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If you are planning on making your own marijuana edibles at home, something you will need to do first is to decarb the weed. If you don’t decarb your weed before using it to make edibles, the marijuana won’t actually have any effect on you.
However, decarboxylating weed creates a heck of a smell and can overwhelm an entire area. How to decarb weed without smell is what we are here to find out today.
Now, there are a couple of things you can do to reduce the smell when decarboxylating weed, including using oven bags and a good old air fan.
That said, controlling the smell when decarbing weed is possible when only working with small quantities.
However, if you plan on decarboxylating a large quantity at once, there’s not going to be much you can do about the smell.
Contents
Decarboxylating Weed – A Quick Lowdown
Ok, so first off, what you need to know is that you cannot make marijuana edibles without decarboxylating the pot first.
THC and CBD are not active when weed is not decarboxylated. In order for THC and CBD to have an effect on the human body, they first need to be heated to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time.
That THCA turns into THC when decarbed, which is the active form of it which has an effect on the body. The reason weed does not need to be decarboxylated when smoking is because the combustion process takes care of this.
However, when making pot edibles, you obviously aren’t burning the weed, so decarbing needs to be done manually.
This is easily done by breaking the weed into very small nugs, placing it on a baking tray, and baking it for around 45 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Does Decarbing Weed Smell?
Yes, this creates a heck of a smell, and if you are working with lots of weed, that smell can overwhelm your home and alert everybody around you to what you are doing.
So, how do you decarb weed without smell?
Decarboxylating Weed Without Smell
Now, as we did mention before, once you start decarbing more than a couple grams at once, the strong smell is going to be more or less unavoidable.
For instance, if you decide to decarb a whole ounce of sticky icky at once, there’s not going to be much that you can do about that hot pot stink.
However, there are a couple of things you can do to try and cut down on the smell.
Weed in an Oven Bag
One of the things you can do to help control the smell of weed when decarboxylating is to use an oven bag, often known as a turkey bag.
These are oven safe plastic bags designed to hold turkeys and chickens. When used for food, they help to keep moisture in, and they help remove the need for basting.
Well, these oven bags are not only good for cooking turkeys, but for cooking weed too. To decarb weed in an oven bag, the process is the exact same as without an oven bag;
- Simply break up your weed into very small chunks, place it all inside of the oven bag, and then onto a baking tray.
- Make sure there is some air in the bag and spread the weed out into a flat and even layer.
- Bake the weed for 45 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit or at 275 degrees Fahrneheit for about 30 minutes.
Keep in mind that some ovens are hotter than others, so these are rough guidelines only. The best way to tell when your weed has been properly decarbed is when it is dry and looks quite brown, but not burnt.
The oven bag will keep most of the smell contained during the decarboxylation process, but not all of it, and yes, it does work better for smaller amounts.
However, decarbing weed in an oven bag will control the smell better than not using one.
Do keep in mind though, that once you open that bag up, there will be quite the smell that comes out of it.
Decarbing Weed in a Mason Jar
Another method of controlling the smell when decarboxylating weed is to do so inside of a mason jar.
Once again, the process here is exactly the same as with an oven bag or without any kind of smell containment aid at all, with a couple of small differences.
For one, here you want to decarb the weed at around 230 degrees Fahrenheit for a full hour.
The reason is because the heat from the oven will take longer to permeate the mason jar, due to it being made of glass, but you also don’t want the jar to get too hot.
On a side note, be sure to use a mason jar that is heat resistant and oven safe, or else you will run into problems.
A mason jar is great for decarbing small quantities of weed. A little tip, to fit more weed into the mason jar without creating a really thick layer, which will take longer to decarb, and won’t be baked evenly, you can turn the mason jar on its side.
Also, be careful not to directly touch the mason jar for a good 10 minutes after baking. Yeah, it’s going to be hot.
Using Air Fans
Ok, so this won’t actually reduce the smell coming from an oven, but if you have a couple of decent air fans at home, you can definitely put those to use.
Try to have one fan angled to blow air away from the oven and towards a window.
If you have two fans, place the second one halfway between the oven and the nearest window, and make sure that both fans are in line with each other, or in other words, one blows right into the other, with the second one blowing out a window.
This should help create a fairly strong draft to suck the smell out. It’s not 100% effective, but it definitely helps.
What Happens If You Decarb Weed Too Long?
If you decarb weed for too long, there are a couple of things that will happen, and none of them are good. First of all, your weed is going to lose all of its tasty flavor.
It will still have flavor, but after over decarbing, it’s going to look and taste like burnt popcorn. It’s really no different than overcooking anything else. The consistency and flavor will be really bad.
Moreover, the more important aspect here, the THC. Decarbing weed for far too long can completely burn away and destroy the majority or even all of the THC and CBD present in your weed.
Your baking all of the good stuff right out of it, therefore rendering your weed useless.
Does Decarbing Hash Smell?
Yes, when you decarb hash, it is going to smell, a whole lot in fact. Now, most people decarb weed, not hash, as most people make edibles and oils with weed.
Hash has a very strong flavor. It’s quite noticeable when you make edibles with it. This flavor only intensifies through decarbing. If you decarb hash for 20 or 30 minutes in your home, it’s going to smell strongly like super aromatic hash for quite some time.
That said, with a couple of fans on full blast and your windows open, the smell should dissipate in a couple of hours.
Can You Decarb Weed in an Air Fryer?
Yes, you can decarb weed in an air fryer. Just remember that your weed can’t get too hot, or else you won’t decarb it, but rather just ruin it.
To decarb weed in an air fryer, set the temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, place your buds in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Remember that the buds should be fairly small, although you shouldn’t grind your weed into fine powder for decarbing in an air fryer.
Don’t layer the buds too much or else this won’t work properly. Then, air fry your weed for 30 minutes, mix it around and then repeat for another 30 minutes.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that if you are decarbing small quantities and you want to control the smell, a mason jar should do the trick, quite well actually.
If you plan on decarbing larger quantities, an oven bag should help control the smell, although not eliminate it totally.
In any case, using some fans and creating airflow to suck the smell out of a window will definitely help too.
