We decarb with the cascade oven using 7” deep stainless trays. We fill the trays about 30% full. After about 30 min we stir the biomass so the heat distributes thru the flower evenly. The bags that accompany the oven are impossible to clean thoroughly in between different batches so we scrapped them.
My question is, apart from analytical testing for thca, is there another better method to deciding if all the cannabis has been decarbed thoroughly? Is it accurate to weigh each tray before and after decarb to measure the carbon dioxide mass loss?
no. weighing to calculate CO2 loss is confounded by water lost during the same process.
it’s a reasonable proxy when decarbing extracts that are already below 5000ppm solvent, but you’re still losing stuff other than CO2 (eg terpenes, and a little solvent).
Just as a side note, we went the same route with stainless steel cookie sheets from Bed, Bath and Beyond. We had the same issue with the bags. They just weren’t practical at all.
Also, after oven decarb. Storing biomass in somewhat air tight plastic containers. How long will the THC stay activated before it converts back to THCA ?
hmm so if we monitor the environment temperature/humidity/uv to control the degradation…then we have eliminated the degradation other than time. Im trying to get a good indication how long we can store while decarbed without having degradation…We will have to decarb and monitor the cbn to know a good time indication.
Interesting. These are temp rated nylon bags, nothing fancy about them. The reason they rock is they allow max airflow where a SS tray does the opposite. The holes on your decarb oven shelf are really important and are there for a reason! The bags should eliminate that stirring step which IMO introduces nothing but unwanted variables, making a full decarb more of a guessing game at this point. I imagine this adds a ton of time too.
The more info here the better, I am curious how well the trays work or maybe lining the bottom of the trays with the same mesh and making holes would be more efficient? I still don’t see how you keep the material from blowing all over.
Did you try throwing them in the washing machine, or let them soak in warm soapy water with a good water wash (I wouldn’t use any kind of harsh solvent, including isopropyl)? Compressed air?
The obvious option is to keep the bags strain specific. At $75 a bag that isn’t a huge deal unless you are doing lots of small batches.
In my experience, the bags are quickly clogged with kief, defeating the purpose. Also I don’t want to be recooking the same flower that inevitably gets stuck in there. It’s not worth the extra labor for me.
That makes sense. I wouldn’t want to spend a bunch of time dealing with clogs either.
Wondering what the solution is. Did you end up using steel trays too?
Basically yes. I’m still looking for the perfect high sided stainless mesh tray that fit just right. Trying to optimize number of shelves vs tray depth.
I still like mixing the trays and using that time to break down any bigger nugs.
This would carry a ~$450 price tag so the mesh bags were deemed a winner. This one comes with a lid. the whole box looks pretty beat up after a few trips in the showbooth box so a better design is in order anyways.
I think Perforated sheet could be cheap and easy to clean. Like the boxes you posted, but without the hinges.
You could also sell a nylon mesh liner that lays flat in the pan and keeps it mostly clean. Then you just change out the liner when you need to change over quickly. Or just make stainless steel trays cheap enough that people can get multiple sets and change them out.
Her name is Stamper, she is a sweetheart.
the box is a prototype for the Cascade CDO-28 Decarb Oven - I am going to push the idea back onto the table simply based on the input here about the nylon bags.
I have some thoughts on modifying existing SS trays but at $450 a pop these boxes seem a bit spendy (if I am wrong and that would math out let me know). I am hoping to find a similar size / different design we can manufacture for half that which would be a no brainer. (Oven is $9,950. $200 x 10 boxes = $2k, which would be an end game solution to this bag shenanigans.)
On the mesh bags, we were using a larger mesh and got complaints shit flew everywhere. What micron are we thinking for the trays?
Very interesting… I’m seeing some of these same issues with our current R&D on our terpene recovery for decarb. Any luck on a solution? Maybe we can help somehow? Curious to know where things are currently with this. Thanks