The first skill to master on the cannabis culinary journey is creating the base for cooking; cannabis-infused butter or coconut oil.  It is important to start low and slow; sometimes it can take up to two hours to feel the full effects of an edible.

Dosing & the math

Dosing is the most important part when baking edibles. Too much THC can lead to an overwhelming anxious sensation which is not fun. Every 1 gram of cannabis bud has 1,000 mg of dry weight. If a strain has about 10% THC, 10% of 1,000mg would be 100mg. So for cooking and baking at home, you can assume that a gram of cannabis contains about 100mg THC. Have no fear of the math Whaxy.com has an edible calculator to help with cooking with cannabis-infused butter.

ex: Strain with 15% THC. 1 g of cannabis x 1000= 1000mg of cannabis

(we know only 15% of the 1000mg is actually THC)

15% of 1000mg= 150mg of THC

If we use this gram of cannabis to make cannabis-infused butter (or coconut oil) and assuming we are able to extract 100% of the THC, the cannabis-infused butter will contain 150mg of THC. Using this cannabis-infused butter to make 12 brownies each brownie will have about 12.5mg of THC.

Ingredients

-1/4 oz- 1 full oz of cannabis flower or shake

-1lb (4 sticks unsalted butter) or 2 cups of coconut oil

– (optional) 1 tbsp sunflower lecithin (increases/speeds up absorption of THC)

-oven safe cooking dish with lid (Pyrex glass works great 8×8 or 9×13)

-Crockpot & lid or small saucepan & lid

-cheesecloth

-glass bowl

-hand grinder or coffee grinder

Directions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 240 degrees

Step 2: Grind cannabis using a hand grinder or coffee grinder

Step 3: Place ground cannabis in an even layer in your cooking dish (if using kief or hash  place in silicone baking mat)

– to active the THC you must bake your flower in a process called decarboxylation (pro tip: this process will stink up the whole house a good way to mask the smell is to lightly boil a large pot of water with orange peels and cinnamon sticks)

-for flower bake at 240 degrees for 60 minutes

-for kief or hash bake at 240 degrees for 30 minutes

Step 4: Once the baking cycle is done let it cool completely on the counter or place it in a mason jar in the freezer until you’re ready to use it for your infusion.

Cannabis-Infused Butter

Step 5: Make sure to use unsalted butter, create ghee (clarified butter) by heating the butter until it’s completely melted, and make sure to skim off the milk fat that collects on the surface. If you do not the milk fat will hurt the shelf life of your butter

Step 6: Place butter and cannabis in a Crockpot on low heat with a cover for 8-12 hours stirring occasionally. If using a stovetop cook on the lowest setting for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally

Step 7: Strain mixture into a cheesecloth (layer multiple cloths into the bowl) make sure to squeeze out as much oil as you can. Discard leftover and store your cannabis-infused butter in the fridge and tada!

-You can spread your cannabis-infused butter on toast or add some to your morning coffee for an extra kick!

Coconut oil

Step 5: Melt coconut oil in a Crockpot, then add cannabis cover and cook low for 3 hours stirring occasionally. If using the stovetop cook on the lowest setting for 1-2 hours also stirring occasionally

Step 6: Strain mixture into a cheesecloth (layer multiple cloths into the bowl) make sure to squeeze out as much oil as you can. Discard leftover and store your cannabis coconut oil in the fridge

-Your cannabis-infused coconut oil is not just for cooking it can also be used as a topical to treat dry skin, sore muscles, or sunburned skin