Using Marijuana In Cooking To Make Edibles & Food Period!
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Making your own edibles is not as hard as you would think. With the proper equipment and a little cooking skill you can easily make canna oil or cannabutter and from there, most edibles that are baked or cooked can be produced right at home.
We’re going to cover the basics and what you need in order to prep for making edibles that are delicious and potent. But wait there is more! We’re also going to add recipes for some edibles so once you have decided you’re going to cook and bake with marijuana you can easily make some edibles at home using one of our edibles recipes.
Decarboxylation Explained
This is the first step in making your cannabis ready to be used in foods as well as being converted into cannabutter or oil which will be the base for most edibles.
Decarboxylation is the process that turns THCA into THC. When you are smoking marijuana this naturally occurs and the THC is absorbed via the lungs in the form of smoke or vapor.
When you want to make edibles decarboxylation becomes an important process turning THCA into the potent THC that will give you the effects desired.
Simple Decarboxylation Process
Decarboxylation for cannabis to release THC occurs at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Preheat your oven to 220-235 Degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use some parchment paper and a baking tray to place your materials on
- Finely grind your material and spread out a thin layer over the parchment that is on your baking sheet
- Bake your marijuana for 30-45min
Another way to do this is to use a slow cooker and introduce a cooking oil to make an infusion which you can then use to make edibles or oils.
This process is an essential first step in cooking with cannabis when your making edibles or just trying to add some cannabis to an existing food recipe.
Making Cannabutter
Making your own cannabutter is one of the ways to add some punch to your baked goods or anything that calls for butter in a recipe. Simply replace regular butter with cannabutter and you should be good to go. Just know that if its a recipe that calls for a lot of butter whatever your making will be more potent.
Simple steps to making cannabis-infused butter:
*Remeber to decarboxylate your marijuana before adding it to the butter.
- Melt the butter on low heat in a medium saucepan.
- Add the ground buds to the melted butter a little bit at a time, stirring in between.
- Simmer on a low heat for 45mins, stirring frequently. While simmering, you should see start to see small bubbles forming on the surface.
- After simmering, strain the butter into the container using the metal strainer to filter out the ground buds.
- Press the spoon against the ground bud in the metal strainer to squeeze all the cannabutter.
One of the easiest ways to make any infusion with weed in it is to get a Levo Oil Infuser. You can make cannabutter as well as any oil infusion in just 5 easy steps! Your other choice would be the Magical Butter Machine which is a perfect and easy way to make weed-infused butter. You don’t need a machine to do it but using one of these will make it easier and a lot less messy. Definitely worth the money if you are planning on making edibles or CBD oils on an ongoing basis. If your just one offing it then its probably not worth the investment.
Making Canna Oil
Making cannabis oil for cooking is much like making butter. It’s a bit more difficult than butter but not too bad. You can also decide what kind of oil you want to use. A lot of health conscious people like using coconut oil.
Ingredients Needed For Cannabis Cooking Oil:
- 1 cup of ground cannabis flower. You can use less if you want to make the oil less potent.
- 1 cup of cooking oil of your choice. Coconut oil or Olive oil are the most commonly used.
Here is what you Need Hardware Wise:
- A Strainer or cheesecloth
- A simple hand grinder is what works for best results.
- A Double-boiler, slow cooker, saucepan, etc.
Directions For Making the Marijuana Infused Oil:
- Grind the entire cannabis plant or just the buds or a little bit of both it’s just a matter of preference. Do not grind the cannabis to fine or it will end up going thru your strainer and get in the oil.
- Combine your marijuana and your oil in your slow cooker or double boiler and heat the two together on low or warm for a few hours. This will allow the marijuana to go thru the decarboxylation process. You can cook the batch on low for about 4 to 6 hours if you’re using a double boiler or slow cooker stirring the contents occasionally. If you’re using a double boiler then use a low setting for 6 to 8 hours. You can use a simple saucepan on low and stir frequently for about 3 hours. Just know using a saucepan gives you a much greater chance of scorching the mixture which will destroy the THC and make your oil crap. You can use a small amount of water to add to the mixture to help avoid burning. Make sure that the temperature of the oil does not exceed 245 Degrees Fahrenheit.
- Strain the oil and store it. When you strain the oil do not squeeze the cheesecloth this does not help and it will add more chlorophyll to your canna oil.
- The remaining plant material can either be kept for use in other dishes if you decide to do that.
Now that you have your cannabis cooking oil you can use it for about 2 months before it loses potency. If you refrigerate the oil you can extend the shelf life of the marijuana-infused oil beyond the 2 months.
Making Edibles
Making edibles is a great way to consume marijuana in a way that is delicious as well as easy to do without anyone noticing. Edibles can range from anything like cookies or brownies to gummy bears. Depending on your level of skill you can transform anything that you can think of that can be eaten into an edible. Check our marijuana edibles recipe section for some ideas on edibles that you can easily make at home!
Adding Marijuana To Food
Once you have decided to add marijuana to your food the simplest way to do it is to use a cannabis-infused oil or butter and to simply add that to your current recipe or find a recipe for an edible that you want to cook up. Just be careful because if you make it too delicious you don’t want to be eating it like its any other kind of food that does not contain THC. Have fun and enjoy your next cannabis-infused meal or snack!
Note that ingesting cannabis can produce some very strong effects so it is not the best exposure to THC for someone that is not used to it. If you’re new to edibles we suggest you try small pieces and make sure that you get the desired effects. Also, it is helpful if the person making the edibles knows the dosage of THC per serving that way you can better gauge the effects you may experience.