Can You Over Decarboxylate?

The short answer to the question is - yes, you can over decarboxylate your herb.

To understand why this happens and how you can avoid it, you need to know decarboxylation.

Every herb plant produces active compounds naturally. Eating raw herb will relax people or make them feel the effects. That's because those compounds only become active after decarboxylation. Your body cannot use them if you eat the herb raw.

So how do you incorporate herb into food or drinks?

You need decarboxylation before making any infused treats. It might sound like a chemistry class to most people, as many of us can't even spell decarboxylation right. But the truth is, decarboxylation is simple. Simple as heating your herb at a specific temperature for a specific time, converting the acidic compounds into their active form. Or you can put decarboxylation in a more accessible term - activation.

So here comes the second question - Can I over decarboxylate?

YES! Take the target compounds as an example. If you heat your herb for too long, at first the acidic compounds convert into their active form. However, after a certain period, when conversion reaches 70%, the active compounds will start degrading into other compounds. Unless you want to sleep better, most people wouldn't want to ingest too much of the degraded compounds in their food.

What makes an over decarbed herb?

Let's take a look at traditional decarb methods.

1. Sous Vide Method

Sous vide is a great way to get an even temperature in a period. The usual reason to fail is that Sous Vide's temperature is too low for conversion. Remember water boil point is at 210F / 100C. 210F, which might be too low for the conversion. Also, a Sous Vide machine is expensive.

2. Mason jar Method

This is the most cost-effective method. By turning the mason jar every 30 minutes, you can have a lovely evenly baked herb. And the smell is in reasonable control. But remember, the temperature of the oven and the microenvironment inside the mason jar are different. Oven temperature fluctuates from +30F to -30F; it's not easy to know the temperature inside the jar. In this case, you might undercook the herb.

3. Baking pan method

The third one is the baking pan method. It's been commonly used for beginners. The steps are pretty straightforward by spreading the dried herb onto the baking pan and putting it into the oven. The problem with the method is you might not be able to get even baking. Take the toaster oven; the heating element inside the range cannot make an even heating environment. If the herb gets too close to the heating element, the top layers of the product might get burnt, yet the bottom layer is still raw.

Nowadays people are looking for clean infused treats. My personal favorite is decarb with fine plant material. Fine plant material does not give off much smell when cooking. And the strength is ensured.

However, for fine plant material, it’s impossible to decarb with sous vide or a baking pan. First of all, a water bath method requires wrapping the plant material inside a plastic bag. But keep in mind rubber or plastic will lead to degradation of the active compounds. For the baking sheet method, the particles are very fine and easy to get burnt. In this case it's ruining the batch.

That’s why ECRU #DecarbKit or #Activator is so important to home cooks - no matter you are an expert or novice. Every infused recipe begins with perfect decarb and ECRU’s goal is to help you simplify and standardize the process.

There are 4 preset modes in the #DecarbKit. The best thing about the preset modes is time and temperature precision control. The thermometer monitors the micro environment inside the glass box. The countdown only starts when the temperature hits preset. Only by using this scientific method, you will achieve this slightly browned herb without stinking the kitchen.

To learn more about decarboxylation, please check below link to learn how to decarb with ECRU Decarb Kit.

Herb Butter Herb Sugar

Tips for Portioning Infused Treats

Your infused treats' strength depends on factors, from the herb variety you choose, to storage, or even how long and at what temperature you treated the herb. For a safe portion, try to spread 1/4 teaspoon on a snack and see how that portion affects you after an hour. First-time users must be very careful with portions.