@PeaceLove&Buds : Sorry it took me all weekend but here is the process for infused oil with the Ardent.
Ardent, scale, bag of herbs. The only accessory I bought was the silicone sleeve.
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We usually use 7g per batch. You can definitely use less. Break down the buds but don't grind them. I just cut the little branches off and remove the middle stems.
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Lost almost a gram taking out the center stems.
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Here is how they look in the bottom of the sleeve.
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A1 for decarb. They say 1.5hrs but I find it is really closer to 3.
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After the machine has cooled down, I pull the sleeve out and gently crush the decarbed buds down. Fold and press. This makes it easier to get all of the plant material down into the oil. I add 70-75g of MCT oil.
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Crush more if the plant material is above the oil.
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Once the oil is added, set it to the infuse cycle and wait another 3 hours.
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Once the infusion cycle is done, you need to filter out the majority of the plant material. A french press works in a pinch. I like this reuseable coffee filter. Pour the oil/buds into the filter. Not a lot will drip out. Lots of oil is still stuck in the plant material. I just wear a glove, or 6, and pick up some of the material and carefully squeeze it to extract most of the oil. They call this leftover material "raffinate" and it is potent.
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Once thoroughly squeezed I usually end up with just about 50g of oil out of the starting 70g. Plenty still left in the plant material. You could just eat a piece but my patient has said that is a bad idea and she was really really high for a long time. Use caution. If you find a better way to press you might get more out but also introduce more plant/green weedy taste.
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That's it!
Experiment and play around. I do notice that 7g is a lot of buds for 70g of oil but I am able to get consistent results. We have a tCheck machine and can test the final oil for potency. I don't think it's as accurate as other machines out there but for a ballpark figure on a $200 testing machine it is completely fine.
Things I found make a lot of difference:
Crush the decarbed buds to get them all submerged in the oil. Don't grind or it will be very "weedy" tasting.
Swirl the machine while it's running the infusion cycle. It's long enough that if you walk by once an hour, just a quick circular swirling motion to move the oil around helps bring up the potency. Don't lift it, just move it in a circle on the counter.
@Fermented_Fruitz and
@WildBill also have the same machine and helped me a lot when I was just starting to use it. Everyone has a bit different method so just see what works for you.
