Avoid These 9 Mistakes While Cooking Cannabis
Edibles are a lot of fun – we know that. Cooking edibles, however, is a different story.
If you’re new to baking pot brownies or making weed gummies, you might be making some of these classic cooking mistakes. Baking with cannabis is more complicated than you might think, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you realize you’re guilty of at least more than one mistake.
Cooking With Raw Cannabis
You can’t eat raw cannabis, and cooking with it is not so fun either. Cannabis needs high temperatures and a long period of time to “decarb” and split THCA into the cannabinoid we all know and love, THC.
We’ve got a whole blog post on how to decarb the right way. Luckily, this process isn’t too hard, and when you’re done, you’ll have dried bud or cannabutter that you can cook with. Cooking with cannabutter, cannabis oil, or tinctures is a lot easier (and more fun) than trying to mess with flower. You can make these yourself or buy them online.
Decarbing At A Temperature That Is Too High
When you are decarbing, you’ll need to follow our precise instructions. The whole process can take at least 30 minutes in the oven (or a whole day in the slow cooker.) Don’t think that you can ramp up the temperature and decarb your weed faster. If temperatures hit a certain level, the structure of THC will fall apart completely. We don’t want that. We want THC in our brownies.
Being Lazy While You Make Oil
It’s not that hard to make a cannabis-infused oil. We do it in our slow cooker. But if you try and cut corners during the infusion process, you might find yourself with some unappetizing oil.
We have two words of advice for when you’re making oil. The first is to check on how dry your recipe is. If the herb looks like it’s too dry, it probably is. Add water throughout the infusion process every few hours.
The second piece of advice is to buy a cheesecloth. You’ll need to strain your oil after it’s done in the slow cooker. Strain it through a cheesecloth to prevent any solid herb from getting into the mix. Be patient and don’t squeeze the cloth to make the process go faster. This is the best way to get a pure oil that doesn’t leave you tasting any flower while you bake.
Playing Russian Roulette With Your Cannabis Oil
We’ve got our own cannabis oil if you don’t want to go through the process of decarbing your weed and making cannabis oil. You know what you get with our cannabis olive oil, but you might not know what you’re getting when you make oil on your own.
Test it out before you put it in a cookie or a cake. Enjoy a teaspoon and wait an hour for it to kick in. If it knocks you off your feet, we recommend mixing your oil with a little bit of olive oil so you can enjoy your baked goods.
Putting Extra Cannabis In The Recipe
We’ve got a few killer brownie recipes, but make sure you follow them closely. Edibles will already knock you off your feet – adding more cannabis could just ruin the fun.
If you’re worried about whether or not you will get high from your edibles, wait at least an hour to see if the weed hits you. Ingesting edibles is an entirely different process from smoking and it takes a bit longer for the THC to kick into action.
Don’t let this mistake scare you. Ignoring the recipe and adding less cannabis than recommended isn’t too great either.
Not Mixing Properly
If you follow the recipes properly, you should know how much THC you are ingesting in each brownie, gummy, or other yummy treat that you’re enjoying. The keyword here is “should.” You won’t be able to tell exactly how much THC is in each individual brownie when you eat them, but you can make your best guess if you mix the recipe properly. Just throwing your butter into the recipe and not mixing may give you one brownie that is packed with THC and another that has absolutely nothing in it. Either option isn’t ideal.
Ignoring Portion Recommendations
Similar to failing to mix and add the right amount of cannabis to your edibles, ignoring portion recommendations may result in a bite that’s too strong (or a treat that’s not strong enough.) Pay attention to where the recipe says “yield.” that will show you how many brownies or treats your recipe will make. If you’re baking in a pan, cut your treats into equal sizes to best predict how much THC you’re getting in each edible.
Adding Too Much Spice
No one loves the taste of traditional pot brownies (it’s not like you’re eating them for the taste anyway.) Sometimes, people try to “cover up” the weed taste by adding tons of extra spices and flavours. There’s no need. Trust our recipes and you’ll still get a tasty treat and a good high.
Limiting Yourself to Brownies
Sure, weed brownies are great (did we mention we have some killer weed brownie recipes on our blog?) But there are so many possibilities when it comes to edibles. Anything that you can make with oil or butter can be turned into an edible. Cookies, cakes, pies, and breads are all possible options. You can also put cannabis in your coffee or tea for a nice pick-me-up. We also have a list of recipes for gummies and candies if you prefer something sweet but not baked.
The possibilities are endless, so don’t be afraid to get a little creative!
More Tips on Cooking With Cannabis
New to edibles? We’ve got you covered with our guide to edibles for newbies. If you don’t read anything else in that post, just remember to wait an hour for the edibles to kick in.
Don’t make any mistakes once you’ve finished cooking your cannabis. Know how long edibles stay in your system. If you’re planning on driving after having a brownie, change your plans and give yourself some time to sober up.
