When I started experimenting with cooking and infusing things with CBG, there wasn’t a whole lot of reliable information out there about how to work with this cannabinoid in the kitchen.

Heck, there’s still not a whole lot. 

So this month, I’m sharing everything I’ve learned while studying and experimenting with CBG for the past 8 months.

And I’m reeeeally into CBG right now.

If you missed last week’s post on what CBG does and what it’s good for, that’s a good place to start on your CBG journey.

If you already know you want to start creating your own CBG products at home, let’s talk about the main difference when it comes to working with CBG as opposed to CBD or THC.

 

Decarboxylation

In very simple terms, decarboxylation turns the raw (or acidic) cannabinoids like CBDa, THCa, and CBGa, into the arguably more potent and powerful CBD, THC and CBG. 

Decarboxylating THC has the most noticeable effects.

That’s because THCa (the acidic form) is not intoxicating, so decarboxylating before infusing makes more potent edibles, oils, and tinctures that you can feel.

Decarboxylation happens naturally when you set your plant material on fire or vaporize it.

With edibles and infusions, you have to take the extra step of heating your plant material or concentrates up to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time before infusing it into oil or alcohol.

All cannabinoids are different, so they require different temperatures to fully decarboxylate.

And to make it even more confusing, decarboxylation can be a bit hit or miss using many homespun methods.

The main difference when processing CBG plant material to make your own CBG oils, tinctures, and edibles is the decarboxylation temperature.

If you already know how to make CBD or high THC oils or tinctures, this process will be very familiar to you, with one small difference.

But first…

 

Do you need to decarboxylate CBG?

Yes and no. 

If you want to utilize the activated cannabinoid that’s been most widely used and researched – CBG – then yes. 

If you want to make the most out of your plant medicine when making CBG edibles, topicals, or tinctures, you’ll still want to decarb.

If you want to experiment with the acidic cannabinoid – CBGa – you can skip this step or do a partial decarboxylation.

We still don’t know much about the acidic compound CBGa. More research needs to be done on all of these cannabinoids, especially the acidic forms. 

I personally like to decarboxylate my CBG before using it in oils, tinctures, and edibles. 

It seems to increase the positive effects of the plant and doesn’t cause intoxication, so it’s what works best for me.

 

How to Decarboxylate CBG in the Oven

The oven is the most popular homespun method for decarboxylation. It’s easy, convenient, and only requires a few materials.

Oven decarboxylation is simple but can be a bit unreliable (check out the decarb myths experiment that Ardent did for more info on that).

I’ve created a little mason jar decarb hack for you that can help close that gap, reduce the smell a bit and help make the process cleaner and easier.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 215f and prepare your Decarb Mason Jar

If we follow the single test lab results from Everyday Canna, we have a good idea of the time and temperature required to decarb CBG at home. 

In their lab test, they found that decarboxylating CBG at 215f or 101c for an hour effectively converted most of the CBGa into CBG. 

Their results showed an 88% decarboxylation rate, which is not too shabby for home decarb. 

But it’s not as simple as preheating your oven up to 215f.

You have to get the plant material to that temperature and keep it consistent for an hour. 

That’s what can make home decarb a bit inconsistent.

[note: see the FX results below to see how you can get a more effective decarb every time]

I like to put a meat thermometer in the jar and start my decarb time when the temperature reaches 215f and time it from there.

If you’re looking for a good source for organic CBG flower, I like this one. 

Step 2: Decarboxylate for 1 hour

Once the temperature in your covered mason jar reaches 215•f, set your timer for an hour.

When the timer goes off, remove the jar from the oven. 

Let cool with the tinfoil on.

Step 3: Infuse or Store your Decarboxylated CBG

From here, you’re ready to make homemade CBG oils, tinctures, edibles, and salves (more recipes coming soon, so subscribe to the mailing list for updates).

You can also store your decarboxylated CBG in a sealed container for up to a month or more if you have to.

Ardent shared some lab results showing a bit of loss for THC and CBD plant material after 6 months and it wasn’t nearly as much as I thought it would be.

This finally proved once and for all that the decarbed weed you forgot about in the back of your cupboard is probably still “good”. 

I prefer processing CBG right away into oil or alcohol so it’s ready to be incorporated into edibles when I get struck by inspiration, but if you can’t for a few days or a few weeks, it’s no biggie. 

Just store it in a cool, dark place in an airtight container. 

This comes in handy when making your own balanced ratios since CBG, CBD and THC all have different decarb temps. 

You can decarb and store them separately to experiment with what works best for you.

 

Decarboxylating CBG in the Ardent FX or Nova

As a woman who owns an electric bike and has the cheaters edition of Monopoly on her birthday wishlist, I’m no stranger to ethical cheating.

I used to make things so hard on myself and always wanted to do things the hardest, cheapest, and most hippy way until I became a solo mom and business owner and realized that that wouldn’t fly anymore.

Sometimes the “cheapest” thing actually costs more in the long run. 

Sometimes the hippy way is actually more wasteful. 

And sometimes the hardest way makes you spend too much time on things that aren’t actually all that important in life.

Turns out, sometimes the easiest thing to do is also the best thing to do. 

With the FX, I get a more effective decarb and infusion with two pushes of a button, and then I can toss it in the dishwasher. 

It doesn’t waste the energy of heating up my oven and trying to keep it steady for 3+ hours, and it doesn’t waste my expensive and precious plant material.

It also doesn’t heat up and stink up my whole house when I’m making edibles in the hot summer months.

The FX got an impressive 97-100% decarboxylation of total potential cannabinoids, Just use the A1 setting for CBG and THC and the A2 setting for CBD.

If you have a Nova, just run the plant material through one cycle. 

Aside from the super effective decarb, it’s nice not to have to babysit it in the oven while I’m busy babysitting the rest of my life. 

Full disclosure, I overheated an oven infusion while writing this post ?‍♀️

Since I make medicine in the form of topicals, edibles, tinctures, and infusions for everyone I know and am constantly experimenting, Ardent’s Nova and FX have saved me countless hours and an untold amount of kitchen fails.

If you want to push the easy button (literally), you can go here and use the code WAKEANDBAKE for $30 off and free shipping.

To see how the FX works, check out this video tutorial.

How to decarboxylate CBG in the Ardent FX

1. Place anywhere from 1/2 gram to 4oz of CBG into the FX.
2. Make sure the FX is set to the A1 mode.
3. Press the power button. It will turn red.
4. The FX will automatically get to temperature and cool down. When the power button is green, your CBG is decarboxylated.
5. If you’re infusing oil or butter, you can just pour it in after the cool down mode is complete and infuse directly in the FX. See the video for a step by step tutorial.

And that’s all there is to it!

Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below. We’re here to help!

 

With love,

Corinne