# Heating Weed Before Tincture??!



## icurbyou (Jan 27, 2009)

This whole tincture thing seems to be very confusing.

Some people claim it works, some claim it doesnt. Some say you must heat your weed in the oven and others say you dont. 

From *EXPERIENCED TINCTURE MAKERS* I would like to know.... Must you heat the weed in the oven first or is this bullshit?


----------



## diemdepyro (Jan 28, 2009)

Heat will make solvents work better. I am sure this is just perspective.


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 28, 2009)

Heat to 200 F for about 15 minuts prior to putting in the alcohol. Theheating takes away a carbon bond from THC, making it active. When we smoke weed, it does this using the flame at a high rate of speed. If however we heat weed in the oven too hot, we will actually vaporize the THC. I like 200, mkaes the buds crispy. Crunch them up, add to high proof alcohol (Everclear), wrap in tin foil to make light proof. Place in a closet, not too warm, around 65-80 F. Wait 3-6 weeks, and voila, you have great drinks. At that point you can evaporate off much of the alcohol so that you are left with a concentrated tincture. Add a few drops to your favorite drink, and voila, you have a green dragon!!!!

I find the closet method works way better than the heating on the oven method. I drink a THC drink 2-3 times a week. It comes on slowly, but then I peak, and sometimes stay high for a good 8 hours.... 
Cheers!


----------



## diemdepyro (Jan 28, 2009)

mannurse801 said:


> Heat to 200 F for about 15 minuts prior to putting in the alcohol. Theheating takes away a carbon bond from THC, making it active. When we smoke weed, it does this using the flame at a high rate of speed. If however we heat weed in the oven too hot, we will actually vaporize the THC. I like 200, mkaes the buds crispy. Crunch them up, add to high proof alcohol (Everclear), wrap in tin foil to make light proof. Place in a closet, not too warm, around 65-80 F. Wait 3-6 weeks, and voila, you have great drinks. At that point you can evaporate off much of the alcohol so that you are left with a concentrated tincture. Add a few drops to your favorite drink, and voila, you have a green dragon!!!!
> 
> I find the closet method works way better than the heating on the oven method. I drink a THC drink 2-3 times a week. It comes on slowly, but then I peak, and sometimes stay high for a good 8 hours....
> Cheers!


Could I use 100 proof whisky?


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 28, 2009)

Yeah, but it is not as efficient at drawing out the THC. Use the Bacardi 151 if you can't get a hold of 190 Proof stuff. 
I use pure lemon extract at 90% alcohol, and works wonders! I put 2 grams in 2 oz of fluid, end up with 3-4 doses...


----------



## icurbyou (Jan 28, 2009)

No offense ManNurse but you were the only person I could find that was repping the oven thing. Can I hear from someone else?


----------



## icurbyou (Jan 28, 2009)

I did find this:

Heating dried marijuana makes the carboxyl group convert into water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). When marijuana is smoked, the burning eliminates the carboxyl group. There are several ways to decarboxylate marijuana for use in extracts. A layer of marijuana buds or leaf can be placed in an oven at 150 degrees for 15 minutes. This is far below the boiling point of THC yet warm enough to evaporate the carboxyl group. Another method of releasing the COOH is by placing a bowl of buds in the microwave for 2 minutes. The waves will boil away the water. The boiling point of marijuana's active cannabinoids ranges from 260-392 degrees F.

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3037.html


----------



## icurbyou (Jan 28, 2009)

Ok... So say I do this and cook my weed in the oven.... How long is it going to make my house smell like herb??


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 28, 2009)

Not too long. Depends on how much you do. I do only 2 grams of herb per batch. 
No offence taken, I do this so often, it is regular for me. Do a test with a small sample. One with and one without cooking, you will see. 
The flame does this for us when smoking, but when making a cool extract, it is the only way to do it...


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 28, 2009)

Here is a link to the Green Dragon.... 
http://www.greendragonsoda.com/

Notice, they use a microwave for their herb, don't, use the oven at like 175-200 for 15 min!


----------



## icurbyou (Jan 29, 2009)

Man... sucks being unemployed.. I need a fucking scale. lol

So i can make it with like a marble size of weed .. maybe in a shotglass or something.. Long as I make it 3parts weed and 4 parts Everclear (its what I have already)

Like.. in order to have a small batch - to test the oven VS no oven method?

Also, 1 more Q... How much do you personally take orally? A few drops from a eye dropper? Or a spoon full? a shot?


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 29, 2009)

I usually get 2-4 dses from 2 grams of weed. 
Let's say you smoke X amount to get you toasted, then X would be 1 very strong dose. 
If you put 4X in the alcohol, you will have 4 doses, hence, just spilit the alcohol into 4 doses. If you use 4 oz, then 1 oz per dose. I tend to evaporate much of my alcohol so I am only left with like 12 ml. I then pu 3-6 ml per "drink" depending on the type of high I want. 
I actually love the high, it is very pure, and lasts a long time. It really creaps up on you slowly, then all of a sudden, it really hits hard and you gotta focus on things in order to stay with it....


----------



## diggitydank420 (Jan 29, 2009)

icurbyou, here is the definitive answer from the Vancouver Island Compassion Society(Links for download are active):


> *VICS Cannamist/Tincture Recipe
> *​ *and Instructions on How to Convert THCA Into THC
> 
> *​ Download Recipe​ A tincture is an alcohol-base solution of a non-volatile medicine (in this case cannabis). In this case alcohol is not only the solvent used to separate cannabinoids from the plant matter, it is what makes this type of application (particularly in fine-mist form) more bio-available and therefore effective.
> ...


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 29, 2009)

No offense, but do not use that recipe. That temp is too high. I vap my weed at 325-350. It only takes a few minuts to vap the product. That heat will vap a ton of the THC. Use only 175-200, 
Believe me, I do this twice a week with lemon extract at 90%.
Everything else in that recipee will work, but a higher proof alcohol is highly recommended. at 40-50% you need to soak it longer than 1-2 weeks. I soak mine for 3 weeks in 90% alcohol. 
One of the problems with the above recipe are that the dosage would be very hard to guage. I like mine to be able to measure within ml, not sprays. Also, the addes stuff in that recipee are not really needed. The honey and mint, ewww....
Anyway, play with it if you like, no harm. But the oven thing at 325 is too high IMO, but others swear by it. I just know that when I use my vaporizer at that temp, I get high, meaning thc is being vaporized.... 

As you can see from this chart, thc is vaporizing at that temp...
www.kayzeekreations.com


----------



## diggitydank420 (Jan 29, 2009)

mannurse801 said:


> No offense, but do not use that recipe. That temp is too high. I vap my weed at 325-350. It only takes a few minuts to vap the product. That heat will vap a ton of the THC. Use only 175-200,
> Believe me, I do this twice a week with lemon extract at 90%.
> Everything else in that recipee will work, but a higher proof alcohol is highly recommended. at 40-50% you need to soak it longer than 1-2 weeks. I soak mine for 3 weeks in 90% alcohol.
> One of the problems with the above recipe are that the dosage would be very hard to guage. I like mine to be able to measure within ml, not sprays. Also, the addes stuff in that recipee are not really needed. The honey and mint, ewww....
> ...


You have to understand that to heat up .5g to 325 in a vaporizer takes almost no time at all.

Half an ounce in an oven for 5 minutes isn't very long. I seriously doubt that even 20% of the plant matter will get anywhere above 275 within that time frame.


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 30, 2009)

Hey man, I am going by experience. I do this 2 times a week so I have a constant flow of tincture. I can tell you, I first started using the higher temps for less time. Then I experimented, and kept the temps lower for a longer time. The potency of the product was better at the lower temps. I am sure the above works, but is not ideal when heat activating the herb. Lower for longer is almost always better.


----------



## Landragon (Jan 30, 2009)

But admitedly you are using much less herb. This will heat way faster than .5-1 oz..


----------



## mannurse801 (Jan 30, 2009)

Of course, but I only mention this due to the possiblity of evaporation of the THC. I for one do not want to chanc losing any of my content to heat issues. Doing it lwer only ensured quality product at the end by ensuring evaporation of the cabannoids does not take place. 
I am just shring this information for everyones benefit. Just trying to help.

The problem with the high heat method is that 1-2 minutes too long and you can lose 10% of your product. May seem like not much, but it is a loss, and something I don't want to fool around with. 
Cheers guys, and enjoy the tinctures, regardless of method.


----------



## icurbyou (Feb 7, 2009)

I'm a dumb dumb and totally forgot to heat my weed before pouring in the Everclear.. lol

Now what? hahahaaha


----------



## hackel (Feb 22, 2009)

Just to add in my smidgeon of experience, the heating at 200 or even 250 was a waste of time. I ground 1oz the night I got it and put it in a glass pan and bake it at 250 degrees for 5 minutes. Now the difference in my method over Mannurse, (BTW another man nurse, here. Glad to see another open-minded medical proessional!) is that my heating time was only 1/3 as long as his, so my percentage of activated THC molecules may have been paltry by comparison. Also my cooking temp was 50 degrees higher. Either way, I must recommend that you avoid the Cold Method of making a tincture as I found not even the slightest hint of potency after the 3 days or even after and additional 2 weeks. The Traditional Method made a tincture that gave me a ghost of a mild buzz after a 25ml dose. I would attribute the ghost buzz to a placebo effect, though. I ended up just evaporating it and smoking the oil left behind. After this harvest comes in, I will do a definite measurable test of whether or not baking is worth it.


----------



## mannurse801 (Feb 22, 2009)

Yeah, at 250, you still need to bake it for a good 15 min. Did you pread it out on a cookie sheet, or just all packed together? It has to be speard out, and end up really crispy...


----------



## sciboo (Feb 24, 2009)

Can I get the recipe from you. Or the exact way to make it( how much bud etc)?


----------



## DubB83 (Feb 27, 2009)

Funny! I just made a thread about this... check my signature!


----------



## hackel (Feb 28, 2009)

mannurse801 said:


> Yeah, at 250, you still need to bake it for a good 15 min. Did you pread it out on a cookie sheet, or just all packed together? It has to be speard out, and end up really crispy...


Then I will have to do that your way and see how it goes. I recall the first time having it spread out but still kind of clumped together and not on a cookie sheet. And, again, for much less than 10 minutes.


----------



## true (Nov 20, 2009)

mannurse801 said:


> No offense, but do not use that recipe. That temp is too high. I vap my weed at 325-350. It only takes a few minuts to vap the product. That heat will vap a ton of the THC. Use only 175-200,
> Believe me


Mannurse801 is exactly right. THC vaporizes at 100c or 212f, however THC-acid begins to decarboxylate at only 50c or 122f (which is the temperature of tap water at its hottest).

I've just been using a heating pad which max's out at 120 something degrees, and allowed my tincture to cure on it for 6 weeks. I plan on storing the reduced tincture as-is (to preserve the integrity of the less volatile cannabinoids and terpenes) in a cool, dark place. When I need an eyedropper bottle of tincture, I'll simply pour a couple of oz of tincture in a container and boil in a water bath @ 200f for 15 min and then slowly top out @ 225f (25-30 min total). By that point all THC-acid will be decarboxylated and active. Add a couple drops of grape seed extract, lime, lemon, I would imagine anything acidic is good to help dissolve the particles thoroughly.

The vancouver recipe is for patients, but for recreational use, the lower temperatures will produce a more lively buzz, rather than a sleepy, dreamy buzz. Kind of like if you were to smoke resin, which produces a droned out and sleepy buzz; different effects at different temperatures. Lately, I clean my pipes in pure grain alcohol, and make bed-time tinctures out of resin, stems, sifted (to leave behind green/partially burnt flakes) ash and small leaves... Nothing goes to waste!

Hope this helps!


----------



## weedman602 (Nov 21, 2009)

I currently have a tincture in the making ( Day 3 ), I am using bacardi 151 which is 75% (750ML) and i put about 42+ grams in. 

I didn't heat up anything, So I was wondering will this affect the end product and did I waste my time?


----------



## stealthb2000 (Oct 2, 2011)

Heating in the oven changes the color, there is a name for this, and it enhances the potency for about 5 hours or so. This is what I am told. I use a vaporizer, set it at 250 degrees, attach a vacuum pump to the glass in place of the whip, pack herb in the glass tube semi tight, using a wooden dowel. I keep the herb back from the heater end of the glass tube, 1/2 to 3/4 inch to prevent the herb from igniting. I turn the vacuum pump on, run it until the glass reaches around 120 to 130 degrees. Keep an eye on the herb if you go to 130 degrees, this is close to the point of ignition, but going here gets all the potency out. At this point the herb is dry and hard inside the glass tube. It has also changed color. Now I don't know about the five hour thing, but my herb has gone through this process and is potent for weeks after I vaporized it. The darker the green the herb is the more potent it is with this process. I have been to Vietnam smoked real Thai stick, and this process has taken me as close to Thai as I have ever come before. Try it it works wonders. This process will make great hash, you can crumble the herb to a dust with your fingers, or leave as it is when you pick it out of the glass tube. I use a stainless steel knitting needle, to pick and push the herb out of the glass after my process.
I forgot to mention my friends call me Mr. Vapor see another vapor I created. You Tube, White Gasoline Vapor, by iambillythekid. Read everything.


----------

