Heat Necassary?

[andreJP24]

I haven't been able to get a concrete answer. I was always under the impression that you did have to heat it to a certain point. I have never been able to tell what temp that is. If you could provide a link to something reputable awesome.

[Grow Thread]

nope, trust me, just grab a branch and start chewing. you wont finish the whole plant... i promise ya

[phaquetoo]

It depends on what you are making, I make hash with ice cubes and a cake mixer, no heat!

[Grow Thread]

but yes, in all seriousness, i do believe that heat is used in nearly every (actual food) cooking application. this separates the THC from the plant matter itself.

[Buck Naykid]

i have always assumed that heat was needed to bond the THC and such to butter (Fat Molicules) but was not needed to bond it to tinctures (alcohol)

[Grow Thread]

WHERE'S DIZZY (Dizzeldot) WHEN YOU NEED HER??

[Buck Naykid]

nope, trust me, just grab a branch and start chewing. you wont finish the whole plant... i promise ya

hmmn eating a raw plant will not get you high

[Grow Thread]

It depends on what you are making

 

thats the question right there.

 

sup phaq? how ya been B)

[Jipo]

No, To much heat makes things useless. Moderate heat makes things more brittle so the trichs break off better, but if you had a sifting screen or something and sifted kif from your buds and cooked with that it would be the same. You could also make some no bake cookies and such too If you're going to use screens to extract trichs instead of making butter or things like that I recommend freezing everything prior to putting them in the kif box or screens, then shake vigorously for a while.

 

Also adding heat you can decarbonize which will convert THC to a more potent stage and allow for better products. This requires heating up your meds to 250-260 degrees.

[Grow Thread]

No, To much heat makes things useless. Moderate heat makes things more brittle so the trichs break off better, but if you had a sifting screen or something and sifted kif from your buds and cooked with that it would be the same. You could also make some no bake cookies and such too If you're going to use screens to extract trichs instead of making butter or things like that I recommend freezing everything prior to putting them in the kif box or screens, then shake vigorously for a while.

 

Also adding heat you can decarbonize which will convert THC to a more potent stage and allow for better products. This requires heating up your meds to 250-260 degrees.

 

i grow em, i dont eat em

 

where the heck ya been man? its like reunion day in here today!!

[Buck Naykid]

You could also make some no bake cookies and such too

 

heya Jipo I am unaware of how to make any cookies with no heat.. do you have a recipe? I would love to try this but was pritty sure you had to heat the herb to bond it with a fat molicule but I have been known to be wrong beofre (I would love a recipe seeing last cake i make with MMJ I must have baked at too high a temp seeing they had no effects when eaten)

[Jipo]

heya Jipo I am unaware of how to make any cookies with no heat.. do you have a recipe? I would love to try this but was pritty sure you had to heat the herb to bond it with a fat molicule but I have been known to be wrong beofre (I would love a recipe seeing last cake i make with MMJ I must have baked at too high a temp seeing they had no effects when eaten)

When I cook I personally make my no strain butter, theres a recipe for it in the tutorial, but it uses heat. However if you were to extract trichromes through a kif box you could collect the trichs and make cookies like this.

 

Ingredients

 

1 3/4 cups white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup Dry Kif from trim leaves/buds

Directions

 

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, kif and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

 

I've never done it, but I know heating or binding to fat molecules will not make all that much difference, it will make dosing easier and more even but if you took a cup a dry trichs or a 1 cup of butter infused with trichs its ultimately the same result.

[phaquetoo]

hmmn eating a raw plant will not get you high

 

 

I take it you never stuck a nice juicy bud in your mouth? if you can smoke it and it works, and if you can put it in brownies and it works, Beleive me you can put a nice juicy bud in your mouth and it will work,,oh yea you have to swallow, dont spit!

[phaquetoo]

thats the question right there.

 

sup phaq? how ya been

 

 

Chillin Bro! now I feel like putting a nice budd in my mouth!!

How you doin?

Peace!

Jim

[peanutbutter]

THC exists within the marijuana plant in a form that has a CO2 attached to it.

 

This is considered to be an inactive form.

 

When that molecule is heated, the CO2 easily pops off and floats away. This is then the "active" form of THC.

 

How much heat is required to break off this CO2?

 

The warmer it is the faster it floats off.

At room temperature the CO2 will all be gone in about a year.

At 200F it should all be gone in about a half hour.

At 300F it should be gone in about 2 seconds.

In a burning ember (say 2000F) instantly.

 

At body temperature (as in after you eat it) I believe it takes several hours.

 

Yes. You can get high eating it raw. This takes place because your warm body pops that CO2 off after a while. It takes longer to hit, will not get you as high, and you will bunny muffin some of it out before it goes into effect.

[boroboro]

I've always considered 'decarboxylization' when making edibles and tinctures. In what I've read it seems that it helps improve potency. Decarboxylization happens fairly quickly at 200-250 degrees, or more slowly at lower temperatures (i.e. a month or more at room temperature, 8 hours at about 130F). From a perhaps questionable source, but I've seen the following idea repeated in several places: From http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2794.html:

Marijuana produces THCA, an acid with the carboxylic group (COOH) attached. In its acid form, THC is not very active. It is only when the carboxyl group is removed that THC becomes psychoactive. When marijuana is smoked, the THC behind the hot spot is vaporized as the hot air from the burn is drawn through the joint or pipe bowl to the unburned material. The liquid THC and other cannabinoids have a boiling point of between 180-200 C (355-392 F). Before they turn gaseous, at around 106 deg C (220 F), the carboxyl group is released from the molecule as carbon dioxide and water vapor. ... However, it is easy to make sure all the THC is decarboxylated and is at full strength before it is extracted. Although decarboxylation takes place rapidly at 106 deg. C, it proceeds at a more gradual pace by placing the cannabis in a room with low relative humidity and room temperature. As the temperature rises, the rate of decarboxylation increases.

edit: oops, just saw that peanutbutter posted a similar response..

[Ms Chocolate]

hmmn eating a raw plant will not get you high

 

The premise behind the medical use of cannabis is not to "get high"; it is to relive pain and suffering.

 

That said, the form in which the cannabis is processed and/or consumed would determine whether heat is necessary. Some forms require "cold processing", other require "heat processing".

[Rashore]

It really does depend on what you are making if you need heat or not... Like Ms. Chocolate said, some preparations are heat processed, some are cold processed.

 

Dizzys thread about heat is rather nice, as are PB's numbers in this thread.

[Hempcheff]

with heat, and the decarb process, (people decarb everyday by smoking, or vapo) the THCA (acid, inert) molecule is altered by the carbon atom being removed from the carbon chain. after being removed, it is then transformed into THC, the active form, which has psychoactive properties that affect the brain (higher in sativa strains). dont forget though, that Cannabidiol (CBD)(found more prominently in Indica strains) plays a role as a counter to the anxiety etc associated with THC, and has the more medicinal properties from the plant, with studies showing a slow or stopping of cancer cell growth in breast cancer cells for example. BUT, the 2 work together at the cb1 and cb2 receptors in our brains, and seem to bolster each others effect as studies again have shown them to be less effective when seperated and administered.

[peanutbutter]

with heat, and the decarb process, (people decarb everyday by smoking, or vapo) the THCA (acid, inert) molecule is altered by the carbon atom being removed from the carbon chain. after being removed, it is then transformed into THC, the active form, which has psychoactive properties that affect the brain (higher in sativa strains). dont forget though, that Cannabidiol (CBD)(found more prominently in Indica strains) plays a role as a counter to the anxiety etc associated with THC, and has the more medicinal properties from the plant, with studies showing a slow or stopping of cancer cell growth in breast cancer cells for example. BUT, the 2 work together at the cb1 and cb2 receptors in our brains, and seem to bolster each others effect as studies again have shown them to be less effective when seperated and administered.

 

CBD also exists within the plant in the form of CBDA. It also, when heated, tosses off a CO2 to become CBD.

 

This is a very handy reaction in that one of the products of the reaction is a gas (CO2). That means the reaction can go to completion. That is every bit of the compound tosses off the CO2.

 

Many of the other cannabinoids within the cannabis plant exist in the inactive, acid form.

 

Now then a note of caution about the application of heat. Some of the most beneficial compounds within the plant are those that make up the smell and colors of the plant. Many of these drift off when you warm the material.

 

There is a balance between enough heat to activate it and the loss of potential medically valuable compounds.

[Hempcheff]

Thanks PB, i hope i didnt sound too arrogant

[super12]

Yes heat! Unless you super dry your cannabis. to start Fresh non dried cannabis is not psycho active once it is dried and cured The THC is partially decarbolized, To get the Full benefits of your THC's heat to at least 215.

[+JuztBudz]

The reason I heat my cannabis in canola oil to cook with and don't make hash or kif first is the time factor mainly, but also because of decarboxylation (wow is that a tough one to type out, let alone pronounce...lol...). With the making of the other products it will take at least several hours before you are able to have enough to cook with, where with canola oil being made takes about 45 minutes to an hour to have your goodies cookin' in the oven. It've never heard a complaint, Swampy even went so far as to dub me "the Muffin Man" because of my strong, comfort giving muffins and brownies. It may depend on what you are cooking, not everything can be made with the canola oil, but I'm discovering more things on a daily basis. Maybe I just like my 'special' muffins...lol...Peace...j.b.

[JayBuds]

Go ahead and don't heat your marijuana before you ingest it if you like wasting marijuana, it is much less effective if you decide not to heat it.

[GrowGoddess]

Heat is not required. In my opinion it ruins the medicinal properties.

 

Naturally decarbed buds or naturally decarbed oil is a much better experience. The THC effects last at least twice as long if not longer.

 

Here is how I naturally decarb my buds. http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/blog/532/entry-1151-naturally-decarbed-buds-flowers-alternative-to-decarbed-concentrates/

 

I can eat one joint worth of bud and have a 24 hour buzz.