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Decarboxylation : How much heat and time ?

Gry

Well-known member
That burst of flavor one smells when placing canna in an oven always made me wince.
More may be retained if one does the extraction first and then sticks the extract in the oven to decarb - using a foil covered glass container, and allows the container to cool prior to removing the foil.
Back in the mid seventies, buds in the oven was fine, today I use the foil covered container as I am a firm believer in an entourage effect.
 

XXX_710

Member
thc boiling point

thc boiling point

Doesn't THC begin to vapourize at 250F ?

THC boils at 315 degrees F.

xxPeacePipexx seems to have come to the same conclusion i did. Keep the heat from getting above 293F to preserve the most volatile compounds.

Like someone said, get an oven thermometer to confirm your oven's temperature.
 

Growcephus

Member
Veteran
Lab testing all points to using low heat for the most effective decarb without creating excessive amounts of CBN in the process.

-Heating the product up to 212F-221F and holding it at the temp for even as little as an hour should result in pretty damn close to a 90% conversion rate of THC-A to THC-D9 WITHOUT creating a bunch of CBN in the process. You can achieve this using mason jars with loose lids in a water bath if you're not confident in the stability of your oven.

-Holding the product at any temp from 212F to 302F for at least an hour has been demonstrated to achieve pretty close to a 90% conversion rate, however, CBN conversion accelerates with the higher temps.

While decarboxylation has peer reviewed studies we can reference, there is pretty much zero peer reviewed data on extracting our decarbed THC to solvents or fats for use in edibles. I'd recommend doing a two stage process and decarb your weed first at 212F, then extract it into your solvent/fat using low heat again and test samples done using 1, 2, and 3 hour extraction durations as the low heat should help prevent excessive CBN development during the extraction.

Here's some data on the decarb process:
 
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GET MO

Registered Med User
Veteran
Aright so i wanna try a low temp decarb to preserve as many terps as i can, im thinking round 110f, for how long would I hold that temp? Would 24 hours be enough for a high percentage to decarb?
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
So far, the only way I have found to maintain the terpene profile is Sous
Vide.
Which is essentially decarbing in a sealed container, while the terpenes are still intact. Correct?


I too have always been against oven decarbing, since the first time I smelled all the goodness leaving the oven. Easiest way to make edibles with a 'flat' effect.
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
Yes, correct. And, because the cannabis is vacuum sealed you can use lower temps. I decarb at about 190F for 90 minutes.
 

GET MO

Registered Med User
Veteran
Its been 12 hours, things look to be decarbing, and I still got terps. Been 12 hours so far in the yogurt maker which i think holds temp between 110-120f...
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
12 hours seems like a long time to decarb. Are you certain you're not converting it all to CBN?

I often use the Dukenoid (sp) test to determine THC content before and after decarb. I was using TLC but I ran out of plates and dye. :(
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
I am pretty sure that THC will convert to CBN, even at room temperature..... given enough time.

I am not 100% sure on that but I do know that cannabis will decarb over time and convert THCa to THC even at room temp. Not sure if it would continue to convert into CBN after that.

My point being, it's not the temperature that I am talking about as much as it is the time. 12 hours just seems like a really long time.

Albiet, when I used to infuse, I used a crockpot for 12 hours and the crockpot is probably about your temp (on low). So, on that note, the time and temp don't seem outrageous.

I guess do it..... and see if it works. LOL







.
 

Gry

Well-known member
Can recall reading older material on the subject that spoke of maintaining temps at just below a boil for up to 18 hours.
Recall descriptions of hash makers that would store cannabis in sheds over the winter prior making hash.
Got lazy and did not even get any started last night. Reading of your efforts has me setting up a config for a double boiler now.
Would like the temp to hover near 170.
Have 28 grams of finely ground bud sitting in 12 ounces of glycerin in a double boiler at 140 which I will
gradually take up to 175- 180.
 

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
I've been doing 325 at 30 minutes for about a year now. Works great for me but now this thread has me rethinking everything.
 

RichardUrena

New member
I have done extensive archive searches in this forum to see if I could find out the ideal and optimal oven temperature setting and length of time in the oven, that will consistently yield the highest rate of THCA to TCH conversion, without overdoing it and having significant amounts of that precious THC degrading into CBD.

In reading the sheer variety of opinions on this subject, I was reminded of a quote attributed to Bob Dylan, in which he reportedly said " One thing I learned in college, is that a lot of people go to college."

I am also reminded of the words to an old country song by Don Williams, which includes the phrase " A panel of experts can shout all night, and never figure out which one is right."

Cutting to the chase, I found in the archives no less than TEN different recommended oven temperatures and oven decarb times, and I would like to list them all together here, so y'all can look 'em over and maybe help narrow down to a most favored decarb oven time and over temperature, which I can then carve in stone and use for the rest of all time.

Here are the various opinions that I found during my archive research in this cooking cannabis forum, regarding just how long to bake dry herb in the oven, and what temperature to set the oven.

100 degrees for 20 minutes
100 degrees for 60 minutes
150 degrees for 15 minutes
160 degrees for 5 minutes
160 degrees for 10 minutes
220 degrees for 20 minutes
275 degrees for 5 minutes
280 degrees for 20 minutes
300 degrees for 20 minutes
Microwave for 2 minutes

I wish I knew how to run a poll in my post here, but since I don't I sure would be grateful if as many of you canna-chefs as possible could look over the above listed oven times and temperatures, and help as best you can to identify the most THC-productive combination of time and temperature, selected from the above list I collated from past discussions in this forum on the subject, going back over a few years of ICMag forum archives.


Additionally I saw and noted in these forums a statement made that TCH "melts" at 260 degrees, and "boils" at 392 degrees. Can I take this to mean that it would be unwise to decarb weed at any temperature above 260 degrees ?

The subject of decarbing becomes more perplexing the more I read opinions on the best way to go about it, so a summary of sorts would be much appreciated by this aspiring canna-coconut oil alchemist.

:tiphat:

I'll finally get this right. Good thing I joined the forum. Thank you so much!
 

flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
Never microwave, it destroys THC.

If that is true my cookies from my cannabutter have destroyed THC. I use the microwave to melt the frozen stored butter down for cooking, but at 30% power.

I'll have to make the next batch by melting the butter in a different way to see the difference.

Edit: I have melted the frozen butter in a cup in the 250* oven till melted and beyond a bit. No decarb bubbles either. Those cookies were no more or less than microwave defrost.

I am making an OVD360* batch now in the rice cooker at 168* (maybe). No water this time.
 
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flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
My WMT $10 rice cooker runs 170* on warm.

My WMT $10 rice cooker runs 170* on warm.

It will boil water on "cook". Easily handles an elbo of butter and a qt of material. So should I boil in water or slo heat? Or maybe boil a while then slow warm at 170 for a few hours? Oils are still gonna rise when the mix cools in the fridge.

I agree with taking the dairy out of the butter first - clarify. Why scrape off and toss/wash off all that cream which is probably very "rich" after you process the material?

Can recall reading older material on the subject that spoke of maintaining temps at just below a boil for up to 18 hours.
Recall descriptions of hash makers that would store cannabis in sheds over the winter prior making hash.
Got lazy and did not even get any started last night. Reading of your efforts has me setting up a config for a double boiler now.
Would like the temp to hover near 170.
Have 28 grams of finely ground bud sitting in 12 ounces of glycerin in a double boiler at 140 which I will
gradually take up to 175- 180.
 

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