Have you ever wondered what cooking with cannabis would be like? Crafting your own infused delicacies and looking forward to that extra-rewarding first bite? Luckily, learning how to cook with cannabis isn’t extraordinarily difficult. In this post, we’re going to look at the basics of cannabis cooking and share two important recipes that will enable you to make many different cannabis-infused treats.
Cooking with Cannabis: The Basics
Cooking with cannabis is just like regular cooking. There’s just one difference: THC. While it would be great to just mash some cannabis flower into a brownie and call it a day, that’s unfortunately not an option.
That’s because cannabis flower doesn’t actually contain THC. Instead, the plant develops THCA. This chemical precursor turns into THC when exposed to heat through a process called decarboxylation. That usually happens when you spark up some flower for a puff. However, since there’s no flame involved with edibles, you’ll need a “decarb” workaround.
How to Decarboxylate Cannabis Flower
The term “decarboxylation” may look scary on paper. But its bark is worse than its bite.
All you need to do to decarb cannabis is heat-activate it. That’s a two-step process. First, grind your cannabis with an herb grinder. Then, put it on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Bake it at 245 Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. Mix it every 10 minutes to make sure it cooks properly. When all your cannabis is a light golden brown, you’re ready to rock.
Cannabis Cooking: Two Important Recipes and Tips
Now that we have the basics of cannabis cooking under our belts, we can get down to the fun business: recipes. THC is a highly lipid-soluble molecule. In other words, it binds readily to fats. Butter and oil both contain tons of fats. These are the foundational ingredients for any cannabis-infused product.
Having a recipe on hand for both cannabutter and infused coconut oil will give you two solid options for a versatile cannabis ingredient with which to infuse recipes. Armed with cannabutter or cannaoil, you can start baking or cooking with cannabis using any normal recipe that calls for butter or oil.
Before you begin: Always label your infused products clearly, so no one accidentally uses a cannabis product. Keep out of the reach of children. Store cannabutter or canna oil in the fridge or freezer.
How to Cook with Cannabis: Cannabutter
Cannabutter is a classic medium for carrying THC. Countless recipes use normal butter, which you can substitute with cannabutter super easily. Here’s how to make it.
Ingredients:
- 7 grams decarboxylated flower
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup water
Instructions for Making Cannabutter:
First, decarb your flower as outlined above. Once your flower is decarbed, you can begin the cannabutter-making process.
Combine butter and water in a saucepan on a low heat. Once the butter has begun melting, add your decarbed flower. Keep simmering at a low heat (about 170 Fahrenheit or so) for between 2 and 3 hours. Never let it boil fully!
Finally, let the butter cool slightly (but make sure it’s still in liquid form) and strain the cannabutter into a jar through a cheesecloth. Refrigerate until solid, then seal with a lid. If any water separates during solidification, you can discard that excess water.
How to Cook with Cannabis: Infused Coconut Oil
Sometimes, you don’t want to cook with butter. In that case, coconut oil makes a great substitute that readily absorbs THC and tastes great. Check out this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 7 grams decarboxylated flower
- 1 cup coconut oil
Instructions:
Place both the coconut oil and the flower into a high heat-rated Mason jar or similar (Find out how to assess your jar for safety.) Place the jar into a pot. Fill the pot with enough water until the water line is above the oil/flower mixture. Important: Start with room temperature water (not cold, as that could cause the glass to break), bringing it to a boil slowly.
Both the jar and the pot should remain uncovered for ventilation. Keep on a medium boil for 2 hours, monitoring closely. Keep an eye on the water level, since some of it will boil off. Add more water, as needed, to maintain the original water level in the pot.
Lastly, let the oil cool slightly (it still needs to be in liquid form but you don’t want it steaming hot), then strain the canna oil into another jar through a cheesecloth. Once cool, seal with a lid.
Cooking with Cannabis: Wrapping Up
Now that you know how to cook with cannabis, you need to start working on your own recipes! First things first, though. You’re going to need to stock up on some flower of your own. That’s where we come in. Check out our full selection of flower or come visit our dispensary to get cooking. We look forward to serving you!