Oils, teas, candies… These words are sure to have your mouth watering, especially if you are a big fan of cannabis. It's not necessary to search far for people who prefer ingesting weed edibles than smoking or vaping marijuana. Preparing this kind of cannabis-infused food in a proper way, making sure no poisoning or nasty tastes occur, is, however, far more difficult than many might think.
But don't worry. We've got you covered on how to make the best weed edibles. The important thing is to go low with dosing so neither you nor your guests have a bad trip. Bon appetite!
1- Make sure it's fully clean (and decarbed)
If you've grown your own weed at home, you sure know what kind of fertilizers and insecticides you've been using. You'll therefore know if your plant is safe or not. If it's been a friend of yours who's grown it or you're a bit doubtful about the taste of your plant, then clean it.
Just immerse your buds in distilled water during 3 days without forgetting to change it every 12 hours or so. Once the 3-day period is over, blanch them in hot, not boiling, water for 5 minutes, and then soak them in very cold water during 1 minute. Finally, dry and decarb them.
In fact, the decarboxylation process is a highly necessary one: by heat-treating your weed, you force cannabinoids to change into a neutral form by removing the carbon dioxide molecule in them. In other words, if you want to get high, you need to cook it. Forget about using raw marijuana.
People don't seem to agree on the ideal timing and temperature range for decarbing weed. Some believe it's between 212°F and 248°F and during 30-60 minutes that it has to be done. Others are more specific and claim that 240°F is the exact temperature at which marijuana should be decarboxylated and that the process should take up to 90 minutes. If you've got some experience under your belt, you'll know what's best. If you don't, stay close to these temperature ranges and see what happens.
Just a heads-up: at high temperatures, the process should take less time for the lower the temperature, the lower the loss of terpenes will be. Decarboxylation is thus a matter of balance between these two variables.
2- Make cannabis oil or cannabutter
Oil or butter can later be used for cooking other things or for making pastries. Raw cannabis is hard to digest, no matter how finely chopped up it is, so there's no better way to get cannabinoids than through these two ingredients. Remember that cannabinoids are fat soluble molecules that only dissolve in fat, meaning weed edible manufacturers can use nothing but oils and fat to create their products. This, among others, prevents them from producing the healthy and versatile infused products they've always wanted to.
According to the experts, there's no standard dosage for cooking weed because it depends heavily on the potency of the strain picked and on each person's metabolism. However, as a reference point, maybe you could try with one cup of oil for every cup of ground up weed (better with a grinder), some 7-10 g. Make sure it's been previously decarbed so its cannabinoids attach to the fats in butter and can be later used by our body. Heat the mixture in a saucepan at about 160°F-200°F and stir frequently. Before that, use a fine strainer to filter any remaining plant debris.
For the preparation, you'll need 1 L water, 500 g butter, and 10 g ground cannabis. Slowly bring water to boil. With the first bubbles, add your ground weed and the butter. Now reduce the heat to simmer and cook for about 60 minutes, stirring frequently. Place the mixture in a tray and put it in a fridge until liquid butter comes into sight. After that, squeeze out the remaining liquid and allow it to rest at room temperature.
3- Mix all the ingredients
When cooking brownies or cakes, it's important to make sure all the ingredients are properly mixed so every piece has the same amount of each of them. It's surprisingly common for someone to get super high on a cake and a friend not feeling a thing when eating from the very same cake. The key is to beat the mixture heartily with a wooden spoon or the like.
Understanding the way cannabis edibles affect our body is also essential for it could modify the effect and duration. When vaping or smoking, the THC and cannabinoids take the short route to your lungs and, therefore, to your blood stream, allowing for an almost immediate effect (approximately 10 minutes).
THC is absorbed differently when it comes to weed edibles. Eating cannabis requires THC to be metabolized by the liver for it to get to the blood stream. It can take from 30 minutes to two hours for the effects to reach their peak. Once they hit, though, the high definitely lasts longer because the liver converts THC into a completely different molecule that makes THC 10 times more psychoactive than inhaled THC.
4- Sometimes less is more
Sprinkling ground weed as if it was sugar is not recommended. In fact, a few grams can trigger an extremely hard-hitting effect and, if someone is not really used to consuming weed, it can affect them really badly. But, since not all cannabis strains have the same THC or CBD levels, you should be extra careful with those with high THC content for they could lead to very bad trips.
Before using the oil and butter preparations, try them to see how strong they are. Some start with a quarter teaspoon or half a teaspoon and wait an hour or so to see how it affects them. If it feels right, that's what they'll use to season their dish or drink, or multiply it by the number of servings that the recipe makes (sponge cake, brownie...).
Besides the servings, though, it's important to use your head. Feasting on cakes may not be the wisest thing to do for it could make you lose control. Instead, try going slowly, eating a small piece at a time. Just eat it and, after 30 minutes, see how you feel. If you feel alright, keep eating. The right amount varies from person to person because each of us deals with the plant's effects differently.
So it's not just about the size of the slice but about each person's ability to cope with cannabis. It won't be the same either if it's you're a first-time consumer or a regular cannabis user. Plus consuming weed when your stomach is full is completely different from doing so on an empty stomach.
5- Label and store the remains if they're still fit for consumption
Sometimes, you've had plenty of it and still have some slices left. Or maybe you feel you got this recipe just right and would love to repeat it some time. When this happens, we recommend that you jot down every step as you prepare it and, once finished, keep the remains in a sealed container with the ingredients and the date of preparation written on it. Ideally, these containers should be in the fridge. If you've got kids, keep it in a place not accessible to them.
Lastly, our top tip would be to enjoy your weed edibles somewhere where you feel at ease, like your home or your friend's place. Make sure there's plenty of chocolate or coffee near in case you get monster munchies. Avoid booze. If, despite all this info, you eat way too much and feel a bit weird, don't panic. All you have to do is drink lots of water and go to bed.
With all these little tips and your amazing cooking skills, you're sure to become an incredible cannabis chef. Enjoy weed in a completely different way and make your taste buds sparkle with pleasure.