Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Disclosure:

The statements in this forum have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are generated by non-professional writers. Any products described are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Website Disclosure:

This forum contains general information about diet, health and nutrition. The information is not advice and is not a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional.

How-to: Paleo's Potent Decarboxylated Cannabis Oil

Discussion in 'Weed Edibles' started by Paleo Edibles, Nov 16, 2010.

  1. #1 Paleo Edibles, Nov 16, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 20, 2011
    How to Decarboxylate and fry cannabis oil quickly and completely


    Important points:
    Decarboxylate in microwave or oven (oven takes more time)
    Fry the cannabis until dark brown
    Eat with a meal


    Tools:
    Butter or oil
    Scissors
    Microwave
    Glass plate for microwave/oven dish for oven
    Stainless Steel container or pot
    Spoon
    Stove

    Total 6 grams in my photos, which will give you anywhere from 1 to 6 doses. This is just schwag. You can use any amount, just adjust the amount of oil (to submerge cannabis) accordingly.



    Decarboxylation Details:

    There are carboxyl-group containing cannabinoids like cannabigerolic acid, cannabidiolic acid, which is an oxidocyclized version of cannabigerolic acid, and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, that when they lose thier respective carboxyl group, become psychoactive.

    Although all the pharmacologic literature I've read has focused on THCa, CBDa and CBGa, there are more phytocannabinoids that have a carboxyl group in them - who, after being decarboxylated - become psychoactive compounds. Nothing has shown CC's (carboxyl cannabinoids) to potentiate recreational use more then the same phytocannabinoids would as decarboxylated compounds. THIS is why you decarboxylate, to convert your THCa, CBDa, and CBGa all into non-acid forms, our beloved psychoactive compounds. So now that you know why to decarboxylate, here's how:


    MICROWAVING

    Microwave each set of 3 grams, for about 1 minute, 30 seconds to 2 minutes each. This is decarboxylation.

    On the second batch, I re-microwaved for 1 minute to finish off.

    Microwaving cannabis is safer then touching your cannabis with your hand.

    If you’re decarboxylating small batches at a time you should learn how to do it in your microwave. And if it works one day, go extra time the next time. You’ll see its harder then you think to ‘burn up’ or ‘destroy’ any active cannabinoids in the microwave. Your herb will smell stronger, more pungent and crumble with ease when it’s decarboxylated - oven OR microwave method.

    In the oven, you are going to want to do it for longer then 20 minutes, depending on how much bud you have, it’s degree of dryness, and your chosen temp. 325 to 350 is well known to be safe. At these temps, 25 minutes or more is more than likely necessary. If it smells more dank after the oven decarboxylation than before, and crumbles very easily, its decarboxylated.

    Alternatively, you can get a food dehydrator.

    You can tell when it's ready, by the strong smell (not THC escaping, but terpenes escaping) and by pinching the bud in your index and thumb finger, and trying to crush it. If the small nugs crumble, it's decarboxylated. Decarboxylation is when the THC-acid molecule looses it's COOH group, converting it from an inactive kidney cleaner, into the psychedelic THC.


    How well you decarboxylate, affected by how well you can discern when the cannabis has been decarboxylated, is 50% of making this oil as potent as possible. The other 50%, is frying it until it's dark brown.

    If you skip this step, or use your cannabis without it crumbling and dry, it won't be the potent oil it can be.


    NOTE: Re-microwaving is safe, if you microwaved for a minute and 30 seconds and it didnt fully decarboxylate, when re-microwaving the microwave has to re-heat the glass plate youre using to hold the plant.

    NOTE 2: Always decarboxylate for at least one minute! Even if it's half a gram you're doing. 2 minutes in the microwave at once, does not equal two separate one minute microwaves. The key is to heat, in the microwave, the cannabis until it smells and crumbles like it's decarboxylated.


    Does Microwaving Destroy THC?


    Yesterday I used the microwave to decarboxylate another batch, but this time I microwaved for 2 minutes, three separate times. This decarboxylated the bud even more! 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes is safe because the glass plate doesnt get hot enough to vaporize the cannabinoids.


    Even if you stop it at 2 minutes, mix up the bud on the plate, and microwave for another 2 minutes, it's safe. 2 minute microwaves in two sets does NOT equal 4 minutes in the microwave. 4 minutes will burn your cannabis and cannabinoids, but two separate 2 minute sets works to decarboxylate better than once. Yesterdays batch was stronger and I used less bud, so I know that microwaving the same cannabis twice for 2 minutes each time is safe, and reccomended.

    [​IMG]

    I left the bud with small nugs as you can see on the plate below, because when I try to crush these little nugs I can get a feel for wether the bud has decarboxylated. If they crumble, they are done.


    Now you have your 6 (2 sets of 3) grams of decarboxylated cannabis, it should smell stronger then before, be extra dry and crumble when you try to crumble it.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]



    This is my stainless steel container, oil inside, but lard is clear, so you can't see it. This is where you add your oil/butter of choice to the container.

    LARD

    Lard is not the only fat you can cook with, any fat will do, but here's why I use it (among other fats for different occasions):

    Lard can be cooked with any meat, and its good to fry in. Potatoes fried in lard, thats what they call chips in the UK. If youre going to use lard for your cannabis edibles I only recommend it if you like how it tastes by itself, and you eat it the way I do in the thread. Reason being, it would taste weird in brownies, and would probably not go well on any sweets in general. Lard works for meats and broths, soups and stocks.

    I eat tablespoons of cannabis infused lard with my steak meals, but thats because I've learned that saturated fat is the healthiest fat, because we've been eating it for millenia. It has large amount of saturated and monounsaturated fat. I try to keep my diet at around 65-70% fat, 25% protien and 5-10% carbs. Now that I think about it, I wouldnt eat my infused lard any other way then straight with meat, or possibly soup.

    Lard is such a cheap fat, like a dollar a pound, compared to olive oil or coconut oil. Not to mention it's perfect for for frying or cooking, since it has no particles like unrefined coco/olive oil, and tastes great on potatoes and plant foods. If I want to fry some potatoes, cook some meat with bell peppers, onion, or any other vegetables, I always use lard.


    If your fat is solid at room temp, like butter or lard or any other saturated fat, melt the lard or butter in the container by itself until the fat becomes a liquid. You obviously melt the butter in the container or pot over the stovetop.

    Only add enough to cover the cannabis in the same container!

    You can always add extra fat later, remember, but you CANT TAKE ANY OIL OUT after the cannabis is added if you put too much.


    Butter bubbles when fried, so butter can help reach any bud that gets stuck on the side of the container.

    Combinations of butter and other fats work too.


    [​IMG]

    This is the same container, with melted lard, cannabis, and see the white thing? Thats a little bit extra (solidified at room tempurature) lard for good measure.

    Sometimes you need to add a little extra oil to make sure all the cannabis is submerged.

    More oil to cannabis will spread out the amount of time it takes for your body to digest the oil and recieve the cannabinoids.


    [​IMG]




    FRYING THE CANNABIS


    That extra lard will quickly melt down into the rest of the oil.

    By this time you have all of your decarboxylated cannabis inside the container, with sufficient fat to cover and submerge the cannabis.

    For the frying, you only want to fry for under 5 minutes. The direct flame as you can see, heats the oil and cannabis in the container.


    If you have an electric stove, use that, if you have an outdoor stove - thats even better - because there is a little bit of smoke and lots and lots of smell! This is okay and safe and you're doing it right, the smell is terpenes, not active cannabinoids.

    Turn on the fans, open the windows, or if you can, do the entire frying process outside. Within about 20 minutes, the smell should dissipate anyway. But for extra safety, be ready to air out location.


    Stir consistantly as it fries. It should be smelling and bubbling now. Fry like this, on a medium-high heat until dark brown. This is a fast process, about 5 minutes.

    [​IMG]

    Once you think it's been fried DARK BROWN, wait an extra 30 seconds for good frying measure.

    Then - careful not to burn yourself - take the container to cool outside.


    When I took a look at the cannabis after being fried, I went back inside, turned the stove top on again, and fried it for an additional 2 minutes. This is because as you can see in the photographs, the cannabis was not COMPLETELY browned...


    ... This is of course optional, but the more you fry, the more potent the cannabis oil becomes (until you've fried it all out).

    Leave it outside to cool and so the smell wont stink up your house, for about 10 minutes or so.



    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    And there you have it! Potent, decarboxylated, properly fried cannabis oil that will knock you on your fucking ass, and then some.

    You can have anything from mellow mood change(1/2 gram), regular fun trips(1-2.5 grams) or heroic doses(4 or more grams) with heroic highs using this method.

    Anyone who told you that you couldn't actually have a psychedelic trip using cannabis, hasn't done this.

    No matter what amount you eat, the effects last the entire day. With this method I only dose once a day, and some days I skip because the stone lingers from the day before.


    Eat it with a good sized meal, preferably with protien, some fat and a small amount of carbs. It's safe to eat this infused oil with any meal including a high fat meal.


    [​IMG]



    As you can see, I don't separate the plant material because I eat the oil together with a meal. The plant material contains cannabinoids, you can separate it to use the oil in a recipe, and just eat the plant material separately. This does work for brownies or anything else.


    Eat roughly a third to half of your meal, then take tablespoons of edibles as you desire, chase them down with water or a drink, and then finish eating.

    Try to make this your 2nd meal of the day, first will work but you don't want first pass metabolism to get any cannabinoids in the oil. If you eat it as your first meal of the day, eat some food 20 minutes before you start taking the oil.



    [​IMG]

    I dosed on this last night 3 grams, and saved the other 3 grams for tonight. I was so gone, 3 grams is actually a bit too much for me. I still feel the cannabinoids in my system more then 24 hours since dose time.

    And this is schwag bud and prices. 3 grams comes out to about 3.50 to 4 dollars. The most prominent period of the high lasts for about 6 - 9 hours or more, depending.

    I have done as low as 1/2 or a gram, and they still produce long term (6hr+) relief/benefit.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. Good job, man. Ill definitely be giving this one a try. :)
     
  3. Hell yea paleo you no ill be doing this all the way!
     
  4. I was about to post this very same thing, ScienceDirect - International Immunopharmacology : Unheated Cannabis sativa extracts and its major compound THC-acid have potential immuno-modulating properties not mediated by CB1 and CB2 receptor coupled pathways.

    THC-a isn't just a kidney cleaner. its medicine and those who use cannabis medicinally might actually prefer to not decarboxylate their bud. I'm not one of those people because i enjoy the high and it doesn't infringe on my daily activities, but some people would rather not be high, and for those people, decarboxylation is not necessary.

    http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/36/9/1917.full

    you must also remember that when you do this you also decarboxylate CBD. CBDa has some different effects as well that some might not want to lose in exchange for the high.

    Good guide overall though. very descriptive and easy to follow, and judging by that plate of food i'm gonna guess your an irishman?
     
  5. I'm definitely gonna try this! Thanks.
     
  6. #7 Paleo Edibles, Nov 17, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 17, 2010
    You're right about both THC-a and CBD-a being medicinal compounds, and nice link you posted about the difference between them. I didn't even know that CBDa was a COX-2 inhibitor.

    Medicinal users might benefit from some of the carboxyl-cannabinoids, thats true. But since CBDa isn't psychoactive either, just like THCa, for me and most folks here, decarboxylating yields only good things. I wonder if THCa and CBDa are synergestic with eachother, or with other cannabinoids?

    Oh, and I'm not Irish! I just try to eat a paleolithic diet. Potatoes and meat, I get it!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  7. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I may try this after I become more experienced with edibles.
     
  8. found this It's Medicine Jim, But Not As We Know It: THC and CBD are Synergistic - It's Natures Way, Man

    But most seasoned tokers already know this from experience. The cancer bit is interesting tho.

    also, What are the benefits of adding lard instead of a different fat source?
     
  9. Lard is pure fat thc goes into fat so its like ambrosia for edibles.

    dude i just ventured out to get lard and couldnt find ne..i got coconut oil tho.
     
  10. Good guide and excellent way to explain decarboxylation. Although, if I may point out it isn't THC acid, it's cannabigerolic acid. Also different wattage microwaves will require different times. What wattage is your microwave that you used?
     
  11. Would you say you get about as high from the half gram dose as you would smoking the half gram? Just trying to figure out dosages because I've never given decarboxylation a try.
     
  12. #13 Paleo Edibles, Nov 17, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 17, 2010


    I'm well aware that THC and CBD and CBN are synergestic. In my reply to your post I said I wonder if CBDa and THCa are synergestic in there COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition, among other things. I obviously wasn't refering to the high you get from toking, since our carboxyl cannabinoids are not psychoactive. So I guess, en masse, seasoned tokers, don't know jack about the carboxyl cannabinoids. Why should they?

    I said: I wonder if THCa and CBDa are synergestic with eachother, or with other cannabinoids?

    My main point was, if leaving some of the carboxyl cannabinoids in tact would somehow potentiate, or synergize, with the psychoactive, non-carboxyl cannabinoids, then recreational users might have reason not to decarboxylate. This doesn't seem to be the case, nothing has shown CC's (carboxyl cannabinoids) to potentiate recreational use more then the same cannabinoids would as decarboxylated compounds. In other words, if you like feeling it, decarboxylate!

    As for the benefits of lard, there really are none, besides animal fat being the healthiest fat to consume. It's cheap and high in saturated and monounsaturated fat. So is coconut oil.


    Hey many thanks for liking my guide mate.

    I don't know the wattage on my microwave, and I don't feel that it's important for this guide. Why? Because smell and crumbling are the two ways to know if your cannabis has been decarboxylated. I guarantee, 90% of the time someone has decarboxylated in the microwave, they didn't do it completely, and had more room for heating. Myself included. Minimum a minute and a half, for anything above a gram. Minimum.

    Cannabigerolic acid is ONE carboxyl cannabinoid. There are others like, cannabidiolic acid, which is an oxidocyclized version of cannabigerolic acid. Lets not forget tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, which when loses it's carboxyl group is our favorite of the bunch. In fact, cannabigerolic acid is a building block in the synthesis of THC-COOH, which is achieved by reacting with THCa. So CBDa and CBGa are almost the same compounds with slightly cycled structures and a few missing bonds or something.

    All the pharmacologic lit that I've read has focused on THCa and CBDa, and obviously there are more then a few phytocannabinoids that have a carboxyl group in them! Which are eventually converted into the variety of cannabinoids that - once losing the carboxyl group - become psychoactive.
     
  13. I bow to you good sir. It is nice to see a fellow blade as educated in pharmacology and organic chemsitry as I.
     


  14. If you smoke a gram, for the 25-30 minute peak of the high you'll be higher then at any point during an equal edible trip. If you decarboxylate, fry properly and eat it, youll be slightly less high at the edible's peak, than at the peak of your smoke, but the peak itself will last for 4 times as long.

    Are more more cannabinoids delivered when smoked or when eaten? Eaten. Are more cannabinoids destroyed during smoking or during microwaving or frying? Smoking. You're literally burning them.

    Which method of dosage results in the highest concentration of cannabinoids at thier respective peaks? Smoking, but not by that much. The reason is because if you smoke the whole gram at once - more cannabinoids are in your body in those first 20 minutes then at any point of an equal edible dose, but they leave the body more hastily and break down all together more quickly.

    This is backed by studies on smoked vs oral cannabis and the blood concentrations of cannabinoids and thier byproducts. Maybe I should pull up these studies. Does this mean that cannabis is best delivered smoked? No, read on.

    Which method of dosage results in the most efficient delivery, least destruction of cannabinoids, and the best chance for decarboxylation? It's not smoking, because smoking destroys some of the cannabinoids, and lots of the ones that aren't destroyed, still escape your lungs/receptors one way or another (smoke flying off, the cherry, exhaling cannabinoids after a hit, whathaveyou). Oral dosage doesn't waste any cannabinoids, even allows you to evaporate the carboxyl group, which potentiates the cannabis, and make the cannabis' effect last 4x-5x as long.



    Now that you mention it, thanks to everyone here for double-checking, second-guessing, reiterating and having the balls to question what I learn and share. If only everyone did the same.
     
  15. Bookmarked. Skimmed through the first post. will read again when I got time and next time I'm making edibles. :)
    Thanks bro. +rep too
     
  16. do you find that decarboxylated bud increases the potency in relation to just regular firecrackers?

    because i saw in the cooking method how long the cannabis is exposed to heat and it's about the same amount of time heating as i would making a firecracker,except for the 5 minute frying
     
  17. Yes, decarboxylation increases the potency of the bud by a noticable degree. The increase in potency is more noticable the worse the bud gets.

    Well the firecracker method and the pure fat method are two very different methods that require obviously different methods of heating, and they both present obstacles that you have to learn how to master in order to get the best edible.
     
  18. #20 TekCK, Nov 17, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 17, 2010
    I'm not sure if I fucked up or not, but I followed the recipe with bud that was already vaped and now the bud is completely black. I strained the oil from the mixture and I'm kinda hesitant to try it. =(

    EDIT: The oil looks fine and I only used about .3 to make this oil and seeing as I haven't smoked in quite some time I'll probally feel something. I'll keep you guys updated.

    EDIT: It's been like 1 1/2 and I'm buzzing pretty hard. Watching spongebob!
     

Share This Page