i’m just curing my first grow and think edibles are going to be my jam. has anyone used both of these machines or are you familiar with both? looks like the Ardent will also decarb with the addition of a $20 sleeve? other than that, all this is too new to me to compare. thoughts on pros/cons?
I have the Ardent and the sleeve option is for infusions. Not needed to just decarb. I like mine. I have the sleeve and use it to make infused butter and oil etc after decarbing first run.
@AAA has both the Ardent and the MBM
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any limitations you’re not thrilled with?
and @Skydiver, is the Lift something different? looking at amazon and they have it cheaper than on their website.
i think the decarbing feature alone may win me over. i’m decarbing my first batch now in the oven and holy H it smells in here. i’m not sure i actually like the smell either.
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I find the Ardent to be expensive for what it is. Also Would like to see it hold more than an ounce, especially if using trim.
The MB2 is a solid piece of equipment and based on engineering and production costs a lot better value than the Ardent. I know they do different things, but Im just comparing the value for money aspect of the 2.
I would love for Ardent or another manufacturer to come up with a larger capacity decarb tool. But for now I am happy with the function.
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I bought both because I felt the infusion sleeve of the Ardent was too small for the batches I make.
I’m new at edibles also. I have the MBM and their decarb box. I haven’t decarbed without it so don’t know how much aroma escapes but using the decarb box with 2 oz in it ( has room for a little more) but not much aroma escapes till open the silicone box so second time I opened it outside and that worked pretty good.
The MBM seems to work well. I have made tincture twice with 2 oz of bud and 750ml of Everclear 151 and load it push a button and is ready in 4 hours. I’m still learning what to do with the tincture as it’s not very tasty 
but it works well. I’m still in the experimental stages 
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i still need to learn about infusion vs tincture vs… i think i mostly want to make coconut oil and maybe gummies.
this smell is starting to make me sick to my stomach. i can’t do scents for long. good to know about the box, that may push me back to mbm.
what do they do differently other than decarb and the size you can process?
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The Ardent is a static machine that was originally made to decarb. Then they made a silicone sleeve that you put inside to do infusion with oil or butter.
The MB2 was made to do infusions. It is a dynamic machine that has a “propeller” that is activated every 10 or so minutes to mix the infusion while the machine keeps the temperature at an optimum level. It has multiple setting for heat and duration which is all explained in the user manual.
I believe the Ardent is crucial because from what I have read most people are not getting the proper decarb and this is why I bought it even though I feel it is overpriced.
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As far as the MBM decarb box it is a silicone box that goes in oven. What I like is it has a remote temp gauge that A) tells what temp it is inside the box but also allows you to see if your oven temp is accurate.
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ya that was a stressful part of the decarb i wasn’t expecting. step 1, calibrate your oven. um… how the ef do i do that. yet one more thing to buy off amazon…
but seriously this smell. a day later i can still smell it and it’s making more and more nauseous.
lucky me, i found a friend who loaned me a MBM2, so gonna give this part a whirl shortly and just hope i did the decarb properly.
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i read the reviews on amazon and lots of folks were getting burned buds. wonder if it’s legit.
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I’ve only done twice. But the buds turn a different color. Have a different smell and texture. I guess if none of that happens then it isn’t done properly.
And I guess it can be overdone ??
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I have the mb2 machine as well I run tinctures then reduce down and make gummies sounds really hard but isn’t. Just follow their videos and that takes a lot of the guess work out.
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I use an aluminum pie pan and place a turkey bag over it and tie it up. No more smells. I decarb at 230* for 30-40 minutes and always enjoyed the end product.
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ya totally. dig hard enough and there are all these charts about what cannabinoids get changed at what temp and time. something simple made nerve wracking.
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Do you actually need the silicone sleeve for infusions or can you just use the aluminium one?
That’s a good question. The silicone sleeve contains the liquid oil when infusing. I don’t know what would happen if infusing without the silicone sleeve but some may leak into lower part of machine. I guess you could fill the included metal sleeve with water and sit on plate for awhile and see if it leaks.
I do know that they recommend using the silicone sleeve with infusions. They also say to find a glass container that fits inside the metal sleeve and use that for infusions as well if say you don’t have their silicone sleeve.
Oh yea makes for easier clean up too with the optional silicone sleeve.
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@Midwestnewbie.
How far do you reduce the tincture ???
Do you use Everclear???
Do you use the MBM gummy recipe ???
My first time I evaporated over low heat from a quart to half of that but I used a basic gummy recipe and they were pretty bad. Worked good just wasn’t what I was after.
Second time I reduced about the same but just soaked some store bought gummy’s in tincture overnight Taste wasn’t as bad and worked well.
I need to do a dry run on the gummy’s to perfect them and then make some real ones
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I reduce down to a tar like substance then I add tspoon of lecithin, raw honey, and some flavor extract. Get that to a maple syrup consistency then add jello mixture melt down stir really well and pour into molds.
Yes I use everclear as well.
Yes I use that recipe as I’ve had great success with it only thing I add that’s not on recipe is lecithin and that was recommended by other users here.
I watch the mb2 vids on YouTube and follow that cause it’s a lil different from hard recipe on the site.
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Thanks for the info. It is deff something I will try. Couldn’t imagine buying weed to do this as could be trashed. But making from personal harvest is easier to experiment
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