Quick Guide to Cooking With Cannabis – Do’s and Don’ts for Culinary Greatness

Cannabis is a food-friendly plant that is often compared to herbs. It is full of aromas, flavors, and nutrition that you can use as a cooking ingredient. Considering how popular cannabis is in Canada, I bet many Canadians are now trying to cook with cannabis for the first time. If you are one of them, prepare to find new joy in cooking.

Before you start, however, there are some things that you need to know first. Whether you are planning to cook with THC or CBD, there are various techniques that you can use to make sure your foods turn out well after mixing, heating, and/or baking. As you may already know, CBD and THC offer different effects, but the two compounds may require the same technique and rules in cooking.

Some do’s in cooking with Cannabis

To make sure you get the best experience possible, you need to learn the do’s in cooking with cannabis. Here is a simple guide to cooking the best infused food for your needs.

Find a recipe that you are already familiar with

To break the ice when cooking with cannabis, you can always use a recipe that you are already familiar with, or you can simply choose a recipe that you find the most appealing. It can be anything you’d like, and think will be easy and simple. A box brownie mix, for example, is just as good of a choice as any savory dish. I can recommend this approach to every beginner who is trying to cook with cannabis for the first time. Don’t think too much about it, and you can always start with something simple.

Sticking with baked goods is also a great idea, and you can always make it more complicated according to your taste. Go big and make a big portion for everyone – you can even create your own infused dining experience if you’re up for the challenge.

Choose the right strain

When it comes to cannabis, it is always important to choose the right strain for your needs. If you are making a cannabis flower infusion, you can choose the best strain based on smell. Your body knows what kinds of terpenes are the best.

Moreover, you need to be aware of the feel that the strain could give you. Predicting how you’re going to feel after eating your cooking is crucial if you want the best experience. This is why you need to do your research into different strains like Indica, Sativa, and hybrid. Once you understand the effects of many popular strains, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about how you want to feel after eating your infused food. And in the future, you can experiment with different strains and enhance your experience even further.

Pay attention to cannabinoid content

Consuming cannabis means you have to deal with its cannabinoid content. Cannabinoids are chemical compounds that are naturally occurring in cannabis. These cannabinoids are what make cannabis special.

There are two main cannabinoids that you need to be aware of TCH and CBD. THC is a chemical compound that contains psychoactive properties. It’s the stuff that could make you feel high and funny. CBD on the other hand doesn’t contain any psychoactive properties. Instead, it offers some health benefits to the users. One more important thing that you need to know is the entourage effect. It is the effect that happens when multiple cannabinoids are present and working together to enhance the potency of the cannabis.

Some don’ts in cooking with cannabis

Here are some things that you need to actively avoid to make sure you get the desired results.

Not caring about the dosage

When consuming cannabis in any kind of form, always make sure you practice safe consumption. Although overdosing is considered to be unlikely, consuming too much may cause some unwanted side effects. One of the various ways to do this is by measuring the dosage of cannabis in your cooking. This can be done right after you find the right strain for you. Calculate the best estimate of final CBD and THC per serving.

Using raw weed or not decarbing your weed

Some beginners may not know this, but raw weed is non-psychoactive. When it’s raw, it’s no different from other vegetables. So you need to unlock the cannabinoids inside the buds by drying and curing them before use. That being said, most of the stuff from your local dispensaries in Canada is already dried and cured.

Another thing Canadians can do to unlock the full potential of their cannabis is by decarbing it. Decarboxylate is the term used to describe the process when the compounds in cannabis are activated. To decarb your cannabis at home, you can bake your cannabis in an oven at 220-235 degrees F for about 30 minutes.

Conclusion

There you have it, some do’s and don’ts of cooking with cannabis. The whole process isn’t as difficult as you may have thought before, right? Starting for the first time is always the most difficult part. But as you get used to it, you can keep experimenting with new recipes and methods of cooking.