So you just got done with harvesting, trimming, and curing your bud–what are you gonna do with all of that leftover trim, larf, and kief? Here’s a wonderful idea–decarboxylate it! Decarba-who-woxalate what?
Decarboxylation–or simply just “decarb” for short–is the process of activating THCA and CBDA into active THC and CBD for use in whatever kind of cannabis creations you wish to make. There are many different ways to go about decarboxylation of different cannabinoids, so let’s go through them and see how you can successfully decarb all of your leftovers once you’ve trimmed your harvest.
What Exactly Is Decarbing Weed, And How Does It Work?
The science of cannabinoids is an interesting one. Popular cannabinoids like THC, CBD, and CBG can’t do their special things until they become activated from their original acidic states. If you’ve ever heard aliens or humanoids alike talking about THCA or CBDA and CBGA, it’s because that’s what cannabis is until you activate it, aka decarboxylate it.
When growing your weed plants, all potential psychoactive and therapeutic cannabinoids are contained primarily in the trichomes and other plant matter. Cannabis plants all start as CBGA and can eventually begin to metabolize into THCA or CBDA further along in their development. [1]
Fully mature and cured cannabis–when grown correctly–is typically very rich in either THCA or CBDA. These acidic cannabinoids can be converted to their activated THC and CBD forms once the right amount of heat is applied. Decarboxylation essentially means that you are removing a carbon atom from the genetic structure of the cannabinoid to activate it.
Smoking Activates Cannabinoids At High Temperatures
Cannabis consumers who smoke activate the THCA or CBDA into THC and CBD once the lighter is applied to the weed. High temperatures ranging from around 1000°F–650°F are in the zone by which cannabis begins to ignite for inhalation.
However, the main thing about combusting cannabis is that cannabinoids like THC and CBD become activated at around 315°F and 356°F, respectively. What that means is that when you smoke, you are applying much more heat than is necessary to get the potential therapeutic and psychoactive properties from these cannabinoids. This excessive heat leads to harmful byproducts like carbon monoxide in the smoke, along with degradation of other terpenes and cannabinoids. [2]
Vaping Activates Cannabinoids At Lower Temperatures
Vaporization of cannabis uses lower temperatures in the 320°F–450°F range to activate CBD and THC from their acidic forms. Vaporization uses lower heat that can be evenly applied compared to the higher, more random temperature ranges that smoking cannabis utilizes. The vapor created when using a dry herb vaporizer is free of any harmful byproducts and enhances the terpene and flavor as well. [2]
Using vape cartridges and pens is a whole other story, though. Vapes use the same lower temperatures to heat the hash oil as their dry herb brethren, however, studies have shown these devices to cause a host of respiratory and pulmonary issues for regular users. [3]
Decarboxylation Is The Same As Cooking Your Weed
To make edibles like magic brownies and gummies, or even medicinal tinctures, you must first decarboxylate the weed being used for the recipe. Otherwise, the digestive system and bloodstream aren’t going to be able to put the weed to any good use–it has to be activated for our endocannabinoid systems to interact with it. [4]
Devices To Cook Your Weed
Use Safe And Reliable Cookware
For the longest time, the act of decarbing weed has been a mostly DIY-type affair. How to decarb weed has always been up to the person doing the decarboxylation. Everything from glass casserole dishes to baking sheets has been used in some way, shape, or form to decarb.
The container being used should be made out of glass or metal that is meant as cookware that can safely be used in an oven already, so that it can hold up for use in decarbing. It’s also important to keep the pan or device covered with an oven-safe lid or aluminum foil to ensure enough heat during the process.
Precise Devices
These days, there’s a whole other host of devices ready to ensure precise decarboxylation for you. Some humanoid home chefs like to use their sous vide devices, mason jars, or vacuum-sealed bags to securely cook their weed at an even temperature in a bath of warm water. Others use a product known as an Instapot.
Meanwhile, devices specifically engineered for the decarboxylation of weed are fantastic choices to provide the most accurate temperatures during the decarb process. These devices can range from affordable to pricey but remove a lot of the guesswork and monitoring of temperatures out of the decarb process. They also make a great investment for anyone with a lot of plant material and a desire to DIY their own edibles, oils, tinctures, and lotions.
Use Your Trim, Larf, And Kief From Your Harvest
Chances are you’ve got an entire trim bin of dank, leftover plant material after your successful grow. If you’ve managed to make it out of trim jail in one piece and are curing your precious buds, all of that leftover trim, larf, and kief can be utilized by decarbing it. Post-harvest yields can be hefty, so there’s usually gonna be a lot!
Using the whole plant–i.e., trim, kief, leaves, stems, etc.–leads to a more full-spectrum effect once activated. Full spectrum means more therapeutic potential, chock full of various cannabinoids, terps, and other compounds like flavonoids. This is great for a more medicinal and well–rounded phenomenon known as the entourage effect. [5]
A full bag of trim from the weed plants you grew is always going to be special because you can put all parts of the plant to excellent use. However, if you’re not growing anything at the moment and want to make edibles, etc., you can use any type of weed you want!
How To Best Prepare Your Weed
Regardless of what you may have grown–CBD, THC, or some mix of both–there’s a lot of similarity between how to prepare it for a decarb. The same goes for whether you choose to use butter or a specific type of oil, like coconut butter, as the carrier oil the cannabinoids will bind to after the decarb is complete. Here is how to best prepare your weed for the decarb process.
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Use disposable gloves to handle plant material since the natural oils and resins of the weed plant are super sticky to the touch and can be hard to remove later. Keep those thumbs green!
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When using trim, use as much of the whole plant as possible to create the most beneficial spectrum of cannabinoids, terps, and flavonoids in your post-decarb creations. Use stems sparingly, keep only the frostiest sugar leaves, and break up all plant material by hand as much as possible to ensure maximum surface area coverage.
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If including kief in your decarb, be sure to keep it mixed in or concentrated on the top of the rest of your plant material. Kief tends to burn on hot surfaces during decarb, so doing this will help keep searing to a minimum.
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For whole flower buds, grind or break them up by hand as much as possible to cover better surface area during decarboxylation.
How To Decarb Your Weed For Edibles, Oils, And Tinctures
For the longest time, there was no real consensus on the most optimal and precise temperatures and durations to decarb the acidic forms of THC, CBD, and CBG into their active forms. Finally, a thorough study released in 2016 tested several temperature ranges and time durations on all 3 cannabinoids to determine the most optimal conditions to decarb them.
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THCA converts most optimally to THC at a steady rate of 230°F for about 45–50 minutes.
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CBDA at a steady temperature of 230°F for 50 minutes will also provide a full conversion to CBD.
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Not much of a surprise here: CBGA also converts best to CBG at a rate of 230°F for 50 minutes as well! [6]
Let’s Activate Some Weed!
Now that you know how to prepare your plant material, how long, and how hot you are going to decarb, it’s time to get started. If you don’t have a decarboxylation device designed specifically for this task, then gather some of the following tools around the house to begin:
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Baking or casserole dish
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Aluminum foil
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Oven timer
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Digital oven thermometer
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Oven gloves
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Spread the broken-up plant material evenly on the dish to ensure it decarbs consistently.
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Place any kief on top once spread out.
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Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
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Place in an already warm oven at any of the temps mentioned above. Do not disturb as much as possible or you will not be able to maintain a consistent temperature.
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Use a digital timer to ensure the correct amount of time.
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Once the timer goes off, carefully remove the dish with the oven gloves and let stand for about 10 minutes at minimum.
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Remove the foil, and start making edibles with your freshly cooked weed!
Tips For Using The Oven
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Ensure your oven is running at the correct temperature. Many home ovens are not calibrated precisely, and even though it may say it’s operating at 230°F, that may not be true.
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Use a digital oven thermometer inside the oven to base your decarb off of. A digital oven thermometer will give you the actual temperature inside your oven, leading to a more optimal activation.
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If using a baking dish or other decarb box made of oven-safe silicone, place the digital oven thermometer inside it and then in the oven first before adding your plant material. Once inserted, wait for the internal temperature of your dish to get up to 230°F, THEN take it out and add the plant material. This practice ensures your decarb will start right away instead of waiting for the dish or box to get up to temperature, which can throw the necessary duration of decarboxylation off. Be sure to use oven gloves to handle it!
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Ensure the plant material is broken up and spread evenly around the dish. Another thing to consider is to activate only 1–2 ounces of plant material at a time to also ensure a consistent decarb.
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Let the decarbed dish or box sit for at least 10 minutes while covered. Better yet, you can toss it into the freezer for 10–20 minutes and then remove it. This will help to preserve vital terpenes as a result.
Decarbing Trim And Plant Material Is Easy
Making your own edibles, oils, tinctures, and so much more is a big bonus of growing your own weed plants. Not only do you reap the rewards of a bountiful harvest full of big buds, but you also get to make your own medicine and edibles to share with family and friends of all different multiverses!
Home growers can use all parts of the weed plant and discover how truly easy it is to activate and utilize extra plant matter and trim in the most dynamic way possible!
Contact Us
Need help with your next harvest or questions about decarboxylation? Reach out to the cannabis cultivation experts at Multiverse Beans for support, tips, and more information on everything from THCA activation to making full-spectrum cannabis edibles.
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For more how-tos, growing guides, and insights into activating cannabinoids, check out more of the Multiverse Beans blog. Ready to create something magical with your harvest? Contact us today.
References
- Calapai, F., Cardia, L., Esposito, E., Ammendolia, I., Mondello, C., Lo Giudice, R., Gangemi, S., Calapai, G., & Mannucci, C. (2022). Pharmacological aspects and biological effects of cannabigerol and its synthetic derivatives. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM), 2022, 3336516. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/3336516
- MacCallum, C. A., Lo, L. A., Pistawka, C. A., Christiansen, A., & Boivin, M. (2023). Cannabis vaporisation: Understanding products, devices and risks. Drug and Alcohol Review, 43(3), 732–745. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13800
- O’Callaghan, M., Boyle, N., Fabre, A., Keane, M. P., & McCarthy, C. (2022). Vaping-associated lung injury: A review. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 58(3), 412. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58030412
- Lu, H. C., & Mackie, K. (2021). Review of the endocannabinoid system. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 6(6), 607–615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.07.016
- Russo, E. B. (2019). The case for the entourage effect and conventional breeding of clinical cannabis: No “strain,” no gain. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, Article 1969. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01969
- Wang, M., Wang, Y. H., Avula, B., Radwan, M. M., Wanas, A. S., van Antwerp, J., Parcher, J. F., ElSohly, M. A., & Khan, I. A. (2016). Decarboxylation study of acidic cannabinoids: A novel approach using ultra-high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography/photodiode array-mass spectrometry. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, 1(1), 262–271. https://doi.org/10.1089/can.2016.0020
Despite a lack of research regarding how cannabinoids react with the human body’s endocannabinoid system, cannabis has been unofficially accepted by many to have the potential for therapeutic treatment.
Cananbis has unofficially accepted by many to have the potential for therapeutic treatment, despite a lack of research regarding how cannabinoids react with the human body’s endocannabinoid system.
While more sample group-based clinical studies are currently still underway, one placebo-based, single blind crossover study found correlations that show CBD-rich CBMPs could improve ill effects from Long COVID. The antioxidative potential of CBD to provide antiviral protection is also mentioned in studies that name CBD a top candidate to battle Long COVID.