Hi Sweet Sue-
Thanks for the warm welcome- 420 is such a great community! I've got a couple questions about your proposed method -pot in pot in pot... You may have already thought all the through, but- Are you adding water to the oil/cannabis mix in your bowl? Have you tested bringing your bowl/aluminum foil system up to pressure without the cannabis? I'd hate to see you waste any product!
I'd be concerned about the oil temperature inside your inner bowl if it's not mixed with water. I'm also a little worried about the integrity of your foil since everything is going to be under pressure- I think it's going to crumple. Have you used this aluminum foil method in a pressure cooker previously? I have 'fear of pressure cooker' that I am slowly overcoming- forgive me for being a nervous nelly!
Every resource I can find tells you NEVER to pressure cook using oil instead of water- you can start fires, destroy your cooker etc. When you cook under pressure your boiling point increases. For water, in the instant pot at low pressure (5.8 psi) the temp will be in decent decarb range, 230ish, but I was not able to find a table for the temperature of oil at the same pressure. It could be higher, by a lot. When we decided to use the instant pot, I assumed that the water mixed with our cannabis and oil would provide a buffer for the temperature- and I think it did, because it worked great, though I don't know what temperature we actually hit. I'm looking for someone who's physics is a little fresher than mine to tell me not to worry. Good luck with the cook- can't wait to hear how it comes out!
Sorry to leave you waiting Farm Girl. Hang around me long enough and you'll see I sometimes get pulled into the medicinal threads and don't check in on a question I asked for days.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone's patience with me.
I share your "nervous Nellie" tendencies with pressure cooking. I think our fears are based around the ones that sit on the burner though. These electric models are wonderful, aren't they? Nearly foolproof.
I had no trouble with the loose aluminum foil cover on the bowl inside the chamber, and no water dripped into the oil, that I could see.
Thanks
walleye, for the heads up on doming the foil. I didn't do that this time, but I will next. This time it was a non-issue.
Ok..... So the pressure cooker may be doing many things, but total decarb of this pot-in-pot method isn't one of them.
After reading what walleye said I think it's a matter of the oil in the bowl being too cool for decarb. We want between 220 F and 235 F for that hour.
I can see how doing the FHO with plant material, oil, and water together in the chamber might work, and when I harvest the next CBD Critical Cure in about a month I may give it a go. I'll do a hot oil bath with that one as well, to see how effective it is. I have the same concerns walleye has about the added water though.
175 ml of EVOO.....
35 grams of buds dried low and slo...
Blended into an indeterminate sludge.....
Into the pressure cooker with a loose foil lid to let the gasses escape. I put 3 cups of water into the chamber.
Turned off the "Keep warm" function.
It took just under 30 minutes for the float to drop. I opened it up to see what I had.
The 3 cups of water was adequate. There's plenty left in the chamber.
Decarb was actively engaged, so I recovered it, closed it up and left it to cool naturally. I intended to do a hot oil bath to see how much was left undecarbed.
It started bubbling within five minutes, as soon as the hot oil bath got up to temperature.
And then it continued to bubble away aggressively for 80 minutes.
Yes, I was disappointed, but this is an experiment.
Finally quiet enough to jar up.
With the liquid sunflower lecithin added I recovered just under 150 ml. It's setting in the fridge overnight. I'll do capsules tomorrow.
I'm hoping the FHO in the chamber decarbs better. So far every method I've tried to get away from the hot oil bath has been problematic.
I have a habit of licking the utensils, and after squeezing the beejeezers out of the pulp ball I licked every bit off the fingers and hands too. I. Am. Buzzed.
So guys, any ideas on how a pot-in-pot arrangement could be made to work in the cooker? I'd really like to eliminate that hot oil. I detest the smell of oil particles in my home. I've never been one to fry foods for this very reason. If there's any way to get good decarb of these small batches of oil I want to find it.