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In need of deep explanation of Decarboxylation

Discussion in 'Weed Edibles' started by IcePacked, Mar 30, 2015.

  1. #1 IcePacked, Mar 30, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 30, 2015
    Just to preface: I have been smoking for 2.5 years as of now. Almost 100% flower. Maybe a few dabs here and there [​IMG] . My tolerance has been building and I am starting to look into concentrates and edibles a lot more. The latter is why I am here.
     
    Okay. Now for the good stuff.
     
    I've been really reading into cooking with cannabis and the science behind it and have stumbled upon the essential step of decarboxylation, AKA decarbing weed. As far as I understand it is the process of removing the COOH group from THCA, turning it into beautiful, cheery, THC, which can be absorbed/utilized by the brain. I'm aware that you can do this by using a solvent like alcohol, a fatty binder like butter, or by throwing some bud in the oven at 250 F (debated) and letting it bake for 30 mins. 
     
    So, I've chosen the last and only method I have not tried yet, oven decarbing. I tried cannabutter, it failed miserably. 4 gs (at the time it was a lot, you remember those days don't lie) wasted. I've made hash oil from iso alcohol. Now I am interested in the oven method. 
     
    First off, it would be awesome to have a chart of exactly every psychoactive chemical in cannabis and its boiling point. But that's not happening. I know they exist but none I have found have covered as much as I would like. I just have a few questions about the whole process of decarboxylation.
     
    - Once you decarb in an oven, can you theoretically just eat the weed and get high? Or does it have to be baked in something?
    - I've read that throwing weed in brownies won't make them 'special' because you need to bind to a fat. If you used olive oil or butter in the brownies, wouldn't this in a sense decarb them in the oven while cooking?
    - (slightly off topic, don't have to answer this one) Is it better to turn decarb'd weed into a concentrate and add to food? Or (previous question), can I just toss it in some cake mix?
    - What is the least detrimental temperature to cannabis' psychoactive agents? In other words, what is the highest temp you can go without losing medicinal quality or quality of high? In other, other words, out of all the psychoactive chemicals in cannabis, which has the lowest boiling point and is it going to be a different high without it?
    -I've heard of some smoke accumulating during this process in the oven; I have assumed it was steam from the evaporating water or is it something else?
     
    Thanks for reading this guys! 

     
  2.  
    You asked for it. Try this for a bit of in-depth info on the topic. It may help or it may confuse you more. P'sam's Natural Decarboxylation Testing Project[​IMG]
     
  3. I've done hours of research so here's what I gathered (information from legit sources)

    - decarb your weed at 220 degrees for 20 minutes (if it's already somewhat dry/easy to break) 30 minutes if it's still fresh/very malleable etc. if it just is some good weed that's not particularly dry or fresh do 25 minutes

    -yes you can eat decarb weed and get high but you'd have to eat much more than if you do an infusion process

    -yes when you do the infusion process weed somewhat decarbs, but if you don't decarb beforehand you need to cook at around 190 degrees for 18-24 hours. A simple 25 minute decarb beforehand reduces your cooking time to 210 degrees for 2 hours (can even do 45mins-1hr if time constrained but not quite as potent)

    - cooking on a stove top(double broiler) or oven you are safe at 210-220 degrees. You won't lose any potency so long as your temp remains in the range and doesn't go higher
     
  4. If you want much more info on the science of decarbing, type into google "BadKittySmiles decarb". You will find tons
     
  5. Here's a novel idea. Why not read a book?

    There are tons of info on decarbing. If you are soooo interested, do some research.


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