Nova decarboxylator

There's a quote I got from a brewer, something like "If you think you know the temperature, you're clearly only using one thermometer".

 

I searched the forum (novel idea) and found this thread. I stumbled across the Nova in a search and at the website it talks about three is a lot about it that makes sense. LINK: Decarboxylating Cannabis to Activate THC There is a bit of science of decarbing in there, but I like that. I was so impressed, and thinking of future (newbie here) edibles in small batches, that I found it at Amazon.com for quite a bit less and put it on my wish list. My feeling is that it's expensive, BUT, there is a certain amount of THC and Terpenes that may be either not converted well, or over converted and lost, while this thing is more precises and seems to be a "closed" system, built around small batches.

If you paid $100.00 for weed to decarboxilate, and lost 30% every time, pretty soon not only would this pay for itself, but your finished result in cooking would be better overall.

 

D

Do you really need toaster oven after using this thing? Crazy!

 

W

When you decarb in toaster oven,what temperature and time? I do 240 degrees for 45-60 minutes. But weed barely gets brown..a lot stays green. Should I keep in til brown? Thanks

 

No, just decarb at 240F for 40 minutes. Hopefully you have verified your oven temperature. You may want to stir mid decarb if you are decarbing a lot. It should be in a fairly thin layer in your pan.

 

Y

eah thin layer and stir every 15 minutes. So, doesn’t need to turn brown? Thanks

 

I have one delivering today. My wife has issues vaping and the edibles we bought are hit and miss. Figure to decarboxilate and then grind, and put a few mg in a gel capsule for her. Read someone else on Amazon that did this and worked fantastic.

 

That method will work, but not as well as adopting, and slightly modifying, an Ardent recommended method.
The Ardent Lift/Nova will perfectly decarb, but there's more than that to consider.
The THC in edibles is very inefficiently absorbed into the bloodstream, something like 10-30%, and plain decarbed herb is close to the 10%.
To get closer to the 30% number, adding oil, lecithin, and heat will help.
Ardent recently recommended adding oil to the herb, putting it into Lift, and then running it a second time.
Here's what can be done with 1/8 oz herb.
1. Decarb in Lift
2. Grind to fine powder
3. Choose a small, heat tolerant vessel (I use small beakers), mix herb, about 3.5 grams lecithin, and 18 gram of any oil.
4. Run Lift a second time with the mixture inside
5. While it's still warm, use a big candy squeeze dropper to fill 28 size 00 capsules completely full, while keeping things well mixed.
Each capsule will contain 1/4 g herb, and approximately 20 mg THC.
I'm still testing this method, but preliminary indications are that it's about as good as the scores of other things I've tried.

 

I decarb and process my oil in the toaster oven.

Decarb is 240 F for 40 minutes as that is what most of us use as Psam did extensive testing on this.
Color change doesn't matter. Some darkens, some doesn't.

Decarb 240 F for 40 minutes. Every batch.

5 grams of Cannabis. Kief, Hash, Powdered Buds, Any concentrate.
2.5 teaspoons Coconut oil (any cooking oil works)
1/2 teaspoon Lecithin. ( soy or sunflower, Granules, Powder, Liquid, it all works.
Heat 220 F for 20 minutes
Freeze (helps soften the cannabis bits)
Heat 220 F for 20 minutes
Done

Fills 30 (0) capsules @ 25mg each with buds, 80+mg with Kief or Concentrates.

Personal Hash cap stash.
BNW

 

Explain why you can't skip the freeze step? Seems like it really seems non essential.

 

The freeze step is not essential, but MAY provide better bio-availability per Bad Kitty Smiles. BNW will be along, but he finds it a valuable step to have the most potent medication. But, you're absolutely right, it's non essential.
Oh, yeah, @PsychedelicSam and @Budford did testing on the Nova and it got P'Sam's blessing for a proper decarb. https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/another-tincture-thread-try-it-youll-like-it.1102315/page-1070

 

I've done a test on the Ardent infusion method, following this procedure:
1. Decarb in Lift (identical to Ardent Nova)
2. Grind to fine powder
3. In a small, heatable container (I use beakers) mix with herb with oil and a roughly the same amount of lecithin as herb
4. Run Lift a second time with mixture inside to infuse
5. Encapsulate, although I did some of this using home made nutella instead of oil on some kief.

Of the many, many internet methods I've tried BNW's method has worked the best for me, but something simpler still has appeal.

Over the past couple of weeks I've been comparing this Ardent method with the BrassNwood method, using only the number of hours of sleep provided as a judging criterion.
The quality of the high wasn't judged, but I couldn't tell much difference.
Nor was pain relief judged.
This means that my test might not have universal application.

I ended up doing 8 Ardent trials, about 3 trials for each of 3 strains, and compared the many more existing BNW trials from previous weeks.
The average result of those 8 trials was identical to the average of the BNW trials, which pleasantly surprised me.
The Ardent/BNW averages were always done using the same strains.
I like to also make cookies, but haven't done that yet.

 

Question? When infusing coconut oil does matter is it’s refined or not?

 

Just one more thing....

I found a link here: https://ardentcannabis.com/accurately-dose-cannabis/ that shows how to figure a dose. Let's say you have weed that is 20% THC. So, 20.0 move the decimal place 1 place to the right, and you have 200 mg THC per Gram. This figures correct in the metric system Ive done at the winery lab.
So I have Phantom OG flower which is 19-26%. Info here: Wikileaf: Phantom OG Marijuana Strain Information
Strain average is 24% so I would just figure that. Which means in each gram I have 240mg of THC when fully decarboxylated. If I fill a capsule with 0.125 gram, or 1/8 of a gram, then that capsule would have (roughly) 30 mg of THC in it, correct?
My math:
240mg / 1 g
120 mg / .5 g
60mg / 0.250g
30mg / 0.125 g

If I were to add any oil or dilutant such as oil/lectchin mix then that would throw off the weight I would need to expect 30mg THC / capsule weight 0.125 g

Thoughts??

 

The Freeze softens the hash, kief, Bud bits further for us that let the caps melt in our mouth. Skipping that step makes for a gritty texture to the oil like sand in your hotdog at the beach.
Has no real effects on the strength of the stone and can be skipped as can the second heat step.

Doesn't seem to matter and I tested nearly every possible oil under the sun from Avocado to Safflower oils in my quest for the best of the best in making high strength pain meds for myself.

You can ignore the amount of oil and lecithin used and simply work from the amount of herb divided by the doses.
1 gram = 1000mg
24% = 240mg
÷ number of caps filled.

However, Until you know how many mg you personally need any number figuring is just smoke and mirrors for now. For example my wife is a 2mg hit. That's all she needs for a good ride.
I need more like 150mg to get going. That is a really wide range so while it's handy to have a guess on how strong your oil is per dose you still have to dial it to each user as what works for person A is way to much for person B.


BNW

 

Your calculations are correct.
But those high THC figures are outliers, not to be trusted.
Most good herb is 15-20% THC.
I use 150 mg thc per gram flower to calculate.
I've had several "20%+" strains not live up to that number, and had effects that were less than 10%.

When doing BrassNwood's method, or the Ardent infusion method, 1/8 g herb will fit into size 00 capsules after adding the oil. The oil really doesn't take up too much more room.

You are now in a good position to see what works the best for you.
You could start off with a few doses (at least 3 trials) of plain decarbed herb powder, then the simple Ardent infusion, then the BNW method, and see which you prefer.

Here's a 1 g version for Ardent/BNW that will fill 8 size 00 capsules:
(1 g Herb) + (1 g Lecithin) + (5 g Oil) = 8*(Size 00 Caps)

 

Also, this isn't proved, but I suspect the pills work a little better a few days after making them.

 

240*F for 40 minutes. No more no less. Get an oven thermomter to dial it in to as close to 240*F as possible. Put the ganja in a loose aluminum foil pouch / envelope and then on an oven pan. Also, dont fuck with it and leave the door shut for the entire 40 minutes. I have done a QP (4 ounces) at a time, in a larger oven of course, using the procedure above. I didnt stire, open the door or otherwise fuck with it. Most important is to leave it alone for the full 40 minutes. Anyone who says different is wrong. Consistency is key friend.

 

Well I talk from personal experience. I can do it perfectly using an oven . You can spend your money buying the Nova - your choice. I prefer to give my money for good bud/hash to make my oils. Believe me I know what I am talking about. I dont recommend it, but if you do it - fight on, I dont have issues with that.