Tips for cooking and baking with cannabis

The use of cannabis in drinks and food is becoming more and more popular. Users of marijuana for medicinal purposes in particular are increasingly turning to cannabis-infused edibles. In the USA, dispensaries sell a wide variety of products from spacecakes to ready-to-eat medical pizzas. Here in Europe, you can't buy these foods (yet) and therefore have to get behind the cooker yourself. Apart from the fun of preparing the dishes, there are several other good reasons to take up the wooden spoon yourself. For one thing, you can determine the dosage yourself and thus adjust the potency to your own needs. Secondly, you are always aware of the quality, especially if you have grown the weed yourself. And another reason is that the recipes can always be individually adapted to one's own palate and thus not only have the desired effect but are also a pleasure to consume.
In the following, we would like to answer the most important questions about baking, cooking and mixing with marijuana.

How does cannabis work in food and drink?

When cannabis is consumed in the form of drinks or food, it has a different effect than when it is smoked. The exact effects depend on various factors, such as the potency of the food, one's tolerance, body chemistry and, of course, the amount eaten. Whereas when smoking, only a small amount of cannabinoids are ingested with each puff, but relatively quickly, when eating, a large number of potent cannabinoids have an effect on the body, but this is delayed and occurs in waves, as they only enter the metabolism via the stomach. Because of the different effect of oral ingestion compared to smoking, many users are surprised by the stronger potency and much longer-lasting effects when they first use it.

Some people become anxious and paranoid on eaten cannabis. This is triggered by different factors, but mostly it is because users are not yet used to this different form of consumption and feel uncomfortable, which can lead to anxiety and paranoia. This subsides with time and habituation to the different effect. However, for some people, high doses of THC also lead to paranoia and anxiety. These people are strongly advised not to consume cannabis-infused food and drink!

Is it difficult to cook or bake with cannabis?

No, using cannabis in the kitchen does not require any additional knowledge. Those who manage to bake more than one ready-made pizza and can follow cooking recipes will have no problems at all. And the hobby cooks among us will quickly find pleasure in modifying the recipes or incorporating cannabis into their own creations. The possibilities are almost unlimited.

What do I need for the cannabis recipes?

Besides the normal kitchen utensils like an oven, pots, bowls, cooking tools, etc., not much else is needed, except of course high-quality cannabis, hashish or BHO. Here is a list of useful equipment and utensils:

• Baking thermometer
• Well-sealable containers (e.g. Tupperware)
• Metal cooking spoon
• Coffee filter
• Sieve
• medium pot

Which ingredients dissolve the cannabinoids best?

Cannabinoids are soluble in cooking, especially with fat and also with alcohol. This means that they bind best with substances that have a high fat content. A high fat content does not necessarily mean unhealthy food. There are plenty of high-fat substances that are additionally healthy. The easiest, but not necessarily the healthiest, way to enrich your food with cannabis is to Cannabis butter. While it is easy to use and very effective, it is not necessarily the healthiest or lowest calorie method for people who rely on cannabis foods on a daily basis. And vegans cannot resort to it either. However, there are plenty of alternatives that have high concentrations of vegetable fats and are excellent, such as. Olive oil and Coconut oil and lesser-known substances such as coconut milk or glycerine.

Which parts of the cannabis plant are suitable for baking or cooking?

While some cannabis hobby cooks swear by the small resinous leaves from trimming the flowers at harvest, others boil out the stems and large leaves. Still others only throw good, resinous buds into the cooking pot and feed the rest of the harvest to the rabbits. You can use all parts of the plant except the roots to extract the cannabinoids, because when you boil them out, they are also extracted from inside the plant, unlike smoking. However, one should always keep in mind that you extract what you add. This means that butter or oil from the large leaves will also have a weaker flavour and will not be as potent as from flowers, which also give off a more intense and also delicious aroma. Whether you use blossoms, leaves or stems, the purity of the raw material is important. If there is mould or other fungi in the grass, they are often not killed and remain in the food where they do not belong and can be unhealthy. So always use absolutely mould-free and properly dried marijuana whose origin you know.

How much weed do I need for cannabis butter or cannabis oil?

Of course, how much marijuana you need to make the recipes always depends on your personal needs and the potency of the source material. In general, the lower the quality of the plant parts, the more you need for the same effect. However, as already mentioned, determining the right amount is always individual and it is better to use less at first.

As a rule of thumb you can take: Divide the plant into a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is the resinous headbuds and 5 is the thick main stem of the plant. Per cup of butter or oil you need 25g x the starting number, so 1x 25g = 25g headbuds or 5x 25g = 125g stem material.

Can I overheat the cannabinoids?

Yes, unfortunately the cannabinoids can volatilise if the temperature is too high. Therefore, the temperature must never be too high during production. The temperatures at which the dishes are made also always depend on the desired effect. While some terpenes and flavonoids already volatilise at 115°C, most cannabinoids reach their boiling point at around 145°C. Therefore, one should always be below this temperature when cooking and baking, so that the end product also receives its true potency.