Decarb Live Resin in Oil?

Hellur

I'm a medical patient trying to make accurately dosed edibles using live resin (cheapest option for me). I have tried decarbing in the oven in a small Pyrex container and it's been hit and miss I think because the glass takes so long to heat up

Could I decarb and infuse the live resin in a small amount of oil on the stove at the same time? Perhaps use a thermometer to keep the oil around 240F and watch for bubbles to stop?

Yes, of course you can do that. Start heating and add 10/1 oil.
When heated, your resin will follow the chain of transformations THCA - THC - CBN. Here it is important to stop in time, and to do this, look not only at the bubbles, but also at the time. At 240F it will take about 30 minutes, but the numbers are very mixed from different sources.


If you are more interested in medical use, then you can stop the process a little earlier, since THCA also has beneficial properties.

Yes. I typically use 250F to decarboxylate cannabis essential oils and watch the CO2 bubble production from decarboxylation to judge progress.

Charts only approximate the average time required, and they don't always reflect actual process conditions. For instance, the lower chart was done with concentrate on a hot glass surface. By watching the bubble production, you can tell exactly where you are in the process.

I suggest 70% decarboxylation for greatest CB-1 high, and 100% if you are looking for sedative (CBN) effects.

At 250F when you hit the peak of the THC production curve, you are at about 70% THC converted, and that is the point that bubble production suddenly drops off.

If you proceed to totally bubble free at 100% conversion, your attendant losses of THC breaking down into CBN, et al is greater than your gain converting THCA to THC.

10.1.4 Decarboxylation 101 - GrayWolf's Lair (graywolfslair.com)

jfarrismu said:

Hellur

I'm a medical patient trying to make accurately dosed edibles using live resin (cheapest option for me). I have tried decarbing in the oven in a small Pyrex container and it's been hit and miss I think because the glass takes so long to heat up

Could I decarb and infuse the live resin in a small amount of oil on the stove at the same time? Perhaps use a thermometer to keep the oil around 240F and watch for bubbles to stop?

Click to expand...

What I have found works is to put the ice hash into the Pyrex container with just enough liquid coconut MCT oil to just cover it.
Weighing both would probably be a better process for dose repeatability but the hash needs to be covered I have found.

What I have done is then wrapped the Pyrex in foil for a good lid and seal to keep the terpenes in - well that’s the theory.
Then I run the oven low at 100 degrees Celsius or 212F for as long as it takes for the bubbles to stop.

DON’T go on time as that is bullshit based on dry bud experiments. Go on bubbles because your bubble could be wetter or drier depending on factors.
Now this could take HOURS depending on how much live resin you are trying to process.
Given it’s a pain in the arse to make meds repeatedly then big batches are normally what you will aim for.
So what I have found is that with a good chunk of bubble it can take hours like 6 hours or more depending on factors. But it’s easy when it takes a long time so that’s cool so to speak. Because you are also boiling out moisture not just making gas bubbles.

Now you can also stop and go with this process. I have made batches before where I didn’t cook it long enough because I was looking at those stupid time charts that don’t relate to your own reality of parameters.
I have frozen a cooked batch only to decide it wasn’t cooked enough and then recooked it a few more hours for more bubbles.
When you get the resin and oil ratio good the frozen cooked bubble will have a texture like gelato.
You can dose it this way from the freezer straight from the Pyrex with a knife and cutting little pellets. You should still have good terps with the frozen ‘gelato’.
Or you can process it further by dissolving in isopropyl and the filtering through a 25 micron screen then evaporating for the honey oil. Usually lose terps doing this but it’s a whole new level of stealth and convenience when it’s in a dropper bottle.
I usually add a bit of food grade cinnamon bark oil and a bit of cinnamon candy flavor.
This makes it cinnamon drops but the candy flavor thins the oil a bit and the bark oil is an anti fungal so that’s a plus for shelf life out of the fridge I figure.

So it sounds like I can do this and just watch for bubble production to slow (more THC) or stop (more CBN)

jfarrismu said:

So it sounds like I can do this and just watch for bubble production to slow (more THC) or stop (more CBN)

Click to expand...

Yep mix resin with oil and get that slurry bubbling to get out the moisture and gas bubbles.
In the oven on 212F-220F and just check every 30 mins. Just pull out Pyrex and take off foil lid and check progression of bubbles.
When bubbles slow to an obviously reduced rate of production from ‘peak bubbles’ then it should be done.

HenryTheEighth said:

Yep mix resin with oil and get that slurry bubbling to get out the moisture and gas bubbles.
In the oven on 212F-220F and just check every 30 mins. Just pull out Pyrex and take off foil lid and check progression of bubbles.
When bubbles slow to an obviously reduced rate of production from ‘peak bubbles’ then it should be done.

Click to expand...

Is there a maximum amount of time, or should I judge this solely based on the bubbles?

I'm thinking about doing an oil double boiler so to speak to keep the oil in the pot around 240F and have the concentrate and infusion oil in a pyrex container in the pot of oil

jfarrismu said:

Is there a maximum amount of time, or should I judge this solely based on the bubbles?

I'm thinking about doing an oil double boiler so to speak to keep the oil in the pot around 240F and have the concentrate and infusion oil in a pyrex container in the pot of oil

Click to expand...

I found time depends on the amount you are processing. Last time I did it like this I processed a lot of bubble from some outdoor plants.
I don’t think there is a maximum time. There are too many variables to be able to give a time.
You just really have to watch and judge the bubbles. You can try the double boil but the oven is heaps easier. You only want the oven hot enough to boil water, no hotter.
Mine bubbled like lava for hours, but I was doing a lot and I kept my temps just above boiling point of water.
The lower temps are good to help the terps survive the decarb.
Like I said you just watch for when the rate of bubbles changes noticeably. Mine never stopped bubbling completely, the rate and the amount just slowed enough to know it was done.

So I used about half a cup of oil for 2g of concentrate in a double boiler (oil not water) and it did not boil at all. The infusion oil was at or above 240 degrees for about an hour and never bubbled. It even got up to 270 degrees, no bubbles.

I think the THCA infused into the oil and then decarbed after? And because it was dissolved, bubbles large enough to see never appeared?

The oil definitely changed colors, smells like weed. I have not tried to dose it yet but will soon.

I'm wondering about maybe doing this but just in a mason jar in a water bath in my pressure cooker for 40 minutes instead of babying it on the stove. Mason jar, concentrate, oil; seal it up, into the pressure cooker, and done after 40 minutes with no fuss. Thoughts?