Instant Pot Cannabis Decarb – For THC, CBG, and CBD

There are a lot of YouTube videos on using your Instant Pot pressure cooker to decarb cannabis.  Because it uses pressure, the Instant Pot can reach temperatures of 245 degrees Fahrenheit before water boils.  It maintains this temperature evenly during the period it is pressure cooking.  Some bright cannabis fans discovered that you can pop your weed into a mason jar, screw the lid “finger-tight,” add 2 cups of water, and cook it for 40 minutes.  This heating (or decarboxylation) converts the non-psychoactive THCA to the psychoactive delta 9 THC.   While this process works for THC (and also for CBG) it does not produce enough heat to decarb CBD.

Toasted Blonde has one of the more entertaining videos showing how the Instant Pot decarb works for THC.

What about converting CBDA to CBD?  Cannabidiol (CBD) requires either higher temperatures or longer decarb times.  The makers of the Ardent Nova decarboxylator recommend running the decarb cycle twice if you are decarbing CBD hemp flower instead of THC marijuana.  The same principle works for the Instant Pot.  You decarb the hemp flower for 80 minutes instead of 40 minutes. (Ardent just announced a new version with different cycles for THC and CBD – and they recommend using the THC cycle if you are decarbing CBG-dominant cannabis.)

If you are using the Instant Pot to infuse CBD oil you can decarb for 40 minutes, wait for the flower to cool, add MCT oil to the mason jar, and run the Instant Pot for an additional 40 minutes.  By the end of the process you will have a home-made CBD oil that will need to be filtered through a coffee filter or a commercial filter.  It will probably taste more herbal and possibly more smoky than the CBD oil/tincture you buy.

Decarbing cannabis on a baking sheet in the oven can be a smelly process no matter how many smell barriers you erect.  The Instant Pot method only smells a little bit.  That’s another major advantage.  If you have an Instant Pot then you should really try this method.

Decarboxylation of CBG flower – How long to Decarb at what temperature?

There is a lot of information online about how to decarb THC flower (marijuana). There is less information about decarbing CBD hemp flower.  There is almost no information about decarbing CBG hemp flower.  If you want to add CBG to your edibles or topicals you will need to decarb it first.  This heat converts CBGA to CBG. CBGA may have its own health benefits, but like most raw cannabinoids it has not been studied a much as its activated molecule.

We do have some hints about decarb temps for CBG. A 2016 study looked at different decarb temperatures for different cannabinoids. Hidden deep within the study is a very interesting table that compares THC, CBD, and CBG when heated to different temperatures. The researchers found that 20 minutes at 130 degrees Celsius (260 degrees F) were sufficient to convert almost all of the CBGA to CBG. 40 minutes at 110 degrees C (230 degrees F) did almost as well, producing slightly less CBG from the material.

It would be reasonable to assume that 30 to 40 minutes at 240 to 260 degrees F would convert CBG hemp flower into active CBG to be used in edibles and topicals. Interestingly, this is the same temperature that some people are using when they decarb in a mason jar inside an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker.

Why would you want to decarb CBG flower? CBG has health benefits and it seems to intensify the effects of CBD when the two are taken together. Edibles are a way to take cannabinoids as medication and avoid any possible damage to the lungs. The effects also last longer when the medication is taken orally.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5549281/#!po=0.980392

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5549281/bin/Supp_Table1.pdf

The Easiest Cannabis Edibles

If you are interested in edibles there is one really easy way to get started. The easiest edibles are “firecrackers.”  These consist of graham crackers, peanut butter and cannabis. Chocolate graham crackers work well, and I’ve also seen recipes that use Nutella instead of peanut butter.  If you are using decarbed hemp cannabis (cannabis with <.3% THC) you can probably start with a level teaspoon of decarbed “trim” or “shake” plant material.  You can also use ground flower, but start with a little less. If you are using high THC cannabis (marijuana) you should definitely start with less, and eat only a small portion of the resulting product – waiting at least an hour to gauge the effects.  (I haven’t personally tried this with high THC cannabis.)

Cover one side of the graham cracker with smooth peanut butter.  Sprinkle the cannabis onto the peanut butter and close the graham cracker carefully.  As long as you decarbed the cannabis first, you are ready to eat!

A firecracker made with chocolate graham crackers and peanut butter.

If the cannabis is not decarbed then you need to heat the firecracker in an oven or toaster oven for around 20 minutes.   Wrap the little sandwiches in aluminum foil and place in a pre-heated oven. The temperature should be at least 300 degrees but not over 350.

Edibles can take between 1 and 2 hours to reach full effects and the effects last longer than inhaled cannabis.  With CBD you won’t feel much, but possibly a deep feeling of relaxation, sometimes referred to as a “body high.” You may need to experiment with how much plant material to use.  Even decarbed hemp flower contains some THC along with the CBD. It’s possible to become impaired (high) eating firecrackers made with hemp if you use too much.

You can even use ABV (already been vaped) plant material in a firecracker – but you will need to use more of it.  When you vaped your cannabis you heated it, but you probably didn’t evaporate all of the CBD or THC.  Using this ABV material in an edible allows you to get the rest.

 

How to make CBD and CBDA Menthol Salve to relieve aches and pains

It’s easy to make a homemade hemp salve to help soothe your achy joints.  I use it at night for arthritis pain in my hands.  I made this batch with hemp flower that I ordered last year when it first came on the market.  I bought a lot more than I needed and I mixed a little over an ounce together.  I decarbed 3/4 of the total in order to convert the CBDA to CBD.  I left the remaining 1/4 “raw” so that the salve contained some CBDA as well as CBD. While CBDA has not been as widely studied as CBD, there is evidence that it is a COX2 inhibitor (like Celebrex).  These substances are a subclass of NSAIDs – non-steroidal antiinflammatories. – which are used to treat arthritis.

Homemade hemp salve to help relieve aches and pains.

The first step is to infuse some coconut oil with the CBD and CBDA. Infused coconut oil is especially easy to make with a Magical Butter machine or an Infusium 420, but there are also recipes that use a crock pot.   If you are using one of the machines you simply load in 8-12 ounces of coconut oil (which is semi-solid at room temperature) and an ounce or more of plant material (and optionally a small amount of lecithin). Run the machine through a cycle, using either the oil button or the butter button.  You strain the resulting warmed liquid oil and pour it back into the jar.

If you let this sit at room temperature it will harden again.  You can actually use it in edibles as well as in salve. To make the salve from the infused coconut oil follow the following instructions:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup infused coconut oil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup beeswax (or shea butter or cocoa butter)
• 1 TSP menthol crystals
• Other essential oils as desired.  Some to consider are calendula, lavender, arnica, and tea tree oils.

In a double boiler or a pan set on top of a pot with simmering water, melt infused coconut oil. (I set the jar of infused coconut oil into a pyrex bowl and added almost-boiling water from a tea kettle to melt the oil.)

Add olive oil to the infused coconut oil. (This is said to help create a smoother finished product and improves absorption.) Break-up the beeswax or heat it so that it dissolves in the coconut oil.  (The beeswax is to reduce greasiness.) It can take a long time for the beeswax to dissolve. Remove from heat and add the menthol and the essential oils. Stir or whip the mixture until a smooth texture is achieved. Place in cosmetics containers and cool completely. _{(Based on a recipe from the Infusium 420 cookbook.)}

You can optionally add some powdered CBD isolate to the salve to boost the CBD content. I did the math estimating that 75% of the CBDA from my original plant material made it into the infused coconut oil, and I wanted a stronger finished product. I added 1 gram of CBD isolate powder to the hot mixture and it dissolved readily.

You can, of course, make a similar salve from marijuana and you will have THC and THCA in your salve instead of (or in addition to) CBD and CBDA.  There is good research suggesting that a blend of THC and CBD may relieve pain better than either alone.  Living in an illegal state, my salve is made from hemp.

How to Decarb Cannabis: Decarboxylation activates the CBD or THC in Cannabis for edibles or Topicals

Wonder what would happen if you eat hemp flower or marijuana bud?  Probably not what you think.  The THC and CBD in cannabis emerge only after it is heated.  Raw, unheated cannabis contains mostly CBDA and THCA.  They are in an “acid form” and not available as THC or CBD to the body.  (You won’t get high or get some of the benefits of CBD.) Scientists are discovering that the cannabinoids THCA and CBDA do have some benefits of their own. CBDA is a COX-2 inhibitor, suggesting that it might be helpful for arthritis and pain.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Decarboxylation can a stinky process.  You may want to use a shallow pan covered with foil, or a decarb box – a silicon box that seals in the smell.  (An oven thermometer is included for calibrating your oven.)

1. Preheat oven. Wait until oven is fully preheated before proceeding.
2. Break up flowers and buds into smaller pieces with your hands. There is no need to grind first.
3. Place the material in a pan or the decarb box.
4. Bake on the center rack
5. When time is up, remove the material from oven. Let cool completely, or chill in freezer 10-15 minutes.

The Magical Butter people recommend the following temperatures:

Target	Temperature	Minutes
THC	250°F/121°C	30-45
CBD	280°F/140°C	60-90
CBN	320°F/160°C	90-120

Once you have decarbed you will notice that the material smells different.  It is now activated and you can bake it into brownies, extract it into tincture, infuse it into butter or coconut oil. CBD and THC are absorbed slowly, so be sure not to make the rookie mistake of “trying just a little more” when you don’t feel something right away.  You may have to wait as long as an hour or two for the effects to kick in.  The effects may last longer too.

CBG hemp flower requires different temperatures. Read more here.

How to make your own Green Dragon Cannabis Tincture

Before prohibition cannabis was available at drug stores in the form of a cannabis tincture.  These tinctures contained alcohol infused with cannabis.  Neither CBD nor THC are water soluble, so either alcohol or oil are needed as a solvent for the activeingredients in cannabis.  Today the word tincture is sometimes used to refer to CBD oil as well as to alcohol-based tinctures.  The principle is the same. Cannabis is first heated to “decarb” or decarboxylate the plant matter.  This is the process that converts the inactive THCA to the intoxicant THC. It also converts CBDA to CBD.  After this decarb process the plant material is soaked in grain alcohol and one of several techniques is used to speed up the process of infusing the chemicals from cannabis into the alcohol.

I’ll list three methods that can be used at home. These techniques can be used with CBD hemp flower or with marijuana bud.  Before you start you should decarb most or all of the plant material (unless you want to include some THCA and/or CBDA in the tincture).  Decarboxilation is a process of heating cannabis to convert THCA to THC and CBDA to CBD.  If you are smoking or vaping you are decarbing the material as you smoke or vape.

The slow method: 

• Mix your flower or extract in a mason jar with high-proof alcohol (such as Everclear)
• Close the jar and let it sit for a few weeks, shaking it once a day
• After a few weeks, filter it with a coffee filter

The shake method:

• Grind your herb finely, either before or after decarb. Mix in a mason jar with high-proof alcohol (such as Everclear)
• Shake for 3 minutes
• Strain the mixture and store

The high tech method:

• Use your Magical Butter machine or an Infuzium 420.  These machines make infused oils and butter, but they simplify the process for tinctures as well.  I chose the Infuzium 420 because it has good reviews, it’s cheaper, and it allows me to make smaller batches if I wish.
• Just dump in the alcohol and the herb (grinding not necessary) and push the button for tinctures.  The machine heats the mixture safely and stirs it for you. Strain the end product with the strainer included with the machine.  Straining again through a coffee filter removes even more of the fine solids.

If you are using hemp flower to make a CBD tincture you should consider including some raw (not decarbed) plant material in addition to the decarbed material.  CBDA is a COX2 inhibitor and may inhibit some tumor growth.  Similarly, THCA is being studied for a number of health benefits, including treating some seizures.

Whichever method you choose you will end up with a tincture that may burn if you put it under your tongue.  If it does, then take it with a sip of water and swish it around in your mouth for a minute or so before swallowing.  Adding a drop of peppermint extract and a splash of stevia will make it easier to tolerate too.  Putting it in the freezer for 24 hours and then straining it through a coffee filter will remove some of the bitterness too.

You can roughly calculate the dose if you have good lab results on your cannabis.  You will likely capture 75% or so of the CBD or THC, so include this in your calculations.

References: Leafly guide to tinctures.

How to make CBD Oil for Morning and Evening

(This is a continuation of previous posts on How to make CBD Oil and How to make Broad Spectrum CBD Oil.)

If you are making your own CBD oil you can tailor your blends of terpenes to include terpenes that are activating for morning use and terpenes that are sedating for evening use.  I’m not suggesting adding anything that does not naturally occur in cannabis. Some people sell CBD for evening use that is blended with melatonin.  I think that’s stupid. Melatonin is cheap (in the U.S.) and there’s no need to start adding it to CBD.  It’s also not a good idea to take melatonin except right before bedtime.  Taken at the wrong time of day it can actually give you jet lag.

Adding naturally relaxing/sedating terpenes such as myrcene and nerolidol is different. It is a way to mimic some of the chemical makeup of a sedating cannabis strain in a THC-free CBD oil.  In my most recent batch of CBD oil I made three slightly different blends.  I used the basic technique in How to make Broad Spectrum CBD Oil, including blending in some Kanabia Golden Harvest oil in order to get an entourage effect from added CBD-V, CBG, and THC-V.  (This is the only oil with such high levels of these cannabinoids and code cannap15 still gets you 15% off.)  I made the oil stronger by using more CBD isolate than in my last batch; and less MCT oil.  The contents of the final result is below.  The bold ingredients are the ones that distinguish activating from sedating:

AM-Activating: 29mg CBD/ml.
Hemp-derived terpene blend, harlequin terpene blend, Durban Poison terpene blend
D-limonene, b-carophyllene, linalool
CBD-V, CBG, THC-V (from Kanabia oil)

Neutral: 29mg CBD/ml.
Hemp-derived terpene blend, harlequin terpene blend
D-limonene, b-carophyllene, linalool
CBD-V, CBG, THC-V (from Kanabia oil)

PM-Sedating 29mg CBD/ml.
Hemp-derived terpene blend, harlequin terpene blend, myrcene, nerolidol
D-limonene, b-carophyllene, linalool
CBD-V, CBG, THC-V (from Kanabia oil)

As you can see the only differences are the addition of Durban Poison terpenes in the morning and the addition of the sedating terpenes myrcene and nerolidol in the evening. The result is three slightly different CBD oils. I definitely notice the extra sedation in the evening.  I sometimes get “couch-lock” where I end up dozing in my recliner rather than asleep in the bed.

I’m not sure yet about the activating blend.  It doesn’t make me sleepy, but I’m generally drinking a cup of coffee in the morning too. Leafly describes Durban Poison as:

This pure sativa originates from the South African port city of Durban. It has gained popularity worldwide for its sweet smell and energetic, uplifting effects. Durban Poison is the perfect strain to help you stay productive through a busy day, when exploring the outdoors, or to lend a spark of creativity.

Another option for an activating blend would be to add individual terpenes that are thought to be activating. You can buy combinations of food-grade terpenes that are sold as either sedating of activating as well.

Have you made different blends of CBD oil?  What is your formula?  Please comment below.

How to Make Broad Spectrum CBD Oil (not as cheap)

In my last post I shared an easy way to make CBD isolate oil. This is CBD oil with no ingredients except CBD and oil.  There is evidence that CBD may work better when other natural compounds (cannabinoids and terpenes) are also present (the “entourage effect“). Full-spectrum hemp oil contains mostly CBD but also smaller amounts of these cannabinoids and terpenes.  The amount of delta 9 THC is required by law to be very low (less than 0.3% in the U.S. and less than 0.2% in the E.U.).  Cannabinoids are fat-soluable, however, so they tend to build up in the body over time. It can take up to a month to flush THC from the bloodstream.  Some people taking higher doses of full-spectrum hemp oil have reported failing workplace drug tests.

Broad-spectrum hemp oil is CBD isolate with terpenes and/or other cannabinoids added back in.  There’s no THC so you are very unlikely to fail a drug test. Here’s how to make your own.

Basic Instructions – for making Broad Spectrum CBD Oil

Follow the directions from the post “Make your own CBD Oil (cheap)” but buy an extra

Some of the ingredients you might add to CBD oil

60ml (2 oz) empty bottle (for a total of 4 instead of 3).  You will still be making 6 ounces (180ml) of CBD isolate oil in this first step.

In addition to this you will need:

• A small bottle of food-grade terpenes from a high CBD cannabis strain.  I’ve found both ACDC and harlequin terpenes on Amazon. These come in tiny bottles and you only need a few drops for each 2oz bottle.
• A bottle of a broad spectrum CBD oil such as “Kanabia” Golden Harvest (use code cannap15 for 15% off).  This oil has relatively high levels of CBD-V, CBG, and THC-V along with CBD.  You will be diluting this so that the total of these three cannabinoids are not as strong in your final oil.
• A bottle of beta-caryophyllene (optional).  This terpene is also a cannabinoid that binds to the CB2 receptor. It smells and tastes like purple gum drops.

Kanabia CBD+ Oil

Add the contents of the bottle of Kanabia oil to the CBD isolate oil that you made in the mason jar. (If you already divided the oil among different small bottles you can either divide the Kanabia oil evenly among the small bottles or re-combine the contents into a mason jar.)

Add 16-20 drops of terpenes to the mason jar. (Add more later if you choose.  Read the instructions.)

Add 20 or more drops of beta-caryophyllene to the mason jar (optional).

Stir or shake well and then divide evenly into the 4 empty bottles using the small funnel.  (The small bottles won’t be quite full because the Kanabia oil bottle was only 50ml.) Approximate dosing remains the same, except you now have a broad spectrum oil that includes CBD along with smaller quantities of CBD-V, CBG, and THC-V, terpenes, and possibly extra amounts of the super-terpene beta-caryophyllene.

[Edit – April 24, 2019: Part 3 of this series is live: How to make CBD Oil for Morning and Evening.]