Whether you enjoy cooking at home or want to make your own edibles, you might be interested in cooking with medical cannabis.
Cooking with medical marijuana combines the benefits of cannabis with an enjoyable and creative hobby. Here’s how to cook with cannabis for beginners.
Pick your strain.
Where do you start when cooking with medical marijuana? The right strain or product.
If you’re infusing cannabis flowers, try smelling multiple options. Your nose actually can help you understand which strain you prefer!
Then, consider whether a flower with a higher CBD or THC percentage is right for you. Remember that THC will have more of a psychoactive effect, while CBD has a more calming effect.
If you’d rather use pre-made products like oils, infused honey, or powders, there are plenty of options too. Simply make sure the products won’t interact poorly with your other ingredients.
Learn to decarboxylate properly.
In order to get all the medicinal benefits of cannabis, it will need to be heated to a temperature high enough to convert naturally occurring THCA to THC and CBDA to CBD. Otherwise, the plant will be locked in its acidic form (THCA and CBDA), which the body cannot break down like the decarboxylated forms.
Here’s how to decarboxylate cannabis:
Note: There will be a strong cannabis odor during this process.
- Preheat your oven to 225°F.
- Break up the cannabis flower buds and place in a single layer in an oven safe dish or pan.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the buds are a medium brown shade and crumbly-looking.
- Set cannabis aside and cool. Turn over to 240°F.
- Crumble the material again and evenly place in a single layer on your dish. Tightly cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes for high THC and 60-90 minutes for high CBD.
- Allow to cool and store in an airtight glass container. (You may be able to use as-is or blend slightly for your recipe!)
Incorporate other ingredients.
Everyone is different when it comes to taste and aroma preference. Some cannabis connoisseurs love the strong terpenes, while others want to mask it.
Choose your recipes and other ingredients wisely and rely on your natural taste and smell intuition.
There are a wide variety of cannabis recipes online you can search for and try, depending on the strain(s) you prefer.
Give cooking with cannabis a try and let us know what you think!
At Hive Medicinal, we’d love to help with your medical marijuana needs as your local Maine dispensary. Take a look at our current cannabis products or, better yet, stop by in person!
