Written By: Daniel Cina
Cooking edibles is meant to be a fun experience as you experiment for new ways to get high while cooking. Whether you are a five-star chef making a full course meal or a stoner who wants to try making brownies, cooking with marijuana can be a great way to enjoy a meal and get high at the same time. However those of us who have experienced cooking with marijuana know about the dreaded decarboxylation process.
Having to activate the THC of your weed in an oven or crockpot can be a long and difficult process which can result in your bud losing its potency, creating a mess in your kitchen, and turning your edible cooking dreams into nightmares. However due to driving innovations in the cannabis community, the pesky manual decarboxylation processes can be a thing of the past thanks to Ardent’s Nova Decarboxylator. The Ardent Nova is such a fantastic product that it was awarded the Thrillist “The Get: Expert Picks” badge as well as being featured on Most Expensivest with 2 Chainz due to its innovativeness in making the decarboxylation process of cannabis easy and effective.
What Is It?
The Ardent Nova is a small machine that can fit virtually anywhere in your kitchen, and with its sleek purple design you would never think that this machine is for the decarboxylation of your cannabis. Holding up to an ounce of flower, it is specifically designed to decarboxylate smaller and precise batches. The pieces that make up the Nova besides the purple outer shell include its stainless steel insert cup, silicone cap, and plastic lid.
These components are simple to put together and make the decarboxylation process as easy as it gets. The Nova is also designed for infusions such as different cannabis oils and if you use the silicon sleeve attachment even cannabutter can be made in a simple and mess-free method.
Why Should I Use It For Decarboxylation?
The Ardent Nova is designed to be the best and easiest method for decarboxylation, while other at home methods are difficult, messy, and will have your home reeking of weed. However, the absolute worst part of these at home methods is that you will be lucky to yield 70% of your weed’s original THC potency from these at home decarboxylation processes. This means that you are not getting the most out of your decarboxylation, which wastes time and money for a less potent high.
The Nova is a product that counteracts this loss of potency from improper decarboxylation. Any flower, kief, or concentrate you put in the Nova will yield 97% potency from the decarboxylation process every time it’s used meaning you are getting the most bang for your buck when investing cannabis into making edibles. The mess free design of The Ardent Nova and its strong potency rate makes it a fantastic option for the decarboxylation of your cannabis.
How Do I Use It?
The Ardent Nova is designed to make the decarboxylation of your weed as simple and easy as possible. All you have to do is put your cannabis into the inner stainless steel component of the Nova which holds between 5 grams and 1 ounce. You can break apart your cannabis before placing it in the container if that is your preference, but the Nova is designed for you to be able to just place your bud in the stainless steel insert. 
You can also place kief or concentrates into the Nova, but it is recommended to place these materials on parchment paper inside the insert to keep your weed from sticking to its sides. After you put your bud in the insert then all you need to do is place it in the Nova and cover it with the silicone cap.
The silicone cap on top of the insert serves to keep excess air out and help mitigate airflow while decarboxylation takes place to help yield the best quality and potency possible. After you place the insert and silicon cap into the main component, all you have to do is put on the lid and press the button and in about 1 hour and 45 minutes you will have perfectly decarboxylated weed.
The button itself will be a steady green when your cannabis is loaded which signals that the Nova is ready to begin the decarboxylation process. Once you press the button it will turn red which signifies that the decarboxylation process is currently happening and when it is complete it will turn back to green.
How Do I Use It To Create Infusions?
Now that you have the perfect batch of cannabis thanks to the Ardent Nova’s decarboxylation process, it’s time to create some infusions so you can begin your cannabis cooking adventure. Typically creating infusions in your oven or crock pot is a slow, difficult, and messy process, but the Nova eliminates all the difficulty in the infusion process.
Let’s say that you wanted to make some cannabis oil with your Ardent Nova. All you need to do is take the cooking oil you want to infuse and place it in a tincture bottle with the desired amount of your weed that has gone through decarboxylation. From there all you need to do is place the tincture bottle back into the stainless steel insert, put the silicon cap back on, and run it through another cycle in the Nova.
When the cycle is done all you there is to do is strain the plant material out of the tincture bottle and presto! You will have some perfectly infused cannabis oil for any cooking endeavor of your choice. It is also important to note that most tincture bottles come with their own lid, and you do not want that interfering with the Nova’s decarboxylation process. So when you place the tincture bottle into the insert be sure to leave the tincture cap off so there is no barrier between your infusion and the heating elements of the Nova.
The Ardent Nova can also be used to make other infusions with ingredients such as butter, honey, and cream. This process to make these types of infusions is incredibly easy and mess free with the Nova’s silicon sleeve attachment. So let’s say we want to make cannabis infused butter. All you need to do is place the silicon attachment into the stainless steel insert with your butter and cannabis and run it through a cycle on the Nova. Once that is complete all you have to do is strain any plant material out of the butter, place the butter in a sealed container to refrigerate and it’s ready for use.
Overall the Ardent Nova is a fantastic product for the decarboxylation of your cannabis. It’s ergonomic design makes it convenient, easy to use, and ensures you are not wasting money attempting the decarbing process. Make decarboxylation easy for yourself so you can focus on enjoying your edibles. Check with your local Nectar to get yourself the premiere item in decarboxylation. If you really want to dive into more cannabis cooking, be sure to check out our Cannachef article so you can attend the greatest cannabis cooking competition in the PNW!
