat conversion of THCA into THC:

* Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C) exactly (use an oven thermometer to be sure).
* Spread cannabis leaf or bud in a thin, 1 inch (2.5 cm) layer on a clean cookie sheet.
* Put in the oven until the first of smoke or 5 minutes, whichever is first, remove, and transfer to glass or ceramic container to cool.

Tincture/Cannamist Recipe:

* Pack a mason jar loosely but completely with converted cannabis product.
* Add alcohol until the jar is full.
* Seal, shake and put in a dark, cool place.
* After week 1, strain mixture through cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve and add to another mason jar packed with converted cannabis and a few sprigs of fresh organic mint.
* After week 2, strain mixture through cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve into mason jar.
* Add organic honey to taste.
* Shake/mix and then decant into bottles fitted with fine mist spray tops.

Dosage:

Initial Dosage: Spray two times on the inside of the cheek, and wait 30 seconds before swallowing. Wait ten minutes and if desired effect has not been reached, repeat on the opposite cheek. Wait ten minutes, and repeat until desired effect is achieved. Dosage will vary between users, but should remain fairly constant once established.

Effect will last for between 1-2 hours. Repeat use as needed.

 

[Kalcu]

A brandy tincture sound nice. Does the glycerin have any taste? What is it's texture like, I am thinking goopy for some reason.

 

[FastForward]

Gloopy, but sweet....glycerine is sugar alcohol or something like that....

 

[FastForward]

First decarb experiments underway here:

 

[TimeKey]

Decarboxylation and BHO

So would there be any benefit to Decarboxylation prior to a butane extraction? I'm thinking there would be.

 

[Hashmasta-Kut]

only if you are going to ingest the oil as opposed to vaporizing or smoking it.

 

[Mr.CERBERUS]

Dry kief \cold press rosin 290 degrees 30 minutes

 

[rmoltis]

Dry kief \cold press rosin 290 degrees 30 minutes

You're 8 years too late bro!

 

[MissDeeds]

Hi everyone, I know this threads a few months old but.. I found a couple of interesting articles about decarboxylation but they've left me a bit confused. One says decarb for 60 mins @ 240° the other says decarb for 110 mins @ 110°

https://hightimes.com/edibles/edibles-the-scoop-on-decarboxylation/


http://marijuanagrowershq.com/decarboxylating-cannabis-turning-thca-into-thc/

As I'm a noob to this I thought I'd ask someone.

Also I wondered about decarboxylation before alcohol extraction. Reading RSimpson material he just throws it all in a bucket raw. Does decarb happen during the boil off if you don't overheat?

Thanks in advance

 

[xavier7995]

Hi everyone, I know this threads a few months old but.. I found a couple of interesting articles about decarboxylation but they've left me a bit confused. One says decarb for 60 mins @ 240° the other says decarb for 110 mins @ 110°

https://hightimes.com/edibles/edibles-the-scoop-on-decarboxylation/


http://marijuanagrowershq.com/decarboxylating-cannabis-turning-thca-into-thc/

As I'm a noob to this I thought I'd ask someone.

Also I wondered about decarboxylation before alcohol extraction. Reading RSimpson material he just throws it all in a bucket raw. Does decarb happen during the boil off if you don't overheat?

Thanks in advance

I do 250 for 20-30 minutes, though it looks like I should up the temp to 275 going forward. That is based on this info http://thealchemistresource.thealchemistresource.com/p/82-decarboxylation.html?m=1

The website is a little weird on my phone but easy to navigate from a desktop.

Just as a heads up, decarbing weed in the oven is a super smelly process. Beware if living in an apartment or something where it is not legal.

 

[progeny-prodigy]

there r already very good experiments in this area. the reason there is conflicting info is because the decarp procces doesnt just change thca into thc it also degrades the thc into cbn. the slower the better but below lik140 degrees f it will take months. rule of thumb chemist use is chemical reactions double in speed for every 10 to 20 degrees c increase.

 

[Graywolf]

One of the things that you will note looking at various decarboxylation studies, is that their curves for a given temperature don't match, begging the question of why?

The short answer is because the material and process used by the different studies are not the same. Some are raw plant material and some are concentrates.

Within the concentrates, some are on glass in an open container and some are in closed containers, some oxygen free, and some oxygen enriched, et all.

Cutting to the chase, the absolutely most accurate method that I've come up with, is do decarboxylate in in concentrate form and simply watch the CO2 bubble production.

It fizzles to a stop in glass using open containers in the neighborhood of 70% yield, with some oxygen free processes yielding >85%. If you keep it stirred to dissipate the bubbles as they form, the vigorously fizzing puddle suddenly starts fizzing less, as it hits the top of the conversion curve and starts downward from degradation.

All starting material is different, even material from different areas of the same plant, based on its orientation, et all, but in general with a concentrate in an open stainless container sitting in 250F oil, the bubbling cessation, occurs in the general ball park of the 1990 Journal of Chromatography.

More details at:http://thealchemistresource.thealchemistresource.com/p/82-decarboxylation.html