Decarboxylation using a microwave oven

Ringodoggie · Mar 24, 2018

This has long been frowned upon. I don't know if it's because it destroys something or because we just don't know and we're afraid.

I was searching through some patents today and found a patent for decarboxylation where they used a microwave oven rather than a conventional oven.

Must admit, that would sure save some time.

Here's a clip....

(ii) decarboxylating the cannabinoids in (a) the plant material and (b) the extract comprising cannabinoids by subjecting the plant material and extract to microwaves at temperature of about 100-200 °C in a sealed container or sealed vessel and for a time period sufficient to form the corresponding decarboxylated cannabinoids in the extract.

[0093] Herein, the term "microwaves" refer to a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from one meter to one millimeter; with frequencies between 300 MHz (100 cm) and 300 GHz (0.1 cm).

https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2018000094A1/en

Just something to think about.

And, a link to the patent...

MJPassion · Mar 24, 2018

What other physical changes are made to the THC molecular structure?

Irradiating water changes the bond angle & renders it poison to life.

Maple_Flail · Mar 24, 2018

I would think this plant deserves to be treated in a more gentle fashion that a microwave would provide.

that being said, that is an opinion. no science or fact to back that up.

I do have an analogy tho. an egg cooked slowly tastes better than and egg cooked fast.

Ringodoggie · Mar 24, 2018

MJPassion said:
What other physical changes are made to the THC molecular structure?

Irradiating water changes the bond angle & renders it poison to life.

Good point.

Maple_Flail said:
I do have an analogy tho. an egg cooked slowly tastes better than and egg cooked fast.

Yeah, but shots of Jagger are better than sipping beer. LMAO j/k

I agree on not using the microwave but found it unusual to see it used in a patent. Apparently it will decarb, at least. Albeit, as MP said, with, who knows, what other effects.

Gumby's Ganja · Apr 14, 2018

I read an article once that said you can decarb buds in a microwave. I put some in for 3 minutes and when I opened it smoke poured out and my buds were either on fire or already turned to ashes.

Got absolutely blasted when I inhaled the smoke cloud, but would not recommend lol

Carraxe · Apr 14, 2018

Don't do that. You don't get control about temperature and irradiation if you microwave the weed. I use an oil bath and I get 110-120ºC, that's enough and I get total control.

Cheers

brown_thumb · Apr 14, 2018

MJPassion said:
What other physical changes are made to the THC molecular structure?

Irradiating water changes the bond angle & renders it poison to life.

Microwaves are not nuclear. They're just shorter (higher frequency) radio waves. If we microwave water, it's not contaminated and it isn't molecularly altered. All microwaves do is excite molecules to vibrate rapidly causing them to become hot.

The same is true with induction cooktops except those use electromagnetic coils with rapidly inverting polarity to cause the magnetic material in pans (iron) to vibrate and become hot.

Think of tightly pressing your hands together and rubbing them back and forth... they become warmer. That's all these appliances do except at the molecular level.

"Nuking" something in a microwave oven is a misnomer... microwave ovens are not nuclear.

This isn't to say that microwaving weed is a good way to decarboxylate it... I don't know. I suspect not because it will rapidly lose its moisture content and cease heating. That's also bad for the appliance.

Ringodoggie · Apr 14, 2018

Just for shits and giggles I decided to run some Beam and Duquenois tests on some microwaved weed.

I took a 1:1 CBD:THC and tested it as is. Then a sample at 2 minutes each at power 1, 3 and 5.

None of the samples looked any different under a 60x scope. I placed a glass of water in the microwave to help absorb some of the waves and to help determine just how hot it got.

First sample barely warmed the water. By the 3rd sample, the water was almost scalding hot. The 3rd pot sample was warm but no smoke or odor was observed at any point.

I am letting the samples extract in denatured alcohol for a while then I'll come back and edit with the test results.

Albeit, I'm not so sure about the accuracy of these tests either because of the sheer nature of the tests or due to my lack of ability in performing them properly. Either way, results to follow.

Ringodoggie · Apr 14, 2018

First observation is that the extraction from the sample with the most microwave is way way way more green than the others. And, it goes in progression. Must be something to do with the microwave and chlorophyll cell rupture.

Well, the results are a little unexpected.

I ran both tests on a sample that I had previously decab'd in the oven at 240F for 40m (my standard). Results were as expected and matched tests I have run before on this strain... nice and purple on both CBD and THC (Beam and Duquenois). About a 1:1 strain. The TLC tests I ran confirmed.

So, I expected a similar 1:1 result from these microwaved samples.

The THC showed about the same on all samples. And, all 3 microwaved samples showed the same amout of THC as the oven decarb'd sample. So. that might indicate that microwaving is OK to decarb THC.

However, the oven decarb'd sample showed a high amount of CBD (very dark purple) while the microwaved samples showed ZERO CBD. !!

I hate when I come up with results like this because I always feel like it's something I did wrong. LOL I'll run the tests again but it might be neat if someone else ran the tests to see if the results concur.

medman225 · May 29, 2018

please be VERY careful if attempting this, u really gotta make sure uve pulled out all the butane u possibly can
honestly all your doing is heating up in the microwave tho, & if that’s all your going for, then, with cleanly purged stuff, an oven prob works better than a microwave.
either that, or the ghetto rigged vac chamber from a stovetop pot, over a stove top, with one of the cheap glass sealer tops....

there’s a fine line between the most desirable decarb times, and faster times at well over the burning point of oil.... i think the microwave if anything would be too fast and too hot for decarbing extractions.

Emperortaima · Jul 29, 2018

Microwaves emit radiation to 'cook' your food. What really is happening is it is destroying all the nutrient value of the meal and replacing it with radioactive isotopes imho i would if decarbing flower do it in a oven if the oven can go to the proper temp and or any other heating system with quality heating elements so it heats it up with just temperature and not radiation best of luck my friend

Emperortaima · Jul 29, 2018

brown_thumb said:
Microwaves are not nuclear. They're just shorter (higher frequency) radio waves. If we microwave water, it's not contaminated and it isn't molecularly altered. All microwaves do is excite molecules to vibrate rapidly causing them to become hot.

The same is true with induction cooktops except those use electromagnetic coils with rapidly inverting polarity to cause the magnetic material in pans (iron) to vibrate and become hot.

Think of tightly pressing your hands together and rubbing them back and forth... they become warmer. That's all these appliances do except at the molecular level.

"Nuking" something in a microwave oven is a misnomer... microwave ovens are not nuclear.

This isn't to say that microwaving weed is a good way to decarboxylate it... I don't know. I suspect not because it will rapidly lose its moisture content and cease heating. That's also bad for the appliance.

Not to sound like a know it all but pleass look up the experiment where a elementary school kid took two plants and one was fed with microwaved water the other was non microwaved water well the conclusion is that the plant fed with microwaved water died if that corroborates to what youre talking about

brown_thumb · Aug 8, 2018

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microwave

White Beard · Mar 16, 2019

Emperortaima said:
Microwaves emit radiation to 'cook' your food. What really is happening is it is destroying all the nutrient value of the meal and replacing it with radioactive isotopes imho i would if decarbing flower do it in a oven if the oven can go to the proper temp and or any other heating system with quality heating elements so it heats it up with just temperature and not radiation best of luck my friend

I have heard the “microwaves make your food radioactive” thing before...from an old country guy who also believed that cat should be kept away from babies ‘cause it would suck the life out of ‘em.

If you want to test it out, get a Geiger counter. The microwave part, I mean, not the cats killing babies thing.

The biggest issue I’d have with microwaving to decarb is that it depends entirely on the remaining moisture in your vegetables....

rcc_2000 · Aug 26, 2019

You can microwave

You can microwave

You can microwave concentrate and decrab it. I do it all the time. I take a gram of shatter and put it in a small heavy glass jar and cover it with another heavey jar (these are small squat jars). I will microwave it for about a minute on high and then take a look, if it is a clear shatter it will start to melt but some other budders and concentrates may need a drop or two of a previous batch or THC distillate , or vegetable glycerine (no more than a drop or two), I keep on microwaving for 30 second increments stopping to take a temp reading with a laser IR thermometer. Once the liquid starts to bubble I will allow it to boil if the glass container and contents reach around 240-250F then I keep doing 30 sec bursts until the bubbling stops for the most part. I wait for the contents to cool but are still very much liquid and use a glass syringe to draw the liquid. It can now be used straight out of the syringe for dabbing, put into a vape cartridge or put under the tongue for sublingual or mixed with food and ingested orally. You can even smoke it in a bong with multiple screens. Anyway, this is not theory. As far as decarb concentrates it works 100% and takes about 5-10 minutes.

Gry · Aug 26, 2019

After reading this, the thought of vegan tamale pie made with fritos sounds right for dinner this evening .

watts · Aug 26, 2019

Boiling a sweet potato preserves most of the nutrients
A microwave 2nd
an oven 3rd

ozzieAI · Aug 26, 2019

don't knock fast decarbing...mine takes 10 mins...

..fry pan & induction hot plate...freshly ground buds...been doing so long now no need for temp gauges/timers...i'll have mine Medium please...

i check colour and vapour coming off...keep it under 140C and keep it moving...no more than 15 sec sitting...

in simplest terms trying to get a gritty/sandy feel....

very interesting on the CBD...will follow to see what falls out of the shaken tree...

Capt.Ahab · Aug 26, 2019

Anyone ever consider using a Sous vide machine ?

Mr. J · Aug 26, 2019

I betcha that the guys who decarb in the microwave also eat a lot of ramen and they have really dirty bathrooms.

Decarboxylation using a microwave oven

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