Green Gone Detox's Guide to Cooking with Cannabis

Learn About Cooking with Weed

We hope you’ve reviewed our previous post about baking with cannabis so that you have a recipe for creating cannabutter. Using cannabutter is the best way to ensure even infusion throughout your food. We also review decarboxylation to activate the THC and CBD in your cannabis to guarantee powerful psychoactive and physical effects. Now that you’re ready to start cooking with cannabis, we have a few more tips before you get in the kitchen. Check out this guide for cooking with weed today!

1. Check Your Cannabutter Potency

Cooking with too much or too little cannabis can result in a dissatisfying experience. The best way to ensure you’re creating the high you want is to test the butter’s potency before you start cooking with cannabis. To run a strand test before you make your next dish, follow these instructions:

1. Take ¼ teaspoon of the cannabutter and add it to a food or drink as a single dose. Spread it on a piece of toast or eat it with a cracker.
2. Wait mindfully for one to two hours to see if you feel anything. You might feel nothing, or you may be in for a wild ride.
3. After your high has worn off, you can adjust your recipes according to how much cannabis you think you need.

You can add the ideal dosage size during the cooking process or simply spoon it on top to garnish a finished dish — whatever works best with your recipe!

2. Don’t Limit Cannabis to Baking!

When people think of edibles, they only consider baked goods. Cookies, brownies, and gummies are probably your first thoughts. But, you shouldn’t limit your food options just to baking! Cooking with cannabis is much easier than baking, as the herbal nature of weed lends itself to savory and spicy dishes better than sweet. Add a serving on top of roasted potatoes or add it to your basting sauce for pan-seared steak. Anywhere you use your regular butter is the perfect place for your cannabutter as well!

3. Patience is Key

Cooking with cannabis is very different from smoking or inhaling cannabis. Like with every edible, your dishes will take 1-2 hours to affect you. Testing your serving sizes and waiting patiently is the key to ensuring that you get the effect you want. The types of foods you cook can also alter the effects slightly, so if you plan on hosting a dinner party, it’s a good idea to do a test run with all your recipes in advance.

4. Never Use Raw Weed

You might think that you can simply throw a few fresh buds into your dish like you would with rosemary or basil, but we absolutely DO NOT recommend this. Raw marijuana is not psychoactive, and typical cooking doesn’t last long enough to decarboxylate the cannabinoids. Using raw marijuana doesn’t taste good and may cause vomiting — use dried and cured buds only.

Start Experimenting

The best way to start cooking with cannabis is just jumping in headfirst. It’s always better to use less at first until you can consistently decarb and infuse your weed with every batch.