How-to: Paleo's Potent Decarboxylated Cannabis Oil

Your microwave burst 3 grams of cannabis into flames? In 25 seconds? I've never heard of such... You've got a powerful microwave man, stick to the oven. Not that you needed to hear that. All three grams caught on fire at once? Did you break them down into small nugs?

What kind of bowl did you microwave in, glass, ceramic or metal?

 

Both of my microwaves at home are 120 VAC, 60 Hz.

At the 25 second mark means, after 25 seconds had elapsed, or after about a minute had elapsed?

 

I tossed them into my grinder and they turned to dust.

Looks like you found your microwaves sweet spot!

This process definitely didn't decrease the potency!

I didn't think it would. I can't believe your microwave set it on fire in 25 seconds! Never seen that happen. What material is the plate you held the cannabis made out of? You can also try the oven method, 250-275 F for 20 minutes, then 5 minutes more each crumble test.

 

What I DO believe happened was that there was some foreign contaminant in the bud.

I figured this might be the problem.

Next up: Does microwaved bud weigh less than regular bud?!

Yes it does: It loses some water weight, and some terpenes, so it's reasonable to say youll lose some weight. I microwaved 3 grams, and I found I lost about .3 or .4g out of all 3 grams. This is water weight, negligible terpene weight lost aromatically, negligible cannabis particles lost when chopping into tiny nugs. Let's not forget the most important, although almost immeasurable, the loss of the hydroxyl (CO OH) groups.

All in all I saved about 1.5 grams out of the 3 I used. Ground this down into a brown-blackish powder and will try it out later after the vape recharges.

Since you still ended up having the cannabis combust, maybe it's not a contaminant, and your microwave is just abnormally strong? You should check the voltage and Hz. I have 120 V, 60 Hz.

LESSON: Microwave about a half-gram your first trial at reduced power levels and times. Ramp up to optimum levels while you figure out the sweet spot. Mine is currently 1:30 at 70%, wait 5-10 minutes, then another 1:00 at 70%.

That is a great lesson, I'll even add it into the first post tomorrow, and credit you. I like how you tried multiple microwaves to complete the decarboxylation process - I wrote about that in the first post, but I havent had anyone else test it. Two one minute microwaves do NOT equal a two minute microwave. So the microwave method ended up working for you afterall? That's a relief. I almost thought I might have gave bad advice for a second, maybe.

 

So, blades, I found something interesting. Turns out this guy here not only does decarboxylation (he calls it something else, apparently) but he has done electron microscopy, comparing cannabis before and after the decarboxylation process.

Some Crazy Dude's Remarkable Cannabis Recipe, Apparently

This guy's main page, increationwetrust.org, is well...eccentric. Well, he seems like a bit of a nutjob - but the good kind of nutjob! First thing that jumps out about him - he's a religious guy, who is fighting for the rights that his religion constitutionally holds to use the medicinal and spiritual enthogen, cannabis sativa. What is most interesting about his website is not just that it's pro-pot, but that he has a purported method of producing a more potent cannabis, naturally, then cannabis in it's original form. Sound familiar?

Alleged Proof of Increased Cannabinoid Count After Decarboxylation

These are the alleged results from the lab examinations of his cannabis, before and after decarboxylation, coming from the same strain. Notice the lower THCA, CBDA levels, and the raised THC and 11-0-THC levels after decarboxylation. Sure, he uses iffy spelling, language, word choice and definitions of processes, but that doesn't change the fact that I read his whole recipe and process, from beginning to end, and he's not doing any of it wrong.

He says prebake at 275, just like me and others here. He says if the cannabis browns during decarboxylation, by leaving it for an extra long time, it will still contain cannabinoids and is still useable. I don't suggest browning during decarboxylation, but I think this goes to show his method is well-tested and he achieves full decarboxylation of the cannabis.

After decarboxylating, which for some reason he incorrectly referred to as carboxing, he suggests crumbling well, like me, and immediately adding the cannabis into an oil, where the cannabinoids are safe. Just like my method. Now, I know that decarboxylation does NOT convert any d-9-THC into 11-0-THC, but according to this examination of before and after, THCA is converted into both d-9-THC and 11-0-THC.

Besides the organic chemistry of it, this is the closest thing I can find to proof of the decarboxylation process' efficacy - besides my and all of our own perceptions of potency.

The results of his alleged test show 4.73184% cannabinoids before decarboxylation, and 6.4918% after. That's an increase of about 43% total active (non carboxyl) cannabinoids. I consider that a huge improvement, not even taking into account the higher strength of the newly formed cannabinoids in the post-decarboxylation cannabis. Also, this figure of 43% is similar to what I and others have reported as the percieved increase in potency, around 35-40%.

Turns out rollitup.com has had people post about this too. Just another confirmation that we're doing this right. Right?

 

True, but I would much rather hope your microwave is just too strong. Possibly my microwave's default setting is lower than your microwaves default setting. If those buds are contaminated, might all your buds from the same pickup/harvest be?

Are you making edibles with decarboxylated bud or just vaping/smoking it?

 

You used the oven to decarboxylate 1g? Nice, how long and what temp?

We need oven decarboxylation guides.

I've decarboxylated dank in the microwave before. Does anyone have anything to say about that guy's purported lab analysis of before and after decarboxylation? It just fits in perfectly with the results we've all been seeing. 35%-45% increase in potency.

 

Yes, it's hard to burn in the microwave for most people, takes microwaving for over 4 minutes at once. Since we heard from Darkseerx that his bud burst into flames, I reccomend - if you're worried about your microwave - starting your microwave on 70% of it's default power for the first 30 sec -1 minute and calibrate as you go. I have never had that problem, but both Darkseerx and my microwaves are 120V, 60Hz.

You can add kief or anything you want. If you think it would benefit from decarboxylation, microwave it too. Always test microwave with a small amount, on lower then default settings, for about a minute, keeping an eye on it. If it works, another minute with the temp set higher usually will do the trick.

 

No, if you fried the cannabis until browned you're doing it right. The butter/oil should change to a darker, black/green/brown color.

 

You will be medicated. Although you skipped the "eat with a meal" part, that might improve absorption.

I'm going to go through this thread and compile any relevan advice I or anyone else gave, and put it into the original thread start. If at any point I quote you or your advice I'll give credit. And when the edit time period runs out, I hope a mod will be able to help me edit the first post.