Once you’ve learned how to decarb weed and your bud is ready, the sky’s the limit with what you can do. If you are decarbing with FX or Nova, you’re getting a fully activated product – meaning a more accurate and potent dosage.
Here’s a short list of some of our favorite easy post-decarb fixes. Feel free to share your own in the comments below.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Instant Edible Capsules
For people that use medical marijuana, capsules are a lifesaver. They’re discreet, effective, and fit into your daily routine better than smoking, vaping, or eating extra calories via edibles. You can use them to help with chronic pain, sleep issues, anxiety, headaches, and so much more.
Pairing cannabis with other vitamins and nutraceuticals is a great way to enhance its benefits and create personalized medicine tailored for optimal health and wellness.
Just use your favorite decarbed strain and place into the capsules to create an instant and complete therapy. You can also add vitamins, oils or other supplements to your caps for enhanced benefits.
Some of our favorite formulations include:
- Fish oil and melatonin – best paired with decarbed indica for sleep
- Coconut oil and b-12 vitamin – best paired with a decarbed sativa for energy
Use empty capsules, available online or in-store at vitamin shops, to create the perfect blend for your needs. To make dry herb capsules, simply put your decarbed weed right into the capsule. Yes, that’s right – just decarb your cannabis in Nova or FX and then you can make your capsules with no infusion or additional processing!
You can add other vitamin or supplement powders into the capsule for an extra nutritional boost. For oil-based capsules, create canna oil with any oil of your choice and use a syringe to fill the capsules. Last thing you need to do is close them up and you’re done!
2. Facial Toner
Did you know that after proper decarboxylation you can make a simple tincture with rubbing alcohol that has powerful antibacterial and antiseptic properties?
Studies using cannabis to maintain skin health show promise:
“Our preclinical data encourage one to explore whether endocannabinoid system-acting agents can be exploited in the management of common skin disorders,”
Use it just like you would any other toner with a cotton ball or pad for a quick cleanse.
You can make an effective facial toner for acne treatment with just rubbing alcohol and bud decarbed in Nova or FX.
- Put 1 gram of decarbed flower into a small jar
- Fill with rubbing alcohol
- Shake it
- Apply it with a cotton ball
Both THC and CBD have regenerative a great anti-inflammatory properties and the rubbing alcohol makes the solution anti-bacterial and perfect for acne treatment. If you are sensitive to alcohol, try using infused propylene glycol as an addition to your regular toner to get the benefits alcohol-free.
3. Pain Salve
Cannabis infused topicals are known to have anti-inflammatory, pain-reducing and regenerative properties that can be used for joint pains and minor skin issues.
Making a cannabis pain salve at home is easy and once you start using it, you will make it be a permanent part of your medicine cabinet. There are almost endless ways to prepare cannabis infused salve at home. It can be as easy as infusing coconut oil and then mixing with your favorite pain cream. It’s also very simple to make cannabis pain salve from scratch.
- Decarb your cannabis and make infused coconut oil
- Add 5 parts infused oil to 1 part beeswax in the FX or Nova and melt
- Stir and cool the mixture and your salve is ready!
Once it has hardened, it’s ready to use for chronic or acute localized pain from arthritis, sore muscles, and tension. Immediate relief without psychoactive effects is one of the main draws of using cannabis-infused pain salve.
4. Medicated Massage Oil
Take your massage to the next level by incorporating weed-infused coconut oil.
Here’s how to make your own:
- 10 drops sandalwood
- 5 drops juniper
- 4 ylang ylang
- 2 drops lavender
- 4 oz. infused coconut oil
Mix all ingredients in FX or Nova until fully heated and blended. Cool and pour into a squeeze bottle. Use to soothe and inspire during your next massage.
5. Protein Shake
Decarbed bud makes a great addition to smoothies and shakes and can be a part of your healthiest snacks! You can add your decarboxylated flower right into the smoothie or add a tablespoon (or less) of infused coconut oil for an extra creamy drink. Many athletes report increased focus and endurance with the addition of THC or CBD to their regimen Follow our cannabis shake infused recipe below for yourself:
- 1 scoop protein powder
- 2 cups ice
- 4 oz vanilla unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 banana
- 1 – 2 tbsp organic peanut butter
- .2g – 5g of decarbed flower
You can also try a little in your post-workout protein shake to reduce inflammation and aid your recovery.
6. Kief Infused Hot Cocoa
Decarbed kief and concentrate are a great addition to infused marijuana beverages, especially if you are looking for a potent dose. Try our hot cocoa recipe for decarbed kief. If you are not familiar with kief, it is the sticky, pollen-like substance on your bud, known as the trichomes. Since the trichomes contain all of the cannabinoids, kief is a more potent concentrate than bud. You’ll only need a little bit in your hot cocoa and it’s better to start with a small dose than to overdo it and potentially end up with an unenjoyable high.
To make kief hot cocoa:
- Decarb your kief in FX or Nova. Our Concentrate & Infusion Sleeves make this step extra easy
- Mix the decarbed kief with your hot cocoa (add a drop or two of coconut or MCT oil if you have trouble feeling edibles, not needed for most people)
- Enjoy.
Be aware that kief is usually over 40% THC, so in one gram of kief, there’s over 400 mg of THC. Therefore be very careful when you are using kief and concentrate, which averages over 70% THC (700mg per gram) in your edible creations 😮
7. Easily Make Tinctures
Tinctures and marijuana-infused alcohol are both a great way to discreetly consume cannabis. They can be eaten like a regular edible or administered sublingually (under the tongue) for a much quicker uptake than traditional edibles.
In addition, tinctures are very easy to make, simple to dose, and have a long shelf life if stored properly. Making them popular with both recreational and medical marijuana users. Especially those that prefer not to partake in the various ways to smoke weed due to the health risk and micro-dosers who prefer small, controlled doses.
Check out our guide to making CBG tinctures with Everclear alcohol, and learn more about vegetable glycerin tinctures.
8. Cannamilk
Cannacream and cannamilk can be a great traditional oil or cannabutter alternative. They can be used for cooking, added to your morning coffee, smoothies, shakes, and any other recipe you use that adds dairy.
The process of making cannamilk and cannacream is identical to making cannabutter and canna oil, but because they contain less fat, they aren’t as effective at extracting the cannabinoids like THC and CBD. That being said, they can add even more variation to the types of food you can make into an edible. Learn more about infusion rates for cannamilk and cannacream in our tutorial, complete with testing results.
We promise, your morning cereal and coffee will never be the same!
9. Cannabutter & Cannaoil
Do you have to decarb weed for edibles? Well, decarbing is a must when making cannabutter or cannaoil. You will not have a well-activated oil without decarbing your cannabis first, which means that you’ll be missing out on valuable THC or CBD. We tested how long to infuse weed and found that infusions for 45 minutes, an hour, or three hours all had excellent extraction rates, so you have flexibility there based on personal preference.
Cannabutter and cannaoil are used to make a variety of edibles, everything from brownies to salad dressing and sauteed veggies. You can control the potency of your infusions by increasing or decreasing the amount of cannabis you use in your infusions. If you want to know more about this, here’s how to infuse cannabinoids for the best results.
10. Cannabis Infused Tea
Cannabis tea is growing in popularity and is very simple to make. Two of the most popular ways:
- Add infused coconut or MCT oil to your tea after brewing
- Use the flower left over after your infusion (called raffinate, this “leftover” has plenty of cannabinoids still available – perfect for steeping in tea), place the raffinate and loose leaf tea into a tea bag, steep and enjoy.
11. Eating Decarbed Weed
Can you eat decarbed weed? Yes! You can actually just eat your cannabis after it’s been through the decarboxylation process with no further processing. Because precision activation gives you an average of 100 -250 mg THC per gram, depending on the potency of your starting flower, you can take just a small amount of your decarbed cannabis and put it right into your food. Once your weed is activated, you can literally do anything with it and you will feel the effects – including eating it plain or sprinkling it on whatever food you’re craving!
Which is your favorite way to use decarbed weed? Are there any uses we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
Happy to see the various used of decarbed cannabis. I have been using the Ardent NOVA for a couple of months now with great success.
I am a bit shocked at the amount of flower you are suggesting to add to a protein shake.
My wife and I are weekend medicators preferring sativa and sativa dominant hybrids as we don’t like to be slowed down.
Our average doses are .08 and .07 grams (12-15mg THC) of decarbed bud that is processed into kief like consistency added to about 1/2 tsp of warm coconut oil with a small amount of honey.
We eat this first on an empty stomach as we sit for lunch, holding in our mouths to mix with the enzymes of saliva. By the time we finish lunch we are feeling it! Depending on the strain, the effects are still there 8 hours later.
If we ate .1 gram of bud we would be crawling on the floor.
You cannot be suggesting someone eat 5 grams of bud let alone .2 gr and be functional.
Of course that exception being medical patients with serious issues.
Do you do anything between mixing the coconut oil and the decarboxylated bud together? I’ve tried putting the decarboxylated bud in capsules and have not had any sucess.
3/4 tsp of decarbed kief in one serving? Are you sure about that? When I make kief oil I only use 1 tsp decarbed kief (about 1 gram) in a 1/2 cup of MCT oil and dosing is less than 1 tsp of the oil, not the kief. Just thought you may want to double check that.
Thanks for the comments on the amount to eat. I don’t want to be crawling on the floor!
Hey guys so I don’t hAve the funds yet to purchase the ardent NOVA, however I have been simy using the oven process for about 35 min and then using the oil over a double boI let method to cook and infuse the oil….my question is, am I wasting time or wasting bud
Does it create a product you can vape?
Hi there!
We are a small startup and are always working towards goals like recipes and other exciting things – we have not yet done lab testing for creating vape oils. We have been forewarned that some oils used for cooking like certain coconut oils can be incredibly harmful if inhaled. Much more research is needed on this topic before we would be comfortable recommending using the device in this way!
Hope this information helps! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
When my crop is done I will buy this tool thank you . Randy
I like to decarb. an ounce of bud and then make a loaf of banana bread. I put it in the freezer after it is cooled down. Then whenever I need a slice I cut off several slices and keep it in the freezer. I just help myself to a thin slice every now and then.
I just bought the ARDENT NOVA and decarbed 2 batches of White widow and Gold leaf. I can’t wait to make my own edibles. (With flowers I grew myself) and try oil capsules. It was odorless and so easy. No Guesswork whatsoever. I love it. Worth every penny.
If you are making the tea (coffee works great too) just add milk or cream. The fats will give it something to bind to. Especially if you are straining out vegetable matter before drinking.
We got our NOVA yesterday, and I’ve been cooking ever since. Disclaimer: we bump up against our legal 5 oz (combined) limit every month, so we are heavy users.
First, Hopes Cookies (awesome strain) unground, just measured 2 grams and dropped the flower in the inner chamber. I ate a tiny flower bud, and wow. We then put another bud in the bowl and smoked it. The effect of one bowl was the same as three bowls of “raw” flower. Three to one ratio? Yes! Oh, and no coughing.
Next was 1 gram of SFV Dog, but I ground it and dropped it into a small glass jar (tip: those Big Box Store herb collections have stuff you’ll never use and have a screw on cap) that fits inside the inner chamber. I then dropped 2 oz unsalted butter in the jar and restarted the NOVA. I used the butter in a small-batch brownie recipe, and there’s no weed flavor, but the chips around the outside have medicine I can feel. Nothing to smoke yet, it’s after 7 am, I’d normally be a couple bowls in so I can walk today, but I’ve only had brownie pieces.
So, 3 grams, about $20 worth of materials, and no coughing. There’s a lot of both batches left, I’d have smoked that much this morning alone.
I have another 1 gram batch of SFV Dog running now, I’m thinking caramel sauce for my coffee.
I use this machine to decarb my marijuana before vaping. I read it somewhere on the site that you can do that and I tried it. I have tested it with a few people and they agree that the decarbed version has a more potent effect. People look at me as if I have 2 heads when I say I decarb first .. but it really does make a difference… I don’t know why .. perhaps its easier to NOVA the thc off rather than convert it? I am not sure but it works and I decarb all my weed no matter the use. Of course I wouldn’t trust any other type of decarb method than this one. I am so glad I purchased this product.
Brought on amazon Sunday arrived wedsday decarbed wed and love it very nice so easy to use no mess no smell really great machine Should have oreded thru ur company missed out on monies off keep pease keep info coming so helpful Congrats on a great product
I’ve been using my ardent NOVA to decadent my bud, then grinding it and filling gelcaps. Each gelcap holds about 1/8 teaspoon and it’s plenty to mellow you out for around 8 hrs. It’s a much easier way to make edibles.
Can I use shake and not flower
Hi,
Yes, you can use shake instead of flower– no problem!
I bought my Ardent about a year ago. I love it! Makes processing so much easier! Saving me just about 50% on my raw material cost. I make edibles, smoke the decarb and now making my own vape liquid and cbd oil as well. I also use a stove top butter maker with my decarb flower, doing 2 cycles per batch and it comes out fantastic!
Interesting tips here. worth reading. Thank you
Using cannabis olive oil to make good old fashioned popcorn or potcorn as I now have my dispensary referring to it.🤣
After decarbing flower I infuse into coconut oil in my unit, with the purple sleeve. Afterwards I use about 5 ounces of good chocolate heated in a microwave safe dish for two minutes. Next, I stir the chocolate till smooth and measure two to three tablespoons of the infused oil into the chocolate along with some red chili powder, some cinnamon powder, and some ground red pepper flakes. Once mixed I pour into chocolate candy mold (it has 5 rows with six segments per row)and place into the freezer until firm. After freezing the mold can be turned upside down and the finished product can be broken into separate pieces and stored in a zip lock bag. I typically buy flower with a thc of 21-23 mg prior to decarb.
My favorite and best high comes from decarbing in the Nova and the missing with peanut butter and some avocado oil. Very good high lasting 4 to 6 hours.
There are two routes to take when making your own capsules — infused oil or decarboxylated dry cannabis flower .
I have been making tincture from decarboxylated flower. I have used alcohol and oil.
I would like to know if I can use the flower again after it has been used to make a alcohol tincture?
Hi there,
In our lab tests, the remaining plant matter left behind, after an infusion, carried some minimal cannabinoids! The leftover plant material is called the raffinate and you can learn more about it and our lab tests here:
https://ardentcannabis.com/blog/thc-left-after-infusion/
You are always welcome to experiment with the raffinate!
can i use the nova to make cannahoney?
We have not yet lab tested making infused honey inside of our device!
I love making honey by mixing in infused coconut oil. I put my honey in a glass jar with a wide mouth and submerge it in a few inches of simmering water in a pot. Heat on low and stir so it loosens up. I then add the infused coconut oil — if it’s solidified sometimes I’ll put it in the simmering water for a minute to melt it. Then I stir the two together for a couple of minutes until they’re completely incorporated.
MCT oil is even easier since it’s easy to incorporate and keeps the honey loose/more “pourable.” I recommend that if there’s a choice but regular coconut oil is great too. Keeps very well!
I’m trying to ditch my Mighty Fast Herbal Infuser because it doesn’t make a small portion of cannabutter. Although you have a section on cannabutter, there are no instructions on how to infuse butter using my Ardent Nova. Btw, it’s a terrific little machine. I’ve been decarbing hash which I use in almost anything.
Man I have to say that I am so jealous of all ya’ll on here talkin about what to do with your weed and don’t have to worry about the Gumament kicking in your door at 4 in the morning. I’m 43 and have been self medicating on grass since way before it was cool, and am probablly die with a stick of said grass in my lips. I live in the Neanderthal state and is also known as Hillbilly Kountry and us Kentuckians are going to have to wait awhile still watching ya’ll have fun where as I might find a vape pen for $100 way out in the woods. Congrats you’in’s and smoke one for me. hahahaha!
I want to know, does smoking after decabing make your bud more potent, or does smoking it diminish the THC content as it does before decarbing?
Hi there,
When we smoke a joint (or whatever method you chose to smoke) whatever touches the flame burns off – this is always the case.
The effect we feel comes from the hot smoke that pulls through the joint – creating mild decarb that is likely “underdecarbed.”
Having the flower activated already by decarbing it ensures that it is already fully activated, and as the smoke is not hot enough to burn, it remains near perfectly activated.
Given how sensitive we know decarbing is, you can understand where that hot smoke is unlikely to decarb all of the flower inside the joint, which is why decarbing before smoking can actually be incredibly helpful.
Enthusiasm and desire can break through all difficulties