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Decarboxylation : How much heat and time ?
- Thread starter Swamp Thang
- Start date
OranguTrump
Crotchety Old Crotch
This is the temp/time I used for my last batch of cookies - legendary at work now & being requested as purchases.
Spread out on a cookie tin & pretty much exactly the numbers you give. Worked 100%.
Plus - a looooong soak in the butter/oil. Low heat & lots of time & some stirring.
I think the best data we have so far of the Time & Temperature required for the efficient Decarboxylation of THC is from the GW Pharma patent application:
https://www.google.com/patents/EP1536810A2?cl=en
I graphed these and found best-fit curves in Excel. This is not rigorous, rather a rule of thumb sort of analysis.
The first 2 charts are
THC Decarboxylation vs Heating Time for various Temperatures,and
THC Decarboxylation vs Temperature for various Heating Times
Several conclusions can be drawn.
If you have good temperature control and want the most forgiving time window (for instance to allow time for sample to come up to temperature), you would choose 2.5 hours at 221° F.
If you have good time control but want the most forgiving temperature window (for instance with an imprecise oven thermostat), you would choose 260° F for 0.5 hours.
The best yield is found at 221° F for 2 hours. This may trend higher (speculating on extrapolation) if a slightly lower temperature is chosen. For example, 212° F for 2 hours may have good yield, as well as an being an easy temperature to control.
Good yields are also indicated for 260° F at 0.5 hours. Extrapolation indicates that excellent yields may also be seen at temperatures between 248-284° F for 0.25 hours.
These charts show some similarities to the widely circulated 1990 Journal of Chromatography chart:
And a couple of other views of the same data as above:
In light of all this, I have been getting excellent results by Decarboxylating and Infusing in one step. Oil, cannabis, and lecithin go into a boiling bag at 212° F for 2 hours, agitating frequently.
Does anybody else have hard data, or reproducible results to add?
end
https://www.google.com/patents/EP1536810A2?cl=en
I graphed these and found best-fit curves in Excel. This is not rigorous, rather a rule of thumb sort of analysis.
The first 2 charts are
THC Decarboxylation vs Heating Time for various Temperatures,and
THC Decarboxylation vs Temperature for various Heating Times
Several conclusions can be drawn.
If you have good temperature control and want the most forgiving time window (for instance to allow time for sample to come up to temperature), you would choose 2.5 hours at 221° F.
If you have good time control but want the most forgiving temperature window (for instance with an imprecise oven thermostat), you would choose 260° F for 0.5 hours.
The best yield is found at 221° F for 2 hours. This may trend higher (speculating on extrapolation) if a slightly lower temperature is chosen. For example, 212° F for 2 hours may have good yield, as well as an being an easy temperature to control.
Good yields are also indicated for 260° F at 0.5 hours. Extrapolation indicates that excellent yields may also be seen at temperatures between 248-284° F for 0.25 hours.
These charts show some similarities to the widely circulated 1990 Journal of Chromatography chart:
And a couple of other views of the same data as above:
In light of all this, I have been getting excellent results by Decarboxylating and Infusing in one step. Oil, cannabis, and lecithin go into a boiling bag at 212° F for 2 hours, agitating frequently.
Does anybody else have hard data, or reproducible results to add?
end
PDX Dopesmoker
Active member
There is a pretty cool thread on the topic at the concentrates subforum
brown_thumb
Active member
It seems logical (to me) that vacuum sealing in boilable bags would allow heat conversion of THC-A to THC while avoiding loss of THC and terpenes due to vaporization. Just simmer the bags at 210-212 degrees F then remove and allow to cool before opening. Leave sealed and freeze until needed.
medman225
Member
Great thread. As for the boiling bags, id be worried about it getting. Too hot... at some point it will start to give off not vapor, but smoke(I am under the impression that you can in fact combust essential oils at a certain high temp, think of a super red hot dab)....
then. There is also the issue that if it gets hot enough to just vaporize and reform, there is pressure that is built up from this that I'd be worried about eventually popping the boiling bag... I did a test not too long ago in my vac oven, not under vacuum... I set it to 220, and put my oil in and simply closed the door... when I turned the pressure relief valve open not ten seconds later, a decent amount of pressurized air spewed out.
Something that I have not previously seen mentioned: since vacuuming/loss of atmosphere increases the given temp of the area... could you not do your decarbing at full vac at like 140 or so?
No one seems to be very concerned about losing terpenes, and as far as I know these strip away at lesser temps anyway... some of you might be asking why you would care, as thc is what your after, especially for those who use it for medical benefits... but what are we using it for? As a thc med that thc being given to the body is the main benefit, or the healing effects from ingesting cannabis extracts... for me it's the healing effects, which come from the high, and the high, imho, is not just constituted by thc. The terpenes present and the levels of said terps present, and even perhaps cbds to a lesser extent, all come into play when constituting a given strain/batch's High.... don't believe me? Have you ever smoked 99% pure thc crystals from guild extracts? It's nice, but isn't the holy grail by any means... the fact that they offer matching up said 99% pure thc to a known strains terp profile, pretty much backs up my claim.
Regarding this, and using cooler temps at longer times(remember it does it on its own at room temp) I am curious about the graphs. I'd like to see the results for lower temps, run longer. It seems to me those graphs only show one part, and if it kept going the others would keep climbing to roughly the same peak... maybe I'm wrong tho so someone tell me if I'm right or wrong.
then. There is also the issue that if it gets hot enough to just vaporize and reform, there is pressure that is built up from this that I'd be worried about eventually popping the boiling bag... I did a test not too long ago in my vac oven, not under vacuum... I set it to 220, and put my oil in and simply closed the door... when I turned the pressure relief valve open not ten seconds later, a decent amount of pressurized air spewed out.
Something that I have not previously seen mentioned: since vacuuming/loss of atmosphere increases the given temp of the area... could you not do your decarbing at full vac at like 140 or so?
No one seems to be very concerned about losing terpenes, and as far as I know these strip away at lesser temps anyway... some of you might be asking why you would care, as thc is what your after, especially for those who use it for medical benefits... but what are we using it for? As a thc med that thc being given to the body is the main benefit, or the healing effects from ingesting cannabis extracts... for me it's the healing effects, which come from the high, and the high, imho, is not just constituted by thc. The terpenes present and the levels of said terps present, and even perhaps cbds to a lesser extent, all come into play when constituting a given strain/batch's High.... don't believe me? Have you ever smoked 99% pure thc crystals from guild extracts? It's nice, but isn't the holy grail by any means... the fact that they offer matching up said 99% pure thc to a known strains terp profile, pretty much backs up my claim.
Regarding this, and using cooler temps at longer times(remember it does it on its own at room temp) I am curious about the graphs. I'd like to see the results for lower temps, run longer. It seems to me those graphs only show one part, and if it kept going the others would keep climbing to roughly the same peak... maybe I'm wrong tho so someone tell me if I'm right or wrong.
This process which was kindly shared by Bad Kitty Smiles is easy and very powerful.
https://cannapedia.me/Citric+Acid+Extraction
Works so well for me, that it is all I use now.
I once used lower temps and longer times in the oven.
I can't say I ever did an A B comparison.
The citric worked so well, and is so much easier, I was sold on it the first time I used it.
This may not be right for everyone, but it has worked out very well for me.
https://cannapedia.me/Citric+Acid+Extraction
Works so well for me, that it is all I use now.
I once used lower temps and longer times in the oven.
I can't say I ever did an A B comparison.
The citric worked so well, and is so much easier, I was sold on it the first time I used it.
This may not be right for everyone, but it has worked out very well for me.
'Boogieman'
Well-known member
Im very interested in the citrus acid method, do you need pure citrus acid? I have lemons in my fridge and a fruit press i can extract the juice can i use this?
EvergreenState
Active member
Put the buds in the oven at 220F for 10-15 minutes depending on how dry your buds are. Take them out of the oven and turn the oven temp. up to 250F and wait until it is preheated to that temp. Put the buds back in the oven for 50-60 minutes. I usually do 50 minutes. The buds are now decarbed and ready to use in your recipes. Works everytime without fail.
Last edited:
MedicalMilitia
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.
Never microwave, it destroys THC. You can also decarb using a water bath set at 203F(95C) for an hour and a half.
If microwave destroys THC, what does it do to the other cannabinoids?
