Cooking with Cannabis: A Beginner’s Guide to Edibles
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Cooking with Cannabis: A Beginner’s Guide to Edibles
If you've ever wanted to try making your own edibles, you're not alone. Cooking with cannabis is a fun and effective way to enjoy THC or CBD—without smoking or vaping.
The first thing to know? You can't just toss raw cannabis into a recipe. To unlock its effects, you need to go through a process called decarboxylation, which activates the cannabinoids.
Step 1: Decarboxylate Your Cannabis
- Preheat your oven to 240°F (115°C)
- Break up cannabis into small pieces
- Spread it on a baking sheet and bake for 30–40 minutes
This converts THCA into THC (or CBDA into CBD) so your body can absorb it.
Step 2: Make Cannabis-Infused Oil or Butter
Once decarbed, you can infuse cannabis into oil or butter, which becomes the base for most recipes.
- Simmer the decarbed flower in coconut oil, olive oil, or butter for 2–3 hours on low heat
- Strain the mixture through cheesecloth to remove plant material
Store your cannabutter or infused oil in the fridge and use it in place of regular oil or butter in any recipe.
Dosing Tips & How to Calculate Potency
You’ll need to know the THC or CBD percentage on your cannabis label. Here's the basic formula:
THC or CBD per gram of flower = (% THC or CBD × 1,000 mg)
Example: 20% THC = 200 mg per gram
So, if you infuse 3.5 grams (an eighth) of 20% THC flower, your batch contains:
3.5 × 200 mg = 700 mg THC total
If you use all of that in a batch of 14 cookies:
700 mg ÷ 14 = 50 mg THC per cookie
Want lower doses? Use less cannabis, increase batch size, or mix infused oil with regular oil. Aim for 2.5–5 mg per serving if you're just starting out.
Start low and slow. Edibles take 30 minutes to 2 hours to kick in, and the effects can last much longer than smoking. Try 2.5–5 mg THC for your first batch and wait before having more.
Try It Yourself!
Not ready to cook from scratch? Check out Sativa Sisters for a curated selection of low-dose edibles, baking kits, and infused cooking oils to get started at home!
Next Week: Cannabis Topicals—Relief Without the High
Ever wonder how cannabis creams and balms help with pain, soreness, and skin health? Next week, we’ll explore how topicals work—and why they don’t get you high!
