What Does Cooking With Cannabis Mean?
While cannabis can be smoked, vaped, dabbed, and ingested in other ways, cooking with it has become very popular. Cooking with cannabis goes beyond the use of and making of marijuana in edibles; it includes everything from using marijuana as a seasoning to transforming it into a cooking oil.
Cooking with cannabis is opening up many doors for medical marijuana as we as recreational users. It's now being used as an ingredient in things like salad dressings, soups, side dishes, condiments, marinades, and more.
Maximum Yield Explains Cooking With Cannabis
Cannabis has been used for thousands of years. While most people are familiar with inhaling the smoke from burning marijuana, cooking with cannabis is also a time-tested way of enjoying the properties of this plant. You’re likely familiar with edibles – marijuana added to cookies or brownies, for example – but cooking with cannabis goes much further.
One popular option is to create cannabis-infused cooking oils. You can do this with any type of cooking oil, but olive oil is the recommended option. Combine a cup of olive oil with a cup of dried cannabis flowers and heat thoroughly in a double-boiler. Keep it on low for eight hours, and then strain the mixture into a sealable bottle. Use the oil as you would normally. Note that you should never exceed 245 degrees, or you’ll scorch your cannabis.
Another popular option is to infuse butter with cannabis. Basically, this really involves nothing more than melting butter down, adding ground cannabis, and then keeping the mixture hot (but not scorching) for up to eight hours to extract the cannabinoids. Strain the mixture into another container and let it cool, then use it like you would any other butter.
Note that you need to ensure that you’re measuring your ingredients correctly. Too much cannabis can lead to problems, but too little can leave you wanting. It’s also important that you realize the flavors of everything you add to the butter or oil will transfer over, and that includes stems and leaves if they get into the mix.
Check out Chef Sebastian Carosi's Cooking with Cannabis column for recipes and more information.
