Decoding The Holy Grail: Terpene & Cannabinoid Retention: Decarb to Extraction

This is a response that I got from the maker of the Nova when I asked if my Fresh Harvest had successfully decarboxylated. My attempt at decarbing Fresh Harvest was wet brown soft and very moist.

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Hi Keith!

Thanks for your message. Yes it did work and you can decarb fresh flower but the end product will be damp. Yes if you dry it out just for a few more days it should avoid that issue :)

Best,

Shanel A. Lindsay, Esq.

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Thanks for the insight. How difficult was it to clean the Nova out Keith?
 
I'm thinking it might be a heck of lot easier (and cheaper) to get a dedicated toaster oven and decarb in our greenhouse where smell is non-issue. Any comments on using a toaster oven?? There is a "top rated" Oster @ Amazon....

Thanks.

I was recently evicted from DW's kitchen and purchased a convection toaster oven for my workshop. I actually like it better for decarbing and transfers from ethanol tinctures to oil. Heats up quickly and requires less power than a large oven. I can't speak as to the accuracy of the thermostat but I've been very satisfied with the results thus far and am not overly concerned. When it comes to decarboxylation, there are simply too many variables to get too anal about specifics in my opinion. While lab tests support that some are getting excellent results with 240 for 40 min in the arid deserts of Arizona and others are getting best results at 235 for 110 min in the high altitudes of Colorado, neither may be exactly what I need for my poorly stored year old weed in the Deep South. Great to have parameters to work with but one size will never fit all.
 
I wanted to Update everyone on the Cannalytics Supply Testing Kits

Im Very frustrated and unhappy with the system. I have completed 9 tests, thats 9 plates, and I have only actually Had 3 successful results, Thats $250 spent, but, as in life, ya get what ya pay for...LOL

I just did one today, very very unhappy. the TLC style system is just to un-reliable.

So @Twox, @Canyon , @Kicknitu1 this is NOT a viable option, the results and process is to unreliable for the cost involved

Ya Live and Learn I guess
 
being able to decarb without the wife barking about the smell is a great asset

Agreed...and done...ordered a basic toaster oven and (another) thermometer (it was on sale!)...all for about $50.

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I use a toaster oven for my 'baking'. The smell in the house is not welcome chez moi. So I use it on the stove under the hood fan, or take it outside.

My experience has been that decarbing in the olive oil significantly reduces the smell - which I believe means much better terpene retention.

I've been using a 110 minutes @ 220 F bake time with good results, and I'm using the convection oven setting.

A simple calibration test is to use a small measure cup with say 50 ml water. When the water starts to boil you know that's 212.


I'm thinking it might be a heck of lot easier (and cheaper) to get a dedicated toaster oven and decarb in our greenhouse where smell is non-issue. Any comments on using a toaster oven?? There is a "top rated" Oster @ Amazon....

Thanks.
 
Good morning,
These are from different strains and bud sizes, so don’t try to make too much of it.

5g Nightmare Cookies pulled apart and decarbad in the pressure cooker for 90 minutes and a 6.5g L-n-S dried undecarbed bud.
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Extreme popcorn buds decarbed in purple decarber.
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We also ran 5g of NMC in 40g of coconut oil in the same run with the bud only pressure cooker run to decarb and infuse in the carrier oil at the same time.

The tCheck people worked yesterday (Saturday) and identified an logarithm problem. They have a patch/alpha version ready to try. However exactable files and command line changes needed to install it are still a problem.

It is not installed yet. I have no idea if they will be around today. They called people in to write code yesterday so maybe. They are concerned and taking action fore sure.

As I understand the problem, it is variations in the LED that is the light source. They were aware that a few units had issues, however they thought they had the problem solved.

Kickn will have more latter.

I never know
 
Winding down,
It has been a wild few days.

After two days of working with tCheck it is still not working correctly, but we did get the new firmware installed.

Tomorrow we will drop off three samples for standard cannabinoid test. Those tests should be available by Wednesday along with the terpene tests we ordered on August 9.

We have 6 more samples that we will hold until we decide to test them or not.

I will be driving tomorrow and late getting back so not much to add until Tuesday.

Best
 
Canyon, I appreciate the updates. I know you had a blast with this. :hug:
 
Hi all!

Well I am back safely. I had rather not do a brain cell count for fear of failing to qualify as human. I will have a full report for you once the first batch of tests are back and I have had a chance to consult with Canyon. We had major setbacks due to the defective tcheck device. Giving credit where credit is due, they bent over backwards attempting to help us on the fly. I know they think they sent me out there with a good device. But sadly, it was completely unreliable. I think the problem lies with attempting to patch/recode older units with superior code and for whatever reason it is messing up other stuff. I am still rooting for them but this was not good. They really cut the value of this trip. That's the bottom line. More on that later. But we do have a wealth of info for you coming up. We did enough to get a lot of answers for sure.

BUT!!! Read the next post. This it the most important thing I need to say before I go any further......
 
How about a round of applause for Canyon and his wonderful wife for hosting this event! I mean holy crap! They opened their home to a stranger based solely upon a recommendation from SweetSue and a phone call from me! Now, Canyon is a wise man and I think he had me sized up pretty well with little to go on. But it was a leap of faith in anybody's book. I could have been the house guest from hell! LOL. But after talking, listening, and observing his interactions with others as well as myself for a week, I am not a bit surprised he did it. I have never met a more genuine, warm, and caring person in my life. My only regret is that we haven't already been friends for 30 years. Well I can't do anything about that but I just don't have words for how much making his acquaintance means to me. When you get to be our age it's easy to give up on the whole damn human race as far as finding good people goes. Faith in humanity restored. Us stoners seem to look out for each other.

Testing aside, I would like to thank Canyon and his lovely wife from the bottom of my heart for being wonderful hosts and making an average Joe feel special. Live Long & Prosper Canyon!
 
Blush,
We had fun and worked well together. Kickn is a perfect guest. I just wish we had more time to sit around and solve all the problems in the world before he had to go back to his day job.

I agree with Kickn. We need to find out what the reports will reveal before we do much more.

As a side bar, we dropped by our local head shop and spotted some terpene infused CBD extract. They had several strains, Blue dream was one. It was around 69% CBD. It was about the same price as THC extracts.

It could be a way to get some kick A** medication. I am thinking that mixing in with high THC concentrates could get interesting with the added terpenes.

I never know.
 
Blush,
We had fun and worked well together. Kickn is a perfect guest. I just wish we had more time to sit around and solve all the problems in the world before he had to go back to his day job.


I never know.

Oh I had a blast. We worked hard for 5 days but if you have to work, find a union that will get you a job working beside someone who can grow weed @ 29% and smoke it on the job. LMAO. Yeah, I didn't want to get started about how much fun I had before I got the thank yous out of the way. Sue was right. I did not want to leave. Back to making my own coffee. lol.
 
With some reading between the lines, I think the terpene tests I dropped off 8/9 were to be completed before SH was going to do a scheduled change out/upgrade to some equipment and it got missed.

While we were dropping off the latest samples, I wanted to make it clear that the tCheck call was not our idea, so I ask first thing if tCheck had called and if they had caused them any grief. The answer was yes they called and it was not a problem. It was a good move.

We had an opportunity to talk to two of the technicians for a few minutes. I am getting a better appreciation of the importance of choosing the best method for testing. For instance, one test they can run is great at something but destroys all of the acids. Another little goodie that came up was to let the lab know if samples were going to be low concentrations. They can change the dilution and give you a better test.

This morning I received an email from the laboratory manager at Steep Hill apologizing for the delay. He also offered a free extended terpene test. The results are still not posted so some of the motive could be to soften the disappointment of another delay. It worked.

Unless I am short I tend to have samples that are large enough to run another sample or two. They have trouble getting material for testing and training, so while not a huge deal, it is appreciated. I/we are becoming something moderately interesting to break up a dull day.

I will be back in Albuquerque tomorrow and Friday without a good way to post anything they finish. Another irritating delay, we can only play the cards we are dealt.

Thanks for all the support and understanding everyone.
 
It's so quiet. I feel like everyone is going to pounce when those tests get posted! lol. I am swamped but I will make time soon to post a thank you to our supporters. You know who you are but I want everyone else to know who helped us with the financial burden. We are so grateful folks. I don't think Canyon has posted a Steep Hill price sheet (could be wrong) but you would see how expensive it is to find out enough to be useful. In order to be useful, it has to be a complete trail. I think we did that. We tested every meaningful point except for where tcheck was to fill in the gaps. That was seriously unfortunate. I am still working with tcheck. They know this hurt us and they can't take it back. But they appear to be making every effort to make it right. Actually I expect some exciting news from them in the near future. We tested the bud, the bud after decarb, the infused oil, AND the spent material. And some FHO. It's covered. If this doesn't answer some major questions, I just don't know how you would. Hey, if this posts 3 damn times, I'm sorry. In my defense, it keeps saying token expired try again. lol
 
I had two dabs of 99.49% CBD about 20 minutes ago, interesting. I was slightly light headed for a few minutes accompanied by a calming feeling. After a few minutes I had a few hits of flower from a dry pipe. It is about 15 min after the flower hits and mellow best describes where I am, not that high but very relaxed. I could get use to this, it is a nice place.

I never know

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It has a sweetish taste and crumbles like sugar. All I had handy for a dabber was a pocket knife. there was a little left on the blade and it was sappy.
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