Cooking With Cannabis:

A Stoner's Guide to Making Edibles and Cannabis-infused Delicacies

The two things every stoner enjoys doing are 1) consuming cannabis and 2) satisfying the munchies. Additionally, cannabis consumers are fusing the two by creating their edibles at home. Doing so has never been this easy. Check out this comprehensive guide on understanding and making cannabis-infused butter and coconut oil.

What Are Edibles Exactly?

Edibles are foods that have been infused with cannabinoids. They are infused with popular cannabinoids such as THC and CBD. People have been creating recreational edibles since the 1970s. Moreover, cannabinoid-infused medicines were popular once upon a time. These medicines would pave the way for the edible boom during the Counterculture Era.

How Are Edibles Made?

Although creating edibles has become quite easy today, it was not always this way. Sweet treats and desserts were often the edibles created due to their intense amount of lipids and fats. These lipids and fats, like butter or coconut oil, are also necessary to create cannabis-infused edibles. This is due to the compounds such as THC, the cannabinoid responsible for getting consumers high found in cannabis, must be 'activated' to be truly effective. This activation process is known as decarboxylation.

What is Decarboxylation?

Decarboxylation is the method of using heat to transform one cannacompound to another. Concerning making edibles, the THC must be molecularly-converted into THCA. The longhand of the former is known as TetraHydrocannabinolic Acid, and it is the most practical method to make sure your edibles are as potent as possible. The decarboxylation process is done by applying direct heat to the cannabis flowers with the help of a conventional oven. 

How to Decarboxylate Cannabis

Begin by preheating your oven to 220°F. When decarbing your cannabis, it is critical to remember that 15 minutes of heat per approximately 3.5 grams of dried and finely grounded cannabis. Begin by placing the ground cannabis on a safe baking dish or sheet on top of a coat of aluminum foil. The conventional oven will provide the proper amount of heat to catalyze the conversion of THC into THCA. Furthermore, THCA is remarkably more potent than THC. Once your cannabis has been heated for the recommended amount of time, it is ready to be infused into your chosen lipids. From this point, edible enthusiasts typically imbue the decarbed cannabis into butter or coconut oil.

How to Make Cannabutter

Thanks to science and accessibility, making cannabutter or canna-coco oil is easier than ever. Aside from a conventional oven, virtually every component can be purchased from your local grocery store.

Things You'll Need

  • 1oz (28g) freshly ground cannabis

  • 1 pound (4 sticks) room temperature butter or 1 pint (16oz) of coconut oil

  • 1 cheesecloth

  • 1 baking sheet

  • 1 large saucepan

  • A few sheets of Aluminum foil


Once the weed has been decarboxylated, the infusion process can truly begin. On the lowest setting possible, place the butter or coconut oil into the large saucepan until it has melted. Once completely melted, place the decarbed cannabis into the large saucepan. From this point, let the low heat do all of the heavy lifting. Stir the cannabis every 5 to 7 minutes to avoid scorching of the decarbed cannabis. This can gravely reduce the potency of your edibles. Additionally, Be sure to cover the cannabis to seal in the flavorful terpenes and cannabinoids. The cannabutter (or canna-coco oil) will increase in potency as the longer the infusion takes place. 60 to 90 minutes should be more than enough time to infuse up to an ounce of decarbed cannabis.

Extracting and Preserving Cannabutter

Once the cannabutter (or canna-coco oil) has been infused, the physical plant matter must be separated from the butter. Place the cheesecloth over a freezer-safe dish and gently pour the infused product from the saucepan into the bowl. From this point, let gravity do most of the heavy lifting. For the remaining amount of infused product, compress the cheesecloth as much as possible to ensure you are getting the most potent product possible. That's it! You have just created cannabutter (or canna-coco oil) that can be infused into just about anything. It can also be stored in the freezer and used at a later time.